This story should be getting much wider attention than it is. In a moment when we want very much to have universal background checks, in a moment when we all concede that we want to keep guns out of the hands of drug and alcohol abusers (among others), and in a year when we should all be good and tired of the children of powerful (and white) politicians receiving special dispensation... this story simply shouldn't happen.
Hunter Biden meaningfully lied on a 4473 (the form one fills out to purchase a gun and initiate the background check) and has faced no punishment for it.
What's the point of running background checks on people purchasing firearms if we're not going to punish people who lie on the forms?
We should be arresting people who tell material lies while attempting to purchase a firearm.
Lying on that form is a felony. If someone makes a material lie on that form, I want them charged and convicted of the felony because that will prevent them from ever legally purchasing a firearm again. I have absolutely no trouble with a first-time offender spending 90 days or 6 months in jail and a year on probation.... I just want the felony charged and prosecuted.... instead of covered up
I don't want him punished with any extraordinary harshness, but the way politicians show they are serious about improving society is to apply existing laws to their own families.
