Unfortunately, a petitie woman buying a 12 ga tactical shotgun while a man is with her pointing out the exact model to buy looks to the FFL like a straw purchase.
There is no long gun registration in New Albany, Ohio, so there is no "having it in her name" involved, other than the 4473 paperwork.
The couple should have simply had the man submit to the NICS check and fill out the 4473, and everything would have been fine.
It is the ATF, not the Walmart counter salesman, to blame here.
Correction: New Albany, Indiana. But the same holds true in Indinana, no long gun registration.
Must if he suspects? That’s a fluid standard if ever there was one. Unless the customer comes out and says so you can’t know. It’s not like checking IDs with booze; there’s no iron standard being ignored here. Will the ATF fine Walmart or throw the clerk in jail because a reasonable person should gave had suspicions? Is there a presumption of suspicion. That’s tyrannical, first of all, and really impossible to prove.