Straw Man Purchases

Borrowed from Wikipedia 

Straw Man Purchases

Also from Wikipedia:

Strawpersons sometimes engage in straw purchases to protect the privacy of the beneficial owner or to allow the beneficial owner to acquire a property when the seller's rules, policies or biases might not have allowed it

The straw man purchase is arguably the hardest part about any "Common Sense" gun control, and because of this, its one of those that is mentioned the least.  One time when I was sitting in my local sporting goods store I saw a straw purchase nearly occur.

A fellow wanted to buy a .22 caliber handgun.  A small inexpensive handgun of a lower power ammunition usually used for small game hunting or target practice. The shop ran his background check, and he was denied by NICS.  A lady who was with him (whom I suspected to be his girlfriend but I have no real basis for this, other than their attitudes towards each other that could be viewed) stepped forward and said "Its OK, I'll buy it for you honey".  To their credit, the shop employee turned to her and stated in no unclear terms that he would NOT sell it to her as she had expressed her intent to hand it over to a prohibited person.  She got angry and had to be removed from the store.

I mention this instance specifically because I left that store thinking that the couple was just that much more informed of what not to do at the next store they come to, as well as that the store I was at would continue to get my patronage for being an upstanding establishment.  They passed up on a sale, where there would have been no proof of wrong doing because it held to the spirit and letter of the law.That day I did buy a double barrel shotgun from them, one Joe Biden himself would have been proud to own.

It also points out how hard it would be for the next shop to stop this type of purchase, and how hard it would be to stop these purchases in general.  My only thought is that this individual failed the NICS check.  Somewhere some system should have registered that.  Maybe this is one way we can improve that system.  Establish a law that allows a warrant to be issued to search that home for a weapon using that failed check as sufficient probable cause.  If not probable cause, perhaps a parole violation to establish a search/inspection.  I'm not a lawyer, I don't play one on TV, and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I have no idea if what I'm suggesting here is even feasible, but it makes more "common sense" than most things I've heard of coming from most gun control outlets.