Because I live in the Twin Cities, the murder of three Burnsville first responders has grabbed my attention more than most high profile shootings. As more details of this incident trickle out, I find myself agreeing with the gun grabber crowd on one key point: we need to figure out an airtight solution to prevent people like the Burnsville shooter from ever getting access to guns (his gun rights were already revoked due to prior felonies). How that is accomplished can start by determining how the gunman acquired firearms in the first place.
From Tuesday's St Paul Pioneer Press:
A firearm found at the Burnsville shooting scene where two officers and a firefighter were mortally wounded has been traced to a Burnsville firearm shop, according to the owner.
Now, the person who bought the gun is being investigated for committing a straw purchase — when someone buys a gun legally and provides it to someone who is prohibited from having it — said John McConkey, owner of the Modern Sportsman.
“The Modern Sportsman had no way of knowing the lower receiver (of an AR-15) would end up in a convicted felon’s/prohibited person’s possession,” McConkey said in a Tuesday statement. “The prohibited person was not there during the transfer process nor was his name on any of the enclosed documents.”
Someone bought the AR-15 lower receiver from an out-of-state online retailer and shipped it to the Modern Sportsman’s Burnsville location for transfer. “The purchaser passed the background check and took possession of the firearm on Jan. 15, 2024,” McConkey said.
A transfer is when the purchaser of a firearm is required to fill out an FBI background check to legally obtain the firearm. An individual must have a clean criminal history and Minnesota permit to purchase or carry to obtain a lower receiver in the state, McConkey noted.
So now we've arrived at the obvious solution, which is to prevent straw purchases (which are illegal) from taking place. But short of implementing some sort of Minority Report system of determining "pre-crime," how can a firearms dealer deny a sale to an individual who has fulfilled all the requirements to own a gun and has passed the necessary background checks? I supposed said dealers can exercise discretion if they have a sufficient reason to be suspicious of the buyer. But the next best solution? That seems more obvious, which would be to hand down extremely harsh punishments to a straw buyer who purchases guns used in felonious crimes.
Ah, but back in 2019, then Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman explains why that isn't occurring.
Hennepin County Attorney Freeman testified in 2019 that he doesn't prosecute straw purchases because "The penalty is insufficient"
— Rob Doar (@robdoar) October 5, 2022
Every time @mnguncaucus pushed for increasing the penalty, it's been shot down by #mnleg democrats. https://t.co/crR3HUNEaf pic.twitter.com/aNbDOVsLKJ
Second Amendment activists have said ad nauseum that we're absolutely willing to entertain discussions regarding gun reforms provided any new legislation doesn't make gun ownership more cumbersome for law abiding citizens. But as we see consistently with gun-grabbing Dems, they prefer to use tragedies for feelgood (and useless) proposals as opposed to substantive reforms.
Remember that the next time anti-gunners condescendingly proclaim "nO oNe Is CoMiNg FoR yOuR gUns."
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