City of Philadelphia to bring suit against gun shop owners over 'straw sales' while reducing penalties for criminals

The City of Philadelphia has announced a lawsuit against several gun shops alleging that they have acted recklessly for selling guns which were later used in criminal activity. 

The suit mainly alleges that the shops were negligent in engaging in the straw purchases of guns. Straw purchases are transactions where guns will then be illegally transferred to others.  

Defendants named in the suit are Tanner's Sport Center, Frank's Gun Shop and Shooting Range, and Delta's Gun Shop.  

Allegedly the defendants in the case routinely engaged in straw purchases because they ignored "indicators of illegal activity." These indicators included "high volume, multiple-sale transactions involving duplicate or near duplicate firearms, open collaboration between buyers and others in-store, and the presentation of false identification to store clerks." 

Delta allegedly accepted a stolen driver's license when going through with a straw purchase.  

Straw purchases contribute to the black market of illegal gun sales and the defendants played "an outsize role in supplying" the market, according to the lawsuit.  

During multiple criminal investigations after the defendants sold guns to customers, several of the firearms were discovered to have been part of homicides, domestic violence cases, and robberies.  

"According to court filings in criminal prosecutions of straw purchasers, Tanner’s has sold at least 79 guns to at least 11 different straw purchasers between April 2019 and May 2021," the suit alleges.  

It says that one straw purchaser, Nafez Hutchings, bought "three and four handguns at a time, multiple times, in less than a week," which the suit refers to as "unmistakable indicators of illegal straw purchasing." 

"Frank’s has sold at least 48 guns to at least 15 different straw purchasers between April 2018 and December 2021," the suit added.  

In one instance of Frank's case, some straw purchasers "collectively bought 15 guns from Frank’s in 12 separate transactions." This is a "textbook example of straw purchasing that the store should have recognized and stopped immediately," the suit alleges.  

The three shops are being charged with negligence and contributing to the public nuisance of crime. The city is seeking damages from the gun shop owners.

This comes as Philadelphia's rate of conviction for firearms offenses remains high, with 41 percent of cases in 2023 so far being withdrawn or dismissed, and one percent being placed in diversion programs, according to the city's District Attorney's office.

With around four months remaining in the year, 2023's number is fast approaching that seen in 2022, with 47 percent of cases being dismissed and 3 percent being given diversion agreements. 2021 saw 62 percent of firearms cases be dismissed or placed in diversion programs, and 2020 saw 54 cases end as such.

The lowest year seen since 2010 was 2015, where 17 percent of cases were dismissed or placed in a diversion program.