Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A report from the Washington Post indicates federal agents believe they have compiled sufficient evidence to charge Hunter Biden over an alleged false statement on a gun purchase background check.
On March 25, 2021, Breitbart News pointed out that Hunter Biden may have given false information about his history of drug use when filling out ATF Form 4473 for a gun purchase in 2018.
Breitbart News noted ATF Form 4473 is the background check each would-be gun buyer fills out when trying to buy a gun at retail. A Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder then calls the FBI and relays the information from the form, receiving the all-clear to sell the gun or a rejection, which means the gun cannot be sold to the prospective buyer. A third option is that the FBI can alert the FFL holder that it will extend the background check another three business days to give FBI reviewers additional time to check criminal records.
Giving false information on an ATF form 4473 carries a punishment which includes fines up to $250,000 and/or ten years of imprisonment.
Form 4473 asks numerous questions of the would-be gun purchaser, including this one:
Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance? Warning: The use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside.
The prospective gun purchaser is required to answer “yes” or “no.” A “yes” answer stops the gun sale in its tracks.
The Post reports:
In October of [2018], Biden purchased a handgun, filling out a federal form in which he allegedly answered “no” to the question whether he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?”
According to a book Hunter Biden later wrote about his struggles with substance abuse, he was using drugs heavily that year.
Prosecutions for false statements on gun-purchase forms are relatively rare, but they do happen.
Agents reportedly believe they have gathered sufficient evidence to charge Hunter, but the decision to do so “is ultimately up to prosecutors at the Justice Department, not agents.”