Hearing ads on the radio suggesting one surprise their Dad with a firearm. Nothing complicated. Buy it...wrap it up...surprise Dad on Father's Day. At least that's how they make it sound. Pretty hard to say as much as you should in a 30sec commercial.

Makes it sound like a straw purchase to me. One could give Dad a gift certificate. Could even have him do the background check in person himself without him knowing what it was for but then it wouldn't be as much of a surprise.

What would be the best (legal) way to make this happen?

Gift certificate.
I once had a WM employee snatch a Henry out of my hand when I said I was inspecting it because I was giving it to my 12 YO daughter as gift.

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Who are those guys?

Assuming that Dad is an upstanding citizen who is legally qualified to possess a firearm and lives in the same state, it is generally legal to buy him a gun as a gift, at least as far as federal law goes. Where it becomes a straw sale, is if he asks you to buy it for him or if you do it in an attempt to circumvent laws.
Of course, some states have their own rules about these things. When I gave my CA-dwelling son-in-law a S&W 629 as a wedding gift, I flew to Los Angeles with the gun and we had to take it to a dealer to do a kosher transfer.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

I often give my kids guns as gifts. I buy them, wrap them up, and give them to them.

As far as the form goes, I am the actual buyer of the gun. I will own it for the time it takes to give it to them. I’m not selling it, and my kids are not prohibited persons. I did the same with my Dad when he was alive. Every now and then, one of them gives me a firearm for a gift and they do the same thing.

Even in blue-state Colorado gifts of firearms to immediate family don’t require a background check.

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Rule of law, not a man.

Yes, I believe it’s settled law to gift to a child, but try to tell that to a know it all WalMart employee. It wasn’t worth the effort. I left and bought it at another WM and kept my mouth shut.

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Who are those guys?

If Dad is otherwise qualified to own a firearm, any family member can give him a gun. It's called a Familial transfer, no paper required. Some states may have slightly different rules.

I gave all my children and grandchildren handguns when they went to college.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Gift Certificate.

Otherwise one of the boys will get me this .380 and they know I am a brand snob for S&W and Colts.