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When police served a search and seizure warrant at Albert Dellomo’s home on the 600 block of South Sixth Street Aug. 6, they found a rifle, four handguns, a pellet gun and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Three of the firearms were registered to a 60-year-old from the 1900 block of Alder Street currently under federal investigation after admitting to authorities he purchased guns for Dellomo, 61. With 13 prior arrests in Philadelphia alone, Dellomo is being held without bail, pending the outcome of a psychiatric evaluation, police said.
While it is not illegal to buy firearms, it is against the law to purchase one for somebody who legally can’t, Special Agent John Hageman of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said.
The act of buying illegal firearms makes one a straw-purchaser and the guns procured, straw purchases.
"The word we want to get out is if someone approaches you to buy a firearm, that’s a red flag and it means they can’t legally purchase. If you purchase for them, that is illegal," Detective Joe Chiaro of South Detectives said.
Since there is no limit at any time to the number of firearms somebody can acquire in the state of Pennsylvania, the person purchasing for another often walks away with several. Twenty-one is the legal age to obtain a handgun and 18 for a rifle or shotgun.
It’s not unusual for the requester to accompany the gofer to shop, sometimes even going in to ensure things go according to plan, Hageman said.
"The minute guy A sends person B to buy a gun for him it is not a legal purchase," the agent said, adding both parties face a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.
In recent years, ATF agents have noticed an alarming trend: Though most gun offenders are male, women now account for almost three-quarters of all illegal buyers, Hageman said. "These women are buying so many guns and putting them in the hands of these men," the agent said.
He believes criminals think women are less noticeable, therefore sending them as gofers.
Authorities do not have statistics on straw purchases because "it’s an illegal act that often goes undetected," the agent said.
According to Hageman, a person resorts to a straw-purchaser for two main reasons: A criminal record — a prohibitive factor in buying a firearm — or the person does not want a paper trail.
"Anytime you buy a gun for a criminal, the gun is going to be used for criminal activity. It might be used in a homicide, in the shooting of a child or even a police officer," the agent said.
Straw-purchasers gain little, if anything, from their actions. A tank of gas, $25 and even sexual favors are usual stipends, Hageman said, adding nobody gets rich from this.
The party doing the asking usually sticks close to home, utilizing a friend, neighbor or family. Since it’s rare for South Philly straw purchases to wind up in other parts of town, the firearms go right back into the neighborhood, the agent said. "Straw-purchasers are ruining their own community."
More often than not, buyers know they are committing a crime before setting foot in a gun shop, Hageman said. But even if they don’t, question 11a on the Firearms Transaction Record should alert them. It reads: "Are you the actual buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form?" Followed by, "Warning: You are not the actual buyer if you are acquiring the firearm(s) on behalf of another person." To avoid any confusion, a lengthy paragraph defining "actual buyer" may be found on the final page of the application.
Since straw-purchasers answer yes to that question, Hageman explained, ATF snags them on providing false statements to a federal firearms licensee.
In an effort to combat straw-purchasing, ATF works with dealers to educate them on what constitutes an illegal sale and how to identify one. Gun dealers in the past have alerted the bureau to suspicious activity, Hageman said.
A straw-purchaser often reports the guns obtained as stolen, when they actually wind up in the hands of the person who asked for the buy. This action, Chiaro said, now carries a charge of dealing without a license.
More than 90 percent of the time a suspect commits a crime, a check of the weapon indicates it is not registered to that person and that it’s stolen, Chiaro said. "We’re seeing all these guns on the street. How are they getting there?" the detective posed.
Straw purchases are a problem all over the city. District Attorney Lynne Abraham has long acknowledged it is a contributing factor to crime, Cathie Abookire, Abraham’s spokesperson, said. That’s one reason the district attorney backs a recently proposed one-gun-a-month bill that limits the amount of firearms a person may purchase, Abookire said. In March 1999, California became the first state to pass this legislation. Maryland and Virginia are the only states in this region to follow suit.
"District Attorney Lynne Abraham’s position is a law that would … drive a tremendous wedge in the straw-purchase market," the spokesperson said.
With a shelf-life of 50 to 60 years, a gun usually passes hands several times and is involved in numerous shootings, Hageman said. "It’s the straw-purchasers who don’t realize they are the ones putting the guns on the street," the agent said. "When in the hands of the criminal element, it is an instrument of death."
