Go to the grocery store, buy with cash, you're good to go.

You said this with remarkable confidence and were dead wrong. You should reflect on that.

No. Gift cards can be purchased in-person in the US, with cash. Said gift cards are activated at the register upon purchase. These can then be gifted to someone else, and further activation (or registering your personal information with the card) is not required.

Edit: I just checked the Visa gift card issuer's site for a card I have (and never had to activate or provide personal information to), and for shopping online it just says:

>In the Payment Method section, enter the Card information as you would a credit or debit card. In the Billing Address section, fill in your name and address.

So when I check out online, I can enter any information that I like, presumably as long as it ties back to a valid address of some kind - there is zero effort on the part of the card issuer to verify that I am who I say I am. I would only need a PIN when making purchases with it as a debit card in-person. I should make it clear that I'm not saying that providing false information is legal, just that the point about being required to provide "strong government identity" to activate gift cards has been false for a long time.