Maryland, Washington attorneys general sue local gun dealers over straw purchases 

WASHINGTON (CN) — The attorneys general for Washington, D.C. and Maryland teamed up with gun control advocates Tuesday in an effort to hold dealers accountable for illegal firearm purchases.

Joined by gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, the officials filed a negligence and public nuisance suit accusing three Maryland gun of failing to prevent straw purchases by Marylander Demetrius Minor, who prosecutors in 2022 indicted on federal gun trafficking charges.

The three shops in Rockville, Maryland, sold Minor 34 handguns over seven months in 2021.

“He was obviously engaged in illegal straw purchasing — but the defendants did not care,” the plaintiffs wrote in the 42-page complaint. “They kept taking his money and selling him more guns, putting the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area at risk.”

As described in the complaint, Minor handed the guns over to his co-defendant Donald Willis, a Washington-based family member who had prior felony convictions including for armed robbery and assault. Willis sold the weapons to other convicted felons or minors who could not legally obtain firearms, the attorneys general said.

“This lawsuit puts any other bad-faith dealers who prioritize profits over the law and public safety on notice: Traffickers and straw purchasers will be held accountable, but so too will the gun stores that ignore suspicious purchasing behaviors and facilitate the flow of illegal weapons into our cities and local communities,” Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law, said in a press release.

The senior vice president of the industry trade group National Shooting Sports Foundation said the government should focus on the illegal purchaser, not businesses, and called the lawsuit politically motivated.

“It’s an illegal purchase, not an illegal sale,” Lawrence Keane said in a phone interview. “People don’t walk in with signs that say, ‘I’m here to straw-purchase.’”

But Brian Schwalb, attorney general for the nation’s capital, and Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown say United Gun Shop, Atlantic Guns and Engage Armant ignored blatant warning signs of straw-purchasing, which is when licensed firearm dealers sell to a buyer who is purchasing the gun for a third party.

Bulk purchases; repetitive buying of the same or similar firearms within a short period; taking photographs or videos in the store; and the inability to answer simple questions about why a customer is buying firearms are signals of straw purchasers, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

“The level of gun violence in the district, and the devastating impact it has on victims, families and our community as a whole, is unacceptable,” Schwalb said in a press release. “This is a regional problem that requires a regional solution, as far too often, guns purchased in Maryland and Virginia are trafficked across our borders and end up at crime scenes in DC.”

One of the gun shop defendants denied the claims in an emailed statement to Courthouse News: “Atlantic Guns, Inc. has never and will never knowingly sell to someone who we have reason to believe is committing a straw purchase. Until we have received and reviewed the complaint, we are unable to comment further.”

The other shops did not return requests for comment.

At least nine of the guns sold to Minor were recovered at crime scenes in Washington and Maryland, according to the complaint. Some were found on fugitives with active warrants for violent offenses. “Many more are likely in the hands of other individuals legally barred from possessing firearms and will be used in future crimes,” the complaint says.

From 2022 to 2023, DC saw a 55% increase in violent crimes carried out with firearms, and the number of firearms recovered by Montgomery County Police increased 130% in 2023 compared to a decade ago.

Darius Baxter, chief engagement officer of the GOOD Projects, a Washington nonprofit that helps disadvantaged youth, said in a phone interview that consistency is vital for stopping gun trafficking.

“I think with policing in general, it’s easy today to put forth this lawsuit, put out a bunch of press releases, particularly in an election year, get a lot of praise,” Baxter said. “Policing requires consistency.”