Breitbart reports that a gun store refused to sell a gun to an individual cleared to buy a gun by the FBI background check system, Gun Store Refusal. Some commenters were concerned that such a refusal would open the store owner to law suits.
It is true you can be sued by anybody, anytime, for anything but doesn’t mean that the suit has merit. The owner has plenty of cover for refusing a sale. All he has to do his relate the objective facts surrounding the sale that led to his refusal. USC Title 18 922, Illegal acts, grounds for refusal has been in place longer than the FBI system and since its inception required gun shops to use discretion.
A gun shop can refuse to complete a transaction if the buyer:
- Is intoxicated
- Lies on the required form
- Is a habitual addict or drunkard
- Is an illegal alien
- A fugitive
- Is under indictment
- Is judged mentally defective
- Is under a restraining order, and on…
Most of these criteria are covered in the FBI background check. But a gun shop owner that has knowledge independent of the FBI system is still justified in acting.
Three common scenarios come to mind:
- Intoxication at time and point of sale.
- Lying on the form, a straw purchase or false identification’
- Extreme agitation on the part of the buyer, that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the buyer wasn’t capable of “cool reflection”.
There is difference between the gun shop and a bakery refusing to sell a cake to a gay couple. By virtue of the license issued to the gun store by ATF the gun store agreed to enforce ATF rules some of which are covered in 18 USC 922.