So since he was acquitted, yes, it really is legal as per my definition. It's just that some idiot ATBF agent/lawyer thought it wasn't..but the jury corrected them.
According to the ATF regs, it's not legal, at least not the way Lara did it. (It helps to know, also, that Lara paid for part of the purchase, and the recipient paid for part of the purchase, which makes it "more" like a straw. ) Whether or not they can be successful in prosecuting you for it or not, is another story.
That said, I'm pretty sure Lara was acquitted because of a few things:
-The spirit and intent of the law vs. what it actually says caused a problem.
-The law is, quite frankly f**king stupid (EG, what's wrong with a person that is NOT prohibited from receiving a handgun?) The whole thing is just
a logic bomb. It's like having a law that says something as dumb as "Well, self defense is legal, but NOT on Sundays!!!"
-The law does not CLEARLY delineate straw purchases.
The jury likely had a hard time accepting/swallowing all of the above and that's why he was acquitted... they thought it irresponsible for the ATF to
try to convict someone of something so petty and meaningless, and devoid of real criminal intent.
-Mike