> A straw purchase is when a gun is bought for someone who is not allowed to own one

Nope - it doesn't matter whether or not the actual buyer can legally purchase or possess it. A straw purchase is a crime regardless.

> You should take a few steps to make sure the buyer is legit.

Morally, yes. Practically, no.

You're only committing a crime if you know or should reasonably know the person you're selling to is prohibited. You have no legal duty to ask, and asking only proves that you considered the possibility, and could be construed as evidence that you were suspicious.

Yes, this comes down to very specific state rules.

In college I would find deals on guns on Backpage, buy them cheap, and then resell them at a much higher listed price.

No background checks were required for private sales, so all I had to check was that the person had a driver's license for the correct state when I sold it, and even then no bill of sale or info was required.

Make your selling process known, and you'll get some very sketchy buyers that are willing to pay high prices, and it's all technically legal as the seller as you don't even need to ask if the buyer is legally able to purchase a firearm, and it helps fund college tuition.

That, however, is acting as an unlicensed dealer and is federally illegal. The exception would be if you legitimately wanted to own them and happened to want to sell them later. The profit being a happy accident in that case.

Right. And clearly that was my motive. Always happy to find a buyer later to help pay for the rounds I put through that weapon at the range.

FYI, depending on when that happened, that was almost certainly federally illegal. Felony federally illegally.

1) acting as a dealer (buying with intent to resell - aka 'dealing in firearms' [https://fflconsultinggroup.com/federal-firearms-license-what...])

2) likely selling to those who were not residents in the same state (you mention drivers licenses 'for the correct state', which implies not all the same state) [https://thefirearmfirm.com/gifting-or-selling-a-firearm-acro...]

3) selling to those you reasonably suspect may not be eligible to own. [https://www.nrablog.com/articles/2016/4/buying-and-selling-a...]

This is not a gotcha question, and I'm asking because my answer would be no and I'm curious what you have to add to my thoughts.

Do you ever feel bad about selling guns to people who have been convicted of a severe enough crime to not be able to buy one directly?

I’m not the GP, but I’ve sold a few face-to-face.

I find that intuition is far more reliable than documentation anyhow. I’ve turned down several sales because the buyer struck me as irresponsible.

Lots of people will only private sale to someone with a concealed permit as it acts as a form of 'good guy' card.

I never had any evidence of the buyers not being legally able to own them. I simply checked to make sure they were a resident of the state via their driver's license.

Having a higher willingness to pay could be a whole bunch of things; I just found there was a curious number of buyers that would pay over the going rate, which in a free market may have meant there was a reason for it.

I also take ideological issue with the felons cannot own firearms rules. Imo, if you've served your time, your debt to society was served, and your rights should be restored.

I was never under the impression that these weapons would be used for violent crime.

> for someone who is not allowed to own one (a "prohibited person").

The way it works with firearms, purchasing a gun on behalf of somebody else (not as a gift) is illegal regardless of that other person's legal status as a gun owner. If you and I are both allowed to buy and own guns but for whatever reason agree that you will give me money and I'll buy a gun for you, that's illegal.

From what I understand, it's only if you are filling out the form (background check) for someone else. It's all about the form, not the money.

> You should take a few steps to make sure the buyer is legit. Ask to see a concealed carry permit or FOID card.

I've known people who buy and sell quite a few guns, and even though there was no legal requirement for them to do so, this was their policy. Show them a matching permit to acquire or carry permit and driver's license, or they wouldn't sell a gun. Nothing was written down, but if you weren't willing to show matching paperwork and an ID, they wouldn't sell it to you. And I think in a few cases, if the buyer was being unusually squirrely and evasive, they didn't even get that far.

Very, very few gun owners have any desire to sell guns to prohibited persons.

It's a bad idea to check ID. If you check and get it wrong it may conceivably be used against you. The law does not require you to check and you should never check. Simply refuse to sell if they plainly state they are a felon or not a state resident and sell with no questions in every other case.

I find it hard to believe that one would be in more legal hot water for having checked as a matter of policy and having missed a high quality fake ID or something, than for not having checked at all.

I know an awful lot of gun owners, and I can't think of one who would sell a gun to someone they suspected wasn't permitted to own one.

The law doesn't say you have to check so you don't. They'd basically have to tell you they're a prohibited person for a DA to have an airtight case.

I bring this up because people like yourself slowly erode rights by doing "the right thing" when that thing is giving up something you will never get back.

To clarify why I think you might be punished if you check and mess up: that's kinda how it works for rendering aid in a crisis. People have refused to render aid because they feared they would be sued. Even if you expect an airtight acquittal, it costs money, and you may not actually have enough money to prove your innocence if the other person has more.