Six people got arrested in Berks County, Pennsylvania, for straw purchasing firearms. That's when someone buys a gun for someone who legally can't possess one.
District Attorney John Adams was proud of his work, saying these arrests are part of keeping guns out of criminal hands. Wilson Rivera's alleged crimes included supplying a gun used in a shooting and purchasing firearms for a convicted felon and her 16-year-old son.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. DA Adams probably thinks this bust proves gun control works. It doesn't.
Straw purchases have been illegal for decades. There's already a federal law against them. Yet Rivera allegedly did it anyway—because criminals don't follow laws. Shocking, I know.
This is exactly what I tell customers who ask about gun laws. Every regulation we add creates hoops for *us*—law-abiding citizens—to jump through. Background checks, waiting periods, paperwork. Meanwhile, someone like Rivera just... buys guns and hands them to whoever.
The system isn't broken. It's working exactly as criminals expect it to. They break the law, get guns anyway, and move on.
My takeaway? These arrests won't stop straw purchases. They never have. If you want to actually keep criminals disarmed, maybe focus on prosecuting the actual criminals instead of passing feel-good laws that only affect us.