ptp transfer of a pistol

[philthy209]

I want to trade my friend his hand gun for one of mine. The problem is that his gun is not in his name it's still in his friends name who he purchased it from. He says the seller doesn't matter and anyone could take it down with me to transfer it.He says doj is more concerned with the buyer and the seller is involved only in the case that the buyer cannot take possesion of the gun. my friends a stand up guy who is lazy and just never transfered it but if this is a big hassle i'll just avoid the trade all together.

[bobfried]

UH, so your saying your friend "bought" a handgun from someone and never went through an FFL?

Kinda like if someone went to Long Beach and buy a Glock off of some gang banger in a parking lot?

He has just broken a myriad of state laws, good luck with that.

[sloguy]

I want to trade my friend his hand gun for one of mine. The problem is that his gun is not in his name it's still in his friends name who he purchased it from. He says the seller doesn't matter and anyone could take it down with me to transfer it.He says doj is more concerned with the buyer and the seller is involved only in the case that the buyer cannot take possesion of the gun. my friends a stand up guy who is lazy and just never transfered it but if this is a big hassle i'll just avoid the trade all together.

if you are dead set on trading, have him transfer his pistol to you first, and if that goes thru with no problems then transfer yours to him. if the cops swoop in and theres a problem with his gun then you will be able to wash your hands of the deal and not lose anything.

[s281c]

If I were you I'd run, not walk away from this transaction, it's not worth the complications and trouble you could get into.

That is unless your friend bought the gun from his friend before 1991, prior to that year ptp transfers did not have to go through a FFL.

[philthy209]

ya I was pretty sure it was not worth the risk. so there was no truth to what he said. In order to sell/trade a gun legally (which is the only way i would touch a gun) the gun must be in the persons name who is selling it??? I know its a stupid question but i want to be clear.thanks for the info guys.

my friend is not a gangbanger nor does he know any. i don't have to run from this transaction because i was never near it. it was all just "what ifs."

[bwiese]

In order to sell/trade a gun legally (which is the only way i would touch a gun) the gun must be in the persons name who is selling it???

The correct answer is, "It depends".

First, let's assume the dude is not a prohibited party (felon, etc.) for sake of our argument here, and that the gun itself is legal (not an AW, etc.).

• If he got the gun via a private unpapered transfer inside CA before 1/1/1991, he's fine.
  
• If he was inside CA and got the gun on or after 1/1/91, that was an illegal transfer.
  
• If he was a resident of a state other than CA where private unpapered sales were legal and that transfer was also legal under Federal law, he could bring that gun into CA. If he brought such a handgun into CA on or after 1/1/98, he'd have to have filed a Personal Handgun Importer form and pay a small fee per handgun.
  
• If he inherited the handgun or was given gun by certain specific family member after 1/1/91, (not sure on this date for these circumstances) he still had to file interfamily transfer papers or Firearms Acquisition thru Operation of Law forms and pay a small fee per gun.

[What Just Happened?]

Doesn't the DoJ run a background check on the serial number of the handgun?

[bwiese]

Doesn't the DoJ run a background check on the serial number of the handgun?

Maybe, maybe not. Not sure if gun serial # run thru NCIC. One problem is the make/model thing and the different ways serial #s and makes/models can be enetered.

The do run the buyer/transferee, of course.

[philthy209]

but do they match the gun to the transferee? My friend said they only run this person so that if the buyer is a no go they have someone to give the gun back too.

[M5police]

This deal seems shady. How good do you know your friend? If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, must be a duck!

[philthy209]

I will not be trading. I would however like to better understand the transfer/background process. Whats the average price charged for a transfer is there a limit an FFL can charge? I was told that transfering a handgun and longgun differ greatly. How so?

[Ironchef]

HOw about if he inherited the gun from his father, and the gun is registered to the father still (which is legal I believe)? Can this guy then transfer p2p?

[bwiese]

HOw about if he inherited the gun from his father, and the gun is registered to the father still (which is legal I believe)? Can this guy then transfer p2p?

If that happened before the requirement for reg'ing transfers, sure. Just because the registered owner is out of date does not mean the subsequent transfer was illegal.