Did CBS break FEDERAL LAW to make buying an AR-15 look easy?

Did CBS break FEDERAL LAW to make buying an AR-15 look easy?

A Virginia gun store has filed an accusation with the ATF against a CBS news producer who bought an AR-15 from them. They are contending that she may have broken the law intended to keep guns out of the hands of people unable to make a legal firearm purchase. All rules and regulations were followed by the gun dealer at time of purchase. “Throughout most of America, you could go into a gun store and buy an AR-15, just like you’d go into a Starbucks and buy a cup of coffee,” according to UCLA law professor Adam Winkler in the segment, which was posted online by CBS Tuesday. When asked if Reid said if she intended to transfer the firearm after the sale, Ryan Lamke told TheDC, “No, otherwise we would not have sold the gun to her.” Sounds to me like she did indeed break the law here.

Guns

From The Daily Caller:

An Arlington, Va., gun store has filed an accusation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives against a CBS News producer who bought an AR-15 rifle to show how easy it is to do so.

The store alleges that the producer, Paula Reid, may have violated a law intended to keep guns out of the hands of people unable to make a legal firearm purchase.

Reid went to the firearms dealer SpecDive Tactical for a news segment for “CBS This Morning” with the stated intent of purchasing the rifle for herself. CBS reported that the transaction took 38 minutes. SpecDive Tactical told The Daily Caller the transaction took place Tuesday.

Kris Van Cleeve, reporting on the segment for CBS, stated, “As for the rifle we legally purchased, it was transferred to a federally licensed firearm dealer and weapons instructor in Virginia following state law within hours of us purchasing the weapon.”

The producer was acting undercover during the purchase. The gun store, SpecDive, contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives afterward to express concern over a possible straw purchase; the ATF confirmed it knew about the purchase, but did not say if it was conducting an investigation. “The law is very clear. When you knowingly attempt to purchase a firearm with the intent of giving it to another person, you are trying to bypass the legal pathway to firearms ownership. This, in itself, is a very serious crime. I do not see how any member of the press can get away with potentially committing a felony just to boost their ratings and mislead the general public,” SpecDive owner Jerry Rapp told The Washington Free Beacon. A CBS spokesperson has maintained that the purchase was legal. The woman claimed the gun was for her own personal training. ATF form 4473, the document that federal law requires both the buyer and seller to complete, uses explicit language to determine if the buyer is purchasing the gun for herself, or on behalf of another person. Falsifying questions on a form 4473 can be punishable by “up to 10 years imprisonment and/or up to a $250,000 fine.” Sounds to me like CBS’ little sting operation stung them instead of the gun dealer. Good.

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at NoisyRoom.net. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - trevorloudon.com. She also does research at KeyWiki.org. You can email Terresa here. NoisyRoom can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.

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