Grandfathered PPK from South Africa

[brando]

I've got a South African friend here in LA who's a naturalized citizen and who would like to inherit his father's PPK from South Africa. I looked around quite a bit for info on this convoluted situation hoping to find an answer, but to no avail. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions before I point him and his cell phone to CA DOJ?

[762cavalier]

Well I don't have an answer for you but you would be better off directing him to ATF as it will be a federal issue as well as an importation issue.

[NeoWeird]

I BELIEVE I read a topic on arf about something similar and the person had to first find an importer who would import it for him, then he had to pay all the taxes and what not to get it through customs, and then you would have to go through the legal mumbo jumbo that comes with a normal firearm purchase (even the DROS here in California). It would probably cost more to get it here than it would be to buy one already here, but if it has sentimental value than it might be worth it to him.

Of course if it's not on the 'safe' list than we are kidding ourselves anyways, unless it's a C&R.

This topic pisses me off just to think of all the crap we have to go through in the name of 'safety'.

[artherd]

Hrm, PPT is exempt from the safe-handgun-list requirement. It should follow that IFT (interfamilial transfer) is also.

So the question now becomes, what is nessecary for the gun to be IFT'd in CA?

These guys can probally help get it done: http://www.tmllp.com/

[TheMan]

Hrm, PPT is exempt from the safe-handgun-list requirement. It should follow that IFT (interfamilial transfer) is also.

So the question now becomes, what is nessecary for the gun to be IFT'd in CA?


There are several sections of both state and federal code dealing with inheritance of guns, I suspect those would be more relevant than interfamily transfer laws.

The suggestion to talk to a lawyer regarding importation is a good one. Especially since you will also need to abide by SA laws regarding export of the pistol.

[xenophobe]

Jesus Fn christ... I had a whole long post written out, but somehow the page went back... and since 'quick reply' isn't enabled on, the whole message got deleted. FFFFFFALAEDKLJSEFLKJASWEDFL:JASWDFLJ:KASEDFLJK:SAD FRLJK:SDAFLJ:ASDF
\ I'll rewrite it without all the detail... To sum it up:

The lawyer will cost a lot of money. BAD IDEA.

Contact an importer. They should be able to tell you if this is possible or not and explain it to you over the phone. An importer I've used a couple of times:

Leroy's Big Valley Gun Works
200 1st Avenue North
Glasgow, Montana
59230
406-228-4867

They can tell you what the situation with federal law is and chances are, they've had to do this type of transaction dozens of times (these guys were importing before the fancy world wide web). They fill out and submit the forms on your behalf. Once approved by the ATF, it can be sent directly to you. A firearm you petition the ATF to import does not need to go through a FFL. The licensed Importer will send it to you directly after it clears customs.

You may need to go there and physically bring it back. The Walther PPK does not meet the 'sporting hangun' rules in GCA'68. For the same reason German PP, PPK PPK/s models can't be imported commerically may keep you from using a common carrier to import with. In this case, you would go there, declare it with your luggage, and then upon entering the US, it would be taken by customs, then you would fill out the appropriate paperwork and once approved, you could go pick it up.

As far as I know, it would not need to be CA DOJ "approved" if you can get ATF import permission.

[hoffmang]

Xeno,

That would seem to be a very large loophole in the safe handgun legislation. Couldn't I just import from out of the US any non "safe" Cali handgun?

It may not be the cheapest, but it would get certain high value handguns into CA.

-Gene

[artherd]

As far as I know, it would not need to be CA DOJ "approved" if you can get ATF import permission.

That is the last remaining question, wether one can import an unsafe handgun into CA from an outside country.

Right now a person may import an unsafe handgun from another state. I do not know if DOJ distinguishes.

Attorney may be worth the money if you really want to stay outta jail, but probally not strictly nessecary.

[brando]

Thanks for the advice, guys. Now that you mention it, I brought some HK firearms back from my service in Germany and had to jump through a few hoops with ATF in Atlanta. Once the paperwork was approved I got nice delivery from UPS, no FFL. I'm going to pass this off to my bud...