The firearms industry on Tuesday cheered the guilty verdict in the Hunter Biden gun case — not because it punished a prominent anti-gun political family but because it believes that will send a signal that lying to buy a weapon is a serious offense that could end in prison.
Gun sellers and industry representatives contacted by Secrets said the case should help to limit illegal purchases, especially by those who lie to buy firearms for others who are banned from owning guns.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the industry trade group, said the case will spotlight its effort to target illegal purchases.
“NSSF has been a consistent supporter of keeping guns out of the hands of those who should not possess them, whether that be a prohibited individual, an unsupervised child or someone suffering a mental health crisis,” spokesman Mark Oliva said.
“Hunter Biden’s admission that he was illegally using controlled substances and addicted to illicit drugs at the time of his firearm purchase clearly demonstrates that he was a prohibited individual at the time he purchased the firearm and lied on the ATF Form 4473 and attested he was not using illicit drugs,” he added.
The National Rifle Association agreed. Randy Kozuch, the executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, the group’s lobbying arm, told Secrets: “The National Rifle Association has always stood for the lawful use and possession of firearms. Mr. Biden’s documented lifestyle choices at the time of purchasing a firearm made him a prohibited person under current law.”
Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the nation’s largest gun stores, said the case also promoted the role gun sellers have in keeping the public safe.
“This highlights just how important gun dealers are in the process of background checks. We are the last line of defense to keep people that legally cannot possess firearms from getting them. I think the verdict was fair, and I hope the sentencing is, as well,” Anderson told Secrets.
Biden was found guilty of lying on his FBI background check form to buy a pistol. He faces 25 years in jail, though few think he will serve much, if any, time.
The verdict was also seen as a victory for gun store operators who are sometimes blamed for illegal sales to those who lie on FBI forms.
Matt Miller, a licensed firearms dealer who is the CEO of CashForArms.com and FirearmLand.com, told us: “I’m deeply gratified that the jury saw through Hunter Biden’s transparent attempt to scapegoat an innocent gun dealer. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, Biden’s attempt to foist his illegal behavior on an innocent business is just another example of the blame-shifting we have seen from the entire liberal establishment since Hunter’s laptop was first discovered. In this case, justice has prevailed.”
Illegal gun trade has become an epidemic in the country. While most buy guns legally and do not use them criminally, those who do often get them illegally.
For many liberal politicians, the answer to the crisis is to ban guns for all. But the industry said the answer is to prosecute those who get guns illegally, and that’s why many have cheered the Biden case.
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NSSF, for example, has teamed up with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for a new campaign to end illegal straw purchases. Its campaign is called, “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy.”
Oliva told us: “NSSF has long advocated with ATF and the DOJ that lying on the background check form to purchase a firearm is a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in jail and a potential $250,000 fine. In fact, just last week, NSSF’s President and CEO Joe Bartozzi stood alongside ATF Director Steven Dettelbach in Northern Virginia announcing a month-long public awareness campaign in the Greater Washington, D.C., area to warn those who might think about lying on the gun purchase background check form to commit the felony of an illegal straw purchase, which involves lying on the background check form.”