Richard Dietz ('02)
Posted: January 27th, 2014 | By: Stacy Jones
Richard Dietz (’02) and two other lawyers with Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton in Winston-Salem, N.C., argued a gun law case before the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 22, 2014.
Dietz is quoted in a WFDD 88.5 News article regarding the case, which has at issue the “straw purchaser” doctrine.
According to the article, the straw purchaser is “a law intended to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, such as felons, juveniles or mentally incompetent people.” The case background is that Bruce Abramski bought a handgun for his uncle in 2009, citing use of a police employee discount at the time, but indicating on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form that he was not buying the gun on behalf of another person.
Journalist Audrey Fannin writes, ”Dietz says the heart of the case is deciding whether the court-created doctrine of the straw purchaser should apply in a case like this…one implication is that law-abiding citizens who buy guns for others could be prosecuted for a felony offense, as Abramski was. He says a ruling in this case could clarify when one lawful gun owner can buy one for another, as well as if guns can be purchased for charity and political raffles.”
Read the full article from NPR News and WFDD 88.5 here.
