Charles A. Black, 36, of Parsons, Kan., is going to prison for dealing death behind the counter. The federally licensed firearms dealer was sentenced Wednesday to six months behind bars, followed by a year of probation, for knowingly selling a firearm to a convicted felon — a move that cut through federal law like a switchblade through tape.
Black, once the owner of Triple B Sporting Goods at 2530 Main Street in Parsons, pleaded guilty to a single count of selling a firearm to a prohibited person. He didn’t just look the other way — he orchestrated the sale. The buyer, a man Black had known since their teenage years, had a felony conviction that should have barred him from purchasing any gun. But Black found a workaround: fraud.
According to court documents, Black allowed the felon to use another man’s identity to pass a federal background check. That deception cleared the way for the purchase of a Keltec 9 mm pistol — a weapon now documented in the federal record as trafficked through a licensed dealer’s corruption. The sale wasn’t a mistake. It was a calculated breach of trust and law.
As a federally licensed dealer, Black was required to uphold the strictest standards in firearm sales — including verifying identities and flagging red flags. Instead, he became the enabler. By exploiting his position, he turned a government-sanctioned storefront into a pipeline for illegal weapons. His plea admits all of it: knowledge, intent, and betrayal of his license.
U.S. Attorney Tom Beall, who prosecuted the case, called the violation a dangerous breach of public safety. ‘When licensed dealers ignore the law,’ Beall said, ‘they don’t just break rules — they arm criminals.’ Beall credited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) for cracking the case, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Treaster, who handled the prosecution.
Black’s six-month sentence lands at the low end of federal guidelines, but prosecutors argued the crime demanded accountability — not leniency. With gun trafficking feeding violent crime across the region, cases like this expose the weak links in the system. Black wasn’t some back-alley gunrunner. He had a license, a store, and a duty. He chose to violate it. Now, he’ll do time.
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