Opinion ID: 3035899
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: “Required by this chapter”

Text: Soto makes two arguments with respect to this issue. First, he asserts that the issue of whether the “required by this chapter” language under Section 924(a)(1)(A) was an issue that had to be decided by the jury instead of the judge. Second, Soto argues that even if the District Court properly determined that the issue was not one for the jury, the “actual buyer” question on form 4473 was not required to be kept by the federal firearms licensee. For the following reasons, we reject each of these arguments. 1. The “required by this chapter” issue was a legal issue At trial, the District Court instructed the jury that: You’ve heard testimony, you have evidence before you that a federal firearms licensee is required to keep the information pertaining to the actual buyer. You’ve heard that testimony and you heard testimony that statements were made within the context of transactions that involved the acquisition of a firearm. So that it is incumbent upon the Government to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the false statement or statements were made 12 with respect to the information required to be kept in the records of a licensed firearms dealer, and you are instructed, I do tell you and instruct you, that a licensed firearm dealer is required by federal regulation to record each gun sale on an ATF Form 4473, which requires the name, address, and other information concerning the transferee, the person who is actually purchasing the gun. And you are further instructed that a licensed firearms dealer is required by federal regulation to retain each Form 4473 obtained in the course of transferring custody of firearms . . . The information required to be kept in the records of the of a licensed federal firearms dealer includes, as I have told you, the actual buyer’s identity. And a straw purchaser is not the actual buyer of the a firearm where a straw purchase is taking place. (App. 182-83.) Soto asserts that the trial judge should have allowed the jury to decide whether the “actual buyer” question was information required by the statute to be kept by the federal firearms licensee in his records. He relies heavily on the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 13 506 (1995), to support this argument. Gaudin is not applicable in this case. In Gaudin, the defendant was convicted of making material false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of a federal agency in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001.1 The issue presented in Gaudin was whether it was constitutional for the trial judge to refuse to submit the question of materiality to the jury. See 515 U.S. at 507. Ultimately, the Supreme Court held that “[t]he Constitution gives a criminal defendant the right to have a jury determine, beyond a reasonable doubt, his guilt of every element of the crime with which he is charged. The trial 1 At the time, 18 U.S.C. § 1001 stated that: Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals or covers up by any trick, scheme, or devise a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. 14 judge’s refusal to allow the jury to pass on the ‘materiality’ of Gaudin’s false statements infringed that right.” Id. at 522-23. Unlike the factual determination of whether the statements in Gaudin were material, whether the 4473 form, and its contents, were “required by this chapter” to be kept by the federal firearms licencee was purely a legal matter. This legal issue was within the province of the trial judge to decide. Cf. Gares v. Willingboro Twp., 90 F.3d 720, 734 (3d Cir. 1996) (noting that issues of statutory interpretation are pure legal issues). We reject Soto’s first argument that the “required by this chapter” language in § 924(a)(1)(A) was an issue that had to be decided by the jury. 2. The “actual buyer” question was information that was required to be kept by the federal firearms licensee Soto asserts that the District Court erred when it determined that the “actual buyer” question in form 4473 is required to be kept by the federal firearms licensee pursuant to Chapter 44 of Title 18. At least one other Circuit Court has squarely addressed this issue. See United States v. Nelson, 221 F.3d 1206 (11th Cir. 2000). In Nelson, the issue was whether the identity of the “actual buyer” of the firearm was the type of information that federal firearms dealers are required to keep in their records. See id. at 1209. As noted by the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, “[s]everal provisions in Chapter 44 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which is the chapter referred to in § 924(a)(1)(A), require licensed firearms dealers to keep records containing information about the identity of individuals who buy firearms.” Id. For example, 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(5) makes clear that the information that these records must contain includes, at a minimum, the name, age and 15 place of residence of any individual who purchases a firearm. Section 922(s)(3) requires that the licensed dealer obtain a statement from the transferee which includes a description of the type of identification used. Additionally, section 923(g)(1)(A) states that, “[e]ach licensed importer, licensed manufacturer and licensed dealer shall maintain such records of importation, production, shipment, receipt, sale, or other disposition of firearms at his place of business for such period, and in such form, as the Attorney General may by regulations prescribe.” Among the regulations promulgated by the Attorney General are the legal requirements that each federally licensed firearm dealer record each sale on the 4473 form, see 27 C.F.R. § 478.124(a), and that each federally licensed firearm dealer retain the 4473 form in his records. See 27 C.F.R. § 478.124(b). In Nelson, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit noted that “information about the actual buyer’s identity is necessary in order for the firearms dealer to ascertain whether the potential purchaser is in fact eligible to purchase a firearm under Chapter 44.” 221 F.3d at 1209 (citing 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1)-(3) (making it unlawful for licensed dealers to sell firearms to individuals who are ineligible to purchase them as a result of restrictions imposed under state law or due to the individual’s age or out of state residence)). The court explained that, “[i]f an ineligible buyer could simply use a ‘straw man’ or agent to obtain a firearm from a licensed dealer, the statutory scheme would be too easily defeated.” Id. The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit determined that § 924(a)(1)(A) applied to situations involving “straw purchases.” See id. at 1210. 16 We agree with the reasoning and holding in Nelson, and find that § 924(a)(1)(A) applies to the circumstances of the “straw purchases” presented in this case. As previously stated, the statute makes clear that the federal firearms licensee must keep records of sales of firearms on forms that the Attorney General prescribes. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(g)(1)(A). Among the regulations prescribed by the Attorney General is the requirement that the licensee have each firearm applicant fill out form 4473, which includes the “actual buyer” question that Brown falsely certified in this case, and that the firearms licensee keep that form in his records. See 27 C.F.R. § 478.124(a)-(b). We conclude that the information Brown falsely answered on form 4473 was information that was “required by this chapter” to be kept in the records by the federal firearms licensee as stated in § 924(a)(1)(A). As noted by the court in Nelson, to conclude otherwise would too easily defeat the statutory scheme. See 221 F.3d at 1209.