What shape of guns is at the center of Hunter Biden's gun trial? AP explains | News, Sports, Jobs

The prosecution of Hunter Biden on federal gun charges stems from a 7-page form that potential gun buyers must fill out when purchasing a gun from a gun company approved. The form includes standard questions about things that would prevent a person from owning a gun, such as prior felony convictions, mental health issues or illegal drug use.

Drug issue landed Biden in court – prosecutors say he lied on paperwork related to 2018 gun purchase when he said he didn't use drugs . Biden's lawyers say he did not consider himself a drug addict when he bought the gun.

Although people are sometimes prosecuted for allegedly lying on the form, experts say it usually happens as part of a larger case involving more serious conduct, and cases like the one filed against Biden are rare.

Here are some things to know about the form and weapons-related charges:

PAPERWORK

The Firearms Transaction Record, also known as ATF Form 4473, is essentially an application to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer. It is used for a quick background check to ensure the buyer is not legally prohibited from owning a weapon. There are nine items on the form that can disqualify a buyer, and most of them are easy to check, said Jacob Charles, an associate professor at Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law.

If a person has been convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison or has been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility, these records will appear during the background check. But one of the big difficulties with the illegal drug user portion of the form is that it is difficult to verify, Charles said.

“It’s pretty rare for this line on the background check form to be pursued on its own,” Charles said. “It can be difficult to prove these kinds of cases, because unless someone confesses or is under the influence at the time, there isn't always a lot of evidence.”

This is especially true in states like Oregon or Washington, where certain drugs like marijuana have been legalized locally although they remain illegal under federal law.

“In every state where marijuana is legal, hundreds of thousands of people own guns,” Charles said. If they also use marijuana — even with a medical marijuana card — they are illegal gun owners under federal law, he said.

THE PROSECUTIONS

Andrew Willinger, executive director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, said charges of illegal gun possession typically appear in court as part of larger criminal cases.

Prosecutions like the one against Biden — where the charges are not related to another crime like drug possession, theft or assault — are unusual, Willinger said.

“It's very rare that this is sort of the main charge in a case. These charges are typically brought as additional charges when there is more serious conduct involved – against someone who has a long criminal history, someone who has engaged in behavior violent with a gun,” Willinger said. “Possession of a firearm as a felony is the most common charge, and it's sort of the easiest to prosecute because all you have to provide is that the individual was involved in a crime and possesses a firearm.”

Prosecuting someone for possessing a gun while using drugs requires a thorough investigation, Willinger said, and it usually relies on having evidence of multiple instances of drug use in the weeks or days before the purchase of the weapon.

NUMBERS

It's difficult to determine how often people are actually prosecuted for illegal possession of firearms in each of the nine exclusion categories listed on Form 4473. But Willinger says the numbers are tiny compared to the millions of applications for firearms. purchase of weapons deposited each year.

It's easier to track how many people are being denied purchases. According to the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 25 million gun transfer or permit applications were filed in 2020. Only about 1.6% of them, or about 398,000, were denied, and about half of those denials were because the applicant had a felony conviction, indictment, or arrest. Drug use or dependence accounted for about 8.6 percent of denials, according to the office.

In other words, only about 0.13% of total gun transfer or permit applications filed in 2020 were rejected due to drug use or possession.

More recent statistics are rare, but a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that in fiscal year 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives returned approximately 12,700 gun purchases denied to its field divisions for further investigation. As of June 2018, only 12 of these cases had been prosecuted federally.

Hunter Biden is accused of illegally purchasing and possessing a firearm for 11 days in October 2018.

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