gun gift

[moe_]

my friend is planning on buying her boyfriend a gun as a gift. she plans to purchase it under her name because her boyfriend has a misdormeanor on his record about 3 years old and cannot legally buy one. what kind of problem, if there is any, is she's getting into? we are from CA.

thanks for your help,
Moe

 

[NYClex]

she can get into a huge amount of trouble.

First you would want to check the California law what it actually says about gun possession by someone with what kind of conviction. The same goes for the federal gun laws.

Possession legally does not mean ownership, but the right to exercise control over it. Therefore, even if she buys the gun, pays for it, registers it in her name etc., if the law prohibits possession by him, he will violate the law the moment he touches the gun. She might be liable as a conspirator or accomplice because she furnished him the gun.

Not every crime is the same, either. Gun laws typically list several specific felonies and or misdemeanors which result in a prohibition to own guns. You would want to make sure his record does not fit them.

If anything happens and someone gets hurt with the gun she also might be civilly liable for the damage, because the plaintiff could argue that it was unreasonable for her to give a gun to him when he was not allowed to possess a gun by law.

So, if I were she, I would buy some nice other present, but definitely not a gun.