What are the legalalities for buying a gun for a family member as a gift?

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doberman

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I know back in the day you could just go down to your local hardware store and buy a shotgun or rifle as a gift for someone. I'm sure things are different now. I wouldn't think it would be such a big deal if the gun remained in the same household where firearms are shared.

I would think it would be legal if a gun was purchased and then "sold" to the family member for say "one dollar" as a private sale?

:confused:
 
To the best of my knowledge, gifting is perfectly legal so long as:

1) It's a true gift; no money changing hands.

2) The recipient isn't disqualified from legally owning the gun.

For example, giving your brother a gun for his birthday is fine. Your brother giving you money to go buy a gun for him because he's a felon and can't buy one himself is a straw purchase and illegal.
 
In NYS, I bought a Ruger 10/22 and gave it to my dad for Fathers Day. I'm sure that was completely legal. It might depend on who you are giving it to and the possibility of them getting in trouble. In my case, I'm not worried.
 
The $1 thig doesn't get you in trouble. The issue is whether or not the recipient would otherwise be inelegible to purchase the gun.



Scott
 
The $1 thig doesn't get you in trouble. The issue is whether or not the recipient would otherwise be inelegible to purchase the gun.
Click to expand...

WRONG. The $1 thing is EXACTLY what gets you in trouble. If you purchase a firearm and give it to someone (assuming all other legalities are followed) you are still the actual buyer of the firearm. However, if any money changes hands, then you are NOT the actual buyer, it is a straw purchase, and you go to jail. That means you falsified the 4473, because it clearly states that if you are not the actual buyer, then the dealer cannot transfer the firearm to you. Find a copy of a 4473 somewhere and read question 12a and notice 1 on the reverse.
 
SIOP, it's not illegal to sell a firearm for $1 or $.01. If your going to sell it for one dollar, do it legally. Your state's and federal law will define a gift and what you need to do to legally transfer a firearm (gift or otherwise)

Straw Purchase: refers to the act of buying a firearm for someone who is legally prohibitted from owning a firearm. Same as pulling a "Hey Mister" to buy beer in high school. The price is irrelevant, it's that the recipient can't legally purchase beer.

Minnesota Gun Laws
 
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It's not illegal to sell a firearm for $1. The amount doesn't matter. It's illegal to buy a gun from an FFL with the intent to resell it.
 
SIOP, it's not illegal to sell a firearm for $1 or $.01. If your going to sell it for one dollar, do it legally. Your state's law will define a gift and what you need to do to legally transfer a firearm (gift or otherwise)

Straw Purchase: refers to the act of buying a firearm for someone who is legally prohibitted from owning a firearm. Same as pulling a "Hey Mister" to buy beer in high school. The price is irrelevant, it's that the recipient can't legally purchase beer.
Click to expand...

We're not talking about selling a firearm here, we're talking about buying one from a dealer with the intent of transferring it to another person.
 
"It's illegal to buy a gun from an FFL with the intent to resell it."

So all guns purchased have to be with the intent to never be resold? And if it is indeed resold, it must be in violation of the original intent? ***?? Are we living in the Bizarro World?

A straw purchase is simply purchasing for someone who is otherwise prohibited.

For more info., see US vs. Charles Ray Polk. No. 96-40836, Fifth Circuit.





Scott
 
SIOP and clevernickname,
Read the second and third sentence....Your state and federal (forgot that) law states what one must do to legally transfer a firearm. I recently purchased a friend a S&W 65 (a gift), and transfered the firearm to her via an FFL, in accordance with MD and Fed law. Prior to one gun a month, I used to buy and resell pistols, for profit, all the time. Once again I obeyed all state and federal laws and handled transfers through an FFL.

Yes it is against the law to act as a firearms dealer without an appropiate FFL. It is not illegal to purchase a firearm for another as a gift or with the intent to immediately transfer the firearm, given that state and federal laws are obeyed.
 
What are the legalalities for buying a gun for a family member as a gift?
Click to expand...

You can legally buy a gun and the gun is legal at your residence. You buy the gun with your money. You give the gun to the family member if they reside in your state of residence. It is a true gift, you do not get money or other compensation.
 
SIOP and clevernickname,
Read the second and third sentence....Your state and federal (forgot that) law states what one must do to legally transfer a firearm. I recently purchased a friend a S&W 65 (a gift), and transfered the firearm to her via an FFL, in accordance with MD and Fed law. Prior to one gun a month, I used to buy and resell pistols, for profit, all the time. Once again I obeyed all state and federal laws and handled transfers through an FFL.

Yes it is against the law to act as a firearms dealer without an appropiate FFL. It is not illegal to purchase a firearm for another as a gift or with the intent to immediately transfer the firearm, given that state and federal laws are obeyed.
Click to expand...

Boy, you have me confused. You used to buy and resell pistols for profit, "all the time", but you obeyed all state and federal laws, yet in the next paragraph you say you know it is against the law to act as a firearms dealer without an FFL?

And what has the S&W 65 deal got to do with anything? We've been talking about someone who buys a firearm, from a dealer, with the intent of transferring it to another person. Not to an FFL. If you buy a firearm, from a dealer, with the intent of transferring it to another person, FOR MONEY, that is a straw purchase, whether the intended recipient is legally able to own a firearm or not.
 
Coupla folks pontificating on a subject about which they apparently are fantasizing. Buying a firearm for a family member, friend, or anybody else isn't a straw purchase, unless that third party was inelligible to buy the firearm.

The $1 fee is silly and unnecessary. A gift is a gift. You don't have to charge for a gift.
 
A straw purchase is simply purchasing for someone who is otherwise prohibited.
Click to expand...

Not quite. You can still have a straw purchase when the individual is fully eligible to possess the firearm. They might just not want their name in the dealer's records.
 
Not wanting your name on the dealers records doesn't make you a prohibited person.

Read the case I cited. It's pretty clear.




Scott
 
If buying guns and giving them as gifts is illegal, then I think we'll be needing to build new courtrooms and prisons. My family alone has been giving firearms as gifts since firearms first were made.

Didn't I see Kerry be presented with a shotgun as a gift this past election? Jail the sneaky crook!
 
Not wanting your name on the dealers records doesn't make you a prohibited person.
Click to expand...

Right. But it does make you a straw purchaser.

You can lead a horse to water.........
 
Fill out the paperwork.

Say nothing in the store about the intended recipient. Buy the gun. Come back in three days, say nothing about the intended recipient, get the gun and leave the store. Give, don't sell, the gun to family member once you get home. Problems avoided, unless family member is a convicted felon. Then you got problems. ;)

(Not fantasizing, I actually have my own FFL)
 
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