Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) founder Alan Gottlieb reacted to President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter by describing it as “an affront” to everyone who has been imprisoned for misstatements on ATF form 4473.
Breitbart News noted Hunter was convicted of three gun-related crimes earlier this year. The crimes were one count of false statement in the purchase of a firearm, one count of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, and one count of false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer.
The first of the three charges — the one centered on giving a false statement — related to Hunter allegedly lying on ATF form 4473.
ATF Form 4473 is the firearm transfer form that begins the background check process each would-be gun buyer fills out upon 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 would-be 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.
The form asks questions like, “Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form? … Warning: You are not the actual transferee/buyer if you are acquiring the firearm(s) on behalf of another person. If you are not the actual transferee/buyer, the licensee cannot transfer the firearm(s) to you.”
The only two response options are “yes” or “no.”
The form also asks:
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.
Again, the only two response options are “yes” or “no.”
Hunter was found guilty on three all gun charges in June 2024 and was pardoned by his father on December 1, 2024.
SAF’s Gottlieb reacted to the pardon. “This pardon is an affront to all the people who have been convicted and/or served prison time for falsely filling out the same federal form that Hunter Biden did,” he told Breitbart News, “especially those who committed a nonviolent crime as a young adult and were never told that they lost the right to own a gun and had no intention of lying.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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