'Don't lie for the other guy': Law enforcement targets straw firearm purchases

John Lausch, the top federal prosecutor for the Chicago region, had a simple message Wednesday as he stood on the lawn outside Maxon Shooter's Supplies and Indoor Range in Des Plaines: "Don't lie for the other guy."

"And the reasons are pretty clear," added Lausch, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. "It's a crime to purchase a firearm for other individuals and to lie about that on the ATF forms."

Lausch and other regional law enforcement leaders gathered outside the Des Plaines business Wednesday to address what are known as straw purchases and launch a multipronged campaign to prevent them.

"What straw purchasers do is they buy guns for people who aren't allowed to have them themselves, and in particular they put those guns in the hands of felons. And that is causing shootings and homicides across the country and in the city of Chicago and the entire Chicago area," Lausch said.

The program aims to reduce firearm straw purchases at the retail level and educate would-be straw purchasers of the penalties of participating in an illegal firearm purchase.

The campaign also can help prevent crime by educating firearm retailers "so they are better prepared to deter potential straw purchases," said Joe Bartozzi, president and CEO of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

The program is funded entirely by the firearms industry, he said.

Those convicted of purchasing a firearm for someone who can't legally buy one can face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.