Friend Buying gun for me?

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coues

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I am a resident of AZ living in Idaho for a brief period. I want to buy a 22 long rifle from walmart but they wont sell to me unless I am a resident of Idaho or a state surrounding Idaho.

Sportsmans Warehouse will sell a rifle to me.

Instead of driving 4 hours to Utah to buy the 22, since I an from AZ, I might have a friend(idaho resident) buy the 22 from walmart and sell it to me. Bill of sale signed from him to me. This is completely legal right?

I don't know why Walmart follows the bordering state thing and Sportsmans wouldn't. I did buy a rifle from sportsmans last year in Idaho.

I just want to make sure me and my friend will be ok with the law and that nothing illegal is taking place. thanks
 
Instead of driving 4 hours to Utah to buy the 22, since I an from AZ, I might have a friend(idaho resident) buy the 22 from walmart and sell it to me. Bill of sale signed from him to me. This is completely legal right?
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No. That is a straw purchase since he would not be the actual purchaser of the firearm. The technicality of him then selling it to you doesn't change that.
 
Dang, looks like i'll be making a drive to Utah.

I would think it would be legal. I would be breaking Walmart policy not the law right? Why can Sportsmans Warehouse sell me the gun but not Walmart?
 
No, you are breaking the law if your friend purchases the rifle for the purpose of selling it to you. That's breaking a federal law. DO NOT DO IT, you will be a FELON.
 
Im not planning on doing it. Just curious why sportsmans warehouse can sell me the gun but not walmart.
 
You and your bud can get in big trouble if he purchases the 22 for you. Matter fact, question 11a (the questions that deal with criminal background, insanity.....:D) on form 4473 which needs to be filled out to purchase a firearm from a store asks if the purchaser is the original transferee/buyer of the firearm. Drive the 4 hours and save yourselves the trouble.
 
would think it would be legal. I would be breaking Walmart policy not the law right? Why can Sportsmans Warehouse sell me the gun but not Walmart?
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You would be breaking the law. Straw purchases are illegal regardless of the reason.
 
Ok thanks for the help. I just got off the phone with Sportsmans Warehouse and they might be able to custom order the gun after all. If they can't, I'll drive to Utah. Thanks for the help.

geez all this over a 22. LOL
 
Not only would it be a straw purchase, which is fairly hard to prove, but his transferring it to you would be a violation of federal law, since it would be from an unlicensed resident of one state to an unlicensed resident of another state. (The "adjoining states" language was removed from the law in 1986.)

Jim
 
If he is actually living in Idaho, even temporarily, he is a resident of Idaho for the purpose of firearms transactions. So a private sale from another resident of Idaho to him would not be illegal. However, as stated earlier, another person buying the rifle with the express intent of transferring it to him would still be a straw purchase.

Residency is defined in 27 CFR 478.11:

http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/tex...iv8&view=text&node=27:3.0.1.2.3.2.1.1&idno=27

State of residence. The State in which an individual resides. An individual resides in a State if he or she is present in a State with the intention of making a home in that State. If an individual is on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces, the individual's State of residence is the State in which his or her permanent duty station is located. An alien who is legally in the United States shall be considered to be a resident of a State only if the alien is residing in the State and has resided in the State for a period of at least 90 days prior to the date of sale or delivery of a firearm. The following are examples that illustrate this definition:

Example 1. A maintains a home in State X. A travels to State Y on a hunting, fishing, business, or other type of trip. A does not become a resident of State Y by reason of such trip.

Example 2. A is a U.S. citizen and maintains a home in State X and a home in State Y. A resides in State X except for weekends or the summer months of the year and in State Y for the weekends or the summer months of the year. During the time that A actually resides in State X, A is a resident of State X, and during the time that A actually resides in State Y, A is a resident of State Y.
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To the OP:
Did you talk to the actual manager of the Wal Mart Store? They should have no problems selling you a rifle. They should have a map with red and green states on it, red they can't sell to, green they can. There should be about 42 states that are green on their map.

To add to residency, the ATF has also ruled that even a college student attending college outside their "home" state, is a resident of the state they are going to college in while they are there, even if they are only living in the dorms at school.
 
I'm not sure if I talked to the manager. I talked to the guy they said who would know. I should go back and speak with the manager.

The only map they had was of the western United States. Idaho and all surrounding states were red, showing they could sell to those states. Any other state was grey.

They don't know what they are doing and Sportsmans Warehouse does.
 
I didn't have anything to show that I am living here when I went to Walmart. I doubt it would matter with them.

But with sportsmans I could show mail recieved or a statement from the college.
 
coues said:
Dang, looks like i'll be making a drive to Utah.

I would think it would be legal. I would be breaking Walmart policy not the law right? Why can Sportsmans Warehouse sell me the gun but not Walmart?
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Rule #1:
Most Walmart clerks don't know diddle about what they happen to be "selling" that day. Today it's shoes, tomorrow, paint, day after that sporting goods. I can't believe how many of these "the guy at Walmart says" threads there are ... getting all this legal advice from minimum wage part time clerks.

I can't believe that that particular Walmart has the ONLY copy of this particular 22 rifle in existence on the planet. Find an FFL local to you, who does special orders or transfers, and have them get one for you. I can assure you the price difference will be less than a 4 hour drive to another state.

IF your friend buys the gun, with the express purpose of reselling it to you, that is a "Straw Purchase", and will earn you both an unscheduled vacation as a guest of the state at the local GreyBar hotel. Even if he did buy it, he still can't get it to you without shipping it to an FFL in your state to do the transfer ... he can't ship it directly to you (unless, of course, you both wish to extend your stay at the GreyBar).
 
Its a felony, it has nothing to do with store policy and everything to do with clerks not knowing the law.

You just said that you are legally unable to obtain a firearm and are wanting to have someone buy one for you. That my friend is a straw purchase = a felony.

Think about whether this .22 is worth 10 years in the pen.
 
If he is actually living in Idaho, even temporarily, he is a resident of Idaho for the purpose of firearms transactions.
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Yeah, that worked out real well for Cavalry Arms.

I don't know why Walmart follows the bordering state thing and Sportsmans wouldn't. I did buy a rifle from sportsmans last year in Idaho.
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There is no "bordering state" law.

You can buy a long-gun from an FFL in any state, provided it is legal in your home state. If they (the dealer) choose to make up their own additional rules, that's their own deal.
 
If he is actually living in Idaho, even temporarily, he is a resident of Idaho for the purpose of firearms transactions.
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And as long as he has some form of tangible proof that he lives there. Like a Drivers License, State ID Card, Voter Registration Card, etc. Actually most every FFL01 I've run across won't sell directly to you unless you have some sort of their State ID. (Or you are military with orders showing that you are stationed there. Some won't even accept that because, as Zak said "some dealers choose to make up their own additional rules, then that's their own deal.")
 
Just a suggestion, can the FFL at the sportsman's warehouse do the transfer for you? Does anyone know if that is legal, like the friend buys it, and then takes it to an FFL to transfer to you?
 
Bubbles said:
Idaho state law prohibits the sale of a rifle to anyone who is not a resident of ID or a contiguous state. Utah has no such restrictions. So, the OP can legally purchase the gun from the Sportsman's Warehouse in Utah.
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Bubbles,

Do you work for Wal Mart?!?

Idaho has no statute that prohibits the sale of a rifle to anyone who is not a resident of ID or a contiguous state. I would challenge you to post a prohibitive statute, because there isn't one.

What you will find is ID Statutes 18-3314 and 18-3315 (see links below) which were permissive statutes required by the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968 PRIOR TO 1986. In 1986 the Federal GCA was ammended to repeal the contiguous state requirement and the requirement for permissive state laws regarding out-of-state long gun sales by FFLs. Those state laws that still exist that were written to comply with the pre-1986 ammendment now allow residents to buy rifles from FFLs in any state - so long as there is no specific prohibition contained in state law. Idaho has NO specific prohibitions. This is all explained in the August 2004 ATF Newsletter to FFLs (see link below).

Also, look at the specific text of 3315 which is quoted below. Notice it says, "18-3315.nonresident -- Purchase of firearm in Idaho. Residents of a state other than the state of Idaho may purchase rifles and shotguns in Idaho," and mentions nothing about limiting purchase to residents of contiguous states.

http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/idstat/Title18/T18CH33SECT18-3314.htm
http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/idstat/Title18/T18CH33SECT18-3315.htm
http://www.atf.gov/publications/newsletters/ffl/ffl-newsletter-2004-08.pdf


TITLE 18
CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS
CHAPTER 33
FIREARMS, EXPLOSIVES AND OTHER DEADLY WEAPONS
18-3315.nonresident -- Purchase of firearm in Idaho. Residents of a state other than the state of Idaho may purchase rifles and shotguns in Idaho, provided that such residents conform to the applicable provisions of the federal gun control act of 1968, and regulations thereunder, and provided further, that such residents conform to the provisions of law applicable to such purchase in Idaho and in the state in which such persons reside.
 
HGUNHNTR said:
You just said that you are legally unable to obtain a firearm and are wanting to have someone buy one for you. That my friend is a straw purchase = a felony.
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HGUNHNTR,

The OP never claimed any such thing as bolded and underlined above. The OP IS LEGAL to purchase the rifle from an FFL in Idaho. It's a store issue, not a legal issue.

That being said... yes, if his friend buys the rifle from an FFL with the express purpose of providing that rifle to the OP, it is a straw purchase, because the legality of the OP to purchase/possess that rifle himself has no bearing on the straw purchase issue.
 
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