Buying a gun while Middle Eastern

[MillCreek]

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/they-spoke-arabic-while-gun-shopping-in-north-texas-and-ended-up-behind-bars/?utm_campaign=owned_echobox_f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2xpvfsFA2vqo2npV0foRtyDWZ_nkNSJcD-wwjX4Vjksou6OJA8wFp1bPA#Echobox=1657164917

Next thing you know, the FBI is knocking on your door.

[Angel Eyes]

Next thing you know, the FBI is knocking on your door.

Lying on a 4473 will do that.  Unless you're Hunter Biden.

By the way, your subject line is misleading.

[Ben]

On a tangent, I wonder how many gun buyers in states where recreational pot is legal, lie on the 4473?

I'll concede that a bunch of them who mark "no" are probably doing so because they think pot being legal in their state makes it okay. That's language that could be updated on the 4473, e.g., with some statement specifically that pot is illegal on the federal level. Though I guess they would need a separate statement for Oregon, where anything goes drug-wise these days.

[MillCreek]

On a tangent, I wonder how many gun buyers in states where recreational pot is legal, lie on the 4473?

I'll concede that a bunch of them who mark "no" are probably doing so because they think pot being legal in their state makes it okay. That's language that could be updated on the 4473, e.g., with some statement specifically that pot is illegal on the federal level. Though I guess they would need a separate statement for Oregon, where anything goes drug-wise these days.

My neighbor the gunsmith who does the occasional transfer, runs into this all the time.  Washington has had legal pot for years, and people forget about the Federal issue.  Also of note was the comment that if you own guns and use pot, you are committing a Federal felony.  I suspect the Federal prison system does not have enough beds to accommodate all of these lawbreakers in the PNW.

[Perd Hapley]

[shrug] Simple solution: deregulate.

[Ben]

[shrug] Simple solution: deregulate.

I was all for that until I got the firsthand knowledge of watching a town I shop in across the border in Oregon go from safe and low crime, to high crime and full of undesirables as the pot shops opened up and expanded.

[Perd Hapley]

I was all for that until I got the firsthand knowledge of watching a town I shop in across the border in Oregon go from safe and low crime, to high crime and full of undesirables as the pot shops opened up and expanded.

Did you think I meant deregulate pot? 

Seriously, though, do you think pot deregulation across the country (federal and state) would change that dynamic?

[Ben]

Did you think I meant deregulate pot? 

Seriously, though, do you think pot deregulation across the country (federal and state) would change that dynamic?

Knowing what a big loadie you are, yeah.  

Not sure what you mean on changing the dynamic. Do you mean if every town had a pot shop it would distribute the crime instead of concentrate it?

[MillCreek]

We have pot shops up the wazoo all over Washington.  All that I know from a crime perspective is that they are far more prone to be the victims of strong-arm robberies and burglaries because of the lack of access to the banking system, leading to large amounts of cash on hand.  And of course the burglaries to steal the actual product for personal uses or resale.

[Ben]

We have pot shops up the wazoo all over Washington.  All that I know from a crime perspective is that they are far more prone to be the victims of strong-arm robberies and burglaries because of the lack of access to the banking system, leading to large amounts of cash on hand.  And of course the burglaries to steal the actual product for personal uses or resale.

In fairness, I will say that one problem with the pot shops in Ontario, OR is that their parking lots are full of Idaho plates, so the border issue certainly comes into play. But the way the town has been steadily run down in the ~4 years I've been going there is just sad. I recall reading that they rake in more pot taxes in Ontario than in Portland, so it might not be the best place for an "average" comparison.

[230RN]

[shrug] Simple solution: deregulate.

I got what you meant.

[griz]

I think a more accurate title would be "Buying a gun while stoned".

[Perd Hapley]

I got what you meant.

I did mean both.

There is no easy solution to crime at the pot dispensary, or to the racism alleged in the article. We'll have to admit we were wrong, and rebuild a culture based on the old, fuddy-duddy virtues we've been mocking or ignoring for 60-some years. We'll never see a libertarian utopia, but limited government would require us to govern ourselves.

[cordex]

A friend of mine who is an Iraqi immigrant (now a naturalized US citizen) bought his first pistol last month and didn’t get arrested. How very strange, given that being middle eastern and buying a gun results in arrest in this horrible, structurally racist country.

[MechAg94]

I think a more accurate title would be "Buying a gun while stoned".

I think that has more to do with it.  Of course, the store could have refused to sell to them. 

[Hawkmoon]

On a tangent, I wonder how many gun buyers in states where recreational pot is legal, lie on the 4473?

I'll concede that a bunch of them who mark "no" are probably doing so because they think pot being legal in their state makes it okay. That's language that could be updated on the 4473, e.g., with some statement specifically that pot is illegal on the federal level. Though I guess they would need a separate statement for Oregon, where anything goes drug-wise these days.

I'm pretty certain the instructions cover that.

Nope -- not the instructions. It's right in the question:

e.  Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?
Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.

[Bogie]

Bidness Idea:
 
We start a courier company. We call it Fistful of Dollars.
 
Instead of using uniformed armed guards and trucks, we just run ordinary cars with staggered times to remove the cash from the pot stores.

[grampster]

Heh, if they arrested everyone who smoked pot and filled out the 4473 cough ahem incorrectly, nearly everyone who had bought a firearm where that was required would be in jail.  Ain't enough jails.

[MechAg94]

Heh, if they arrested everyone who smoked pot and filled out the 4473 cough ahem incorrectly, nearly everyone who had bought a firearm where that was required would be in jail.  Ain't enough jails.

Not everyone smokes pot.  However, it might be good to freshen up so you don't smell like pot before going to the gun store....or sober up.

[K Frame]

" I suspect the Federal prison system does not have enough beds to accommodate all of these lawbreakers in the PNW. "

Solution to that is easy...

Release all of the chill, non-violent pot smokers to make room for all of chill, non-violent pot smokers who commit the heinous crime of filling out a federal form incorrectly.


By the time I retire I fully intend that my gun buying days will be behind me and my pot smoking days will be ahead of me.

[WLJ]

I keep hitting a paywall

So the guy lied on a 4473 and I take it the news site is calling it racist for prosecuting him for it?