A gift is outside of the jurisdiction of the ATF on non-NFA weapons. But you must declare it on your taxes if income law applies. Either way, someone is going to end up doing paperwork. Plus, you state may require paperwork over and above the federal level.
From ATF:
Where a person purchases a firearm
with the intent of making a gift of the
firearm to another person, the person
making the purchase is indeed the true
purchaser. There is no straw purchaser
in these instances. In the above example,
if Mr. Jones had bought a firearm
with his own money to give to Mr. Smith
as a birthday present, Mr. Jones could
lawfully have completed Form 4473.
The use of gift certificates would also
not fall within the category of straw purchases.
The person redeeming the gift
certificate would be the actual purchaser
of the firearm and would be properly
reflected as such in the dealer's records.