UC Davis Med Center researcher Garen Wintemute says he conducted research by attending gun shows in Nevada, Arizona and other states with looser rules and witnessed two-dozen so-called “straw” or surrogate purchases. 

"In the vast majority of cases, these transactions were conducted right out in the open. No one seemed to feel any need to disguise the fact that the person handing over the money was not actually the person who was going to be in possession of the gun."

Wintemute says he found that 30% of the vehicles parked outside a Reno gun show were from California. His observational study appears in the current issue of the health journal Injury Prevention.