Form 4473 — the Firearm Transaction Record — is a six-page document that must be filled out whenever someone buys a firearm from a licensed firearm dealer.
The form asks questions including whether the person buying the gun is a felon, whether the person is a fugitive from justice or convicted of domestic abuse, whether the person is addicted to drugs and whether the person is the actual buyer of the firearm.
This tweet by ATF’s Houston office led a swarm of Twitter users to ask why the bureau didn’t charge Hunter Biden, the president’s son, for allegedly lying on Form 4473 when he purchased a handgun in October 2018. The controversy prompted us to request statistics from the Justice Department to determine whether someone falsely filling out the form faced much of a risk of prosecution.
It took months to obtain the data. The answer, it turns out, is no.
The statistics are newly relevant as Congress discusses how to strengthen gun laws in the wake of high-profile mass shootings. This is a prime illustration of how, for a variety of reasons including prosecutorial choices, existing laws are not always rigorously or consistently enforced.
The Facts
Starting with the National Firearms Act of 1938, Congress has sought to limit gun purchases by certain individuals such as fugitives and people convicted of a felony. After high-profile assassinations and the occupation of the California Capitol by armed Black Panthers, President Lyndon B. Johnson urged passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which among other things expanded the list of prohibited people to include someone who is “an unlawful user of or addicted to marijuana or any depressant or stimulant drug.”
The reason for adding drug users to the list is a bit obscure, according to experts we consulted. Johnson did not mention the issue in his speech calling for a new gun-control law or in his remarks when signing the bill. But the mid-1960s witnessed the rise of counterculture, with its abundant drug use, while marijuana at the time was often believed by law enforcement to be the drug of choice for people of color.
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, ushered into law by then-Sen. Joe Biden, at the time chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made Form 4473 a key part of background checks for gun purchases mandated by the law.
Lying on the form is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. For being a user of unlawful drugs in possession of a firearm, the punishment is up to five years.
So there you have it! This is the article written to try and vindicate Hunter Biden from prosecution.
But as the Left runs to vindicate Hunter Biden, they overlook the obvious which is, what good are the gun laws we have today if virtually none of the laws regarding gun registration are observed?
Essentially, the Left is arguing this:
1. Gun laws are silly and not worth observing.
2. Since most law breakers are not sent to jail, why send Hunter?
The problem here is, Joe Biden did not even let the judge rule in the case, so we will never know what penalty, if any, would have befallen Hunter. But at least democrats have basically admitted that gun laws are stupid and need removed if they are continued to be ignored.
But my guess is, most of the laws on the books are there ONLY to put into effect if certain people those in power want put in jail. The powers that be have already shown us they don't care about rampant crime on the streets, as laws on illegal immigration are also ignored. No, those laws are only in place to use if someone threatens the political power of the elites, then all of a sudden, our laws are worthwhile and need enforced.
