Bert’s Sporting Goods, Inc., with stores located throughout the state of Lys, sells a wide variety of sporting goods, including guns. Section 123.45 of the Lys Penal Code requires sellers of guns to verify that the purchaser has not committed a felony within the last five years. If the purchaser has committed a felony within the last five years, the seller is not allowed to make the sale. Selling a gun to a recent felon is considered a misdemeanor and is punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a maximum $10,000 fine.

Jim Dandy, who was convicted of a felony under Lys’s penal code four years ago, went to purchase a gun at one of the Bert’s Sporting Goods stores. Joe Mountain, a salesman at Bert’s, sold Dandy the gun without asking for identification or checking to see whether Dandy was a convicted felon.

As a matter of fact, Mountain never checked whether any of the customers to whom he sold guns were felons. Mountain did not know of the Lys law requiring him to check on the customer’s prior criminal history. However, Jay Lake, Mountain’s supervisor, knew of the law and also knew that Mountain never checked whether a customer was a felon. Bert, the sole shareholder and director of Bert’s Sporting Goods, Inc., knew about the law but did not know that Mountain did not check on his customers’ prior criminal history.

Dandy used the gun in a robbery and shot two police officers during his getaway. He was never captured. Can Mountain be punished under Section 123.45 of the Lys Penal Code? What about Lake? Bert? Bert’s Sporting Goods, Inc.? What penalties should be assessed? [Staples . United States, 511 U.S. 600 (1994).]