The Atlanta Lawyer August/September 2014 | Page 33

SLIP Student Essays
here is the threat posed by Abramski’s actions and lack of
regard for federal security, although this is not addressed in
the dissenting opinion of the Supreme Court.
It is understandable why some may view this entire case
as a tedious exploitation of a legal technicality, but the
potential consequences of this kind of misrepresentation are
undoubtedly worth the trouble. By falsifying who the weapon
was for, the defendant, for an instance, could have placed
the gun in the hands of a felon, drug addict, or mentally ill
citizen; parties of whom are specifically restricted access
to guns by U.S.C. 922(d). What is the purpose, then, of
having gun regulations if they are allowed
to be so easily sidestepped? If the buyer
could simply hand over the weapon to
whomever they pleased, the power of
background checks would be undermined
along with security in the commercial trade
of weapons. Criminals could not be traced
through their gun registration because they
will have never stepped into a gun store.
Gun control legislation would stand tall,
silent, and unnoticed.

guns to unqualified citizens. Abramski’s case sheds light on
this dangerous loophole in the law, and the Supreme Court’s
decision was a befitting and essential solution to a small issue
with potentially horrific consequences. While the heated issue
of gun regulation is long from resolved, steps such as this by
the Supreme Court of the United States act as an effective
approach to rooting stability and trust in our nation’s armbearing citizens for years to come.

Many times, the hand of the government
is forced by the actions of its people. There
have been at least 70 mass shootings
throughout the United States in the past
three decades; of these, nearly 20% of the
offenders acquired their weapons (all guns)
unlawfully. The mass murder at a movie
theater in Colorado in July 2012, another
at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that August,
another at a manufacturer in Minneapolis
that September—and then the unthinkable
nightmare at a Connecticut elementary
school that December—are yet a few
recent examples of the horrific potential of
a registered gun in the wrong hands.
There is no room in this country for
information on the purchase of a lethal
weapon to fall through the cracks. On a
larger scale, this type of misrepresentation
costs more than an upset in court, but more
importantly, the lives of the innocent and the
upholding of peace. Abramski’s actions were
irresponsible and cannot be taken lightly.
What is much more disturbing is the idea of
hundreds of other false “straw purchasers”
in the U.S. that are actually distributing

The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association

August/September 2014

THE ATLANTA LAWYER

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