Hawaii Attorney General David Louie has filed a “friend of the court” brief in a U.S. Supreme Court case (Abramski v. United States) involving background checks when purchasing firearms.

Hawaii joins eight other states and the District of Columbia that support the U.S. government’s position that a Virginia man named Bruce Abramski “violated federal law when he bought a gun from a licensed firearms dealer, claiming to be the actual buyer, when in fact he had pre-arranged to resell the gun to a third party,” according to a press release.

Louie said “allowing such a loophole would severely undermine the benefit of federal background checks,” adding that “straw purchases prevent the background check being run on the person who will actually possess the firearm, resulting in firearms being put in the hands of people who are otherwise prohibited from owning or possessing firearms because of their criminal or mental health history.” 

Abramski claims that because the third party could have lawfully purchased the gun himself, his false statement should not be a crime. 

Photo: Bang-bang. (star5112)

—Chad Blair