Newb Question regarding gun registration, HELP

[magnumrt]

A few years ago my uncle passed away, leaving me his S&W Model 29. I know I am not required to register any of my guns in California. But I would like to sell it now... do I need to register the gun before I can sell it? Please help, I have been scouring the internet, and my cop buddies and family with no answer so far... Thanks in advance.

[ckprax]

You are not required to register you handguns in order to sell them.

Since the handgun is not registered to you, and you inherited it recently, that would imply that you did not complete the transfer through an FFL. If this is the case, you completed an illegal transfer.

If it has been more than 3 years since you acquired the gun, the statue of limitations is up and there should be no consequence for the illegal transfer. Thankfully the DOJ is more concerned about getting guns registered than they are about punishing people for illegal transactions so even if this transfer occurred more recently there is little to no risk. The burden of proof is on them, not you, it is not worth their time.

A rule of thumb for CA is unless you are acquiring a C&R long gun or a firearm from your children, parents or grandparents, the transfer needs to be done through an ffl.

[Librarian]

Inheritance does not require an FFL - see the wiki -- http://wiki.calgunsfoundation.org/in...and_Interstate

But you can sell a gun not registered to you; the issue gets sticky if it comes back as on the 'stolen' list. See http://wiki.calgunsfoundation.org/in...s_registration

[tenpercentfirearms]

A few years ago my uncle passed away, leaving me his S&W Model 29. I know I am not required to register any of my guns in California. But I would like to sell it now... do I need to register the gun before I can sell it? Please help, I have been scouring the internet, and my cop buddies and family with no answer so far... Thanks in advance.

All handguns not grandfathered in in 1991 are supposed to be registered. So yes, your Model 29 was supposed to be properly registered when you took possession from your uncle. Further, it probably should have been a PPT since you cannot intrafamilial transfer from uncles.

However, you do not need to register it to sell it. You can PPT it and the state won't care. If the buyer gets denied, the state will run a background check on you for the return, but that isn't a problem unless you are also prohibited. In that case the dealer will have to turn the gun over to the police.

[rt66paul]

These things happen all of the time. Many times, the person who inherits does not even know that there was a firearm in those boxes. If this is the case, or even if they can't prove it isn't, I would think that you can get this fixed. Most of the time, people are reasonable. If it is an illegal weapon or an AOW or the like, you could be in for a little trouble.

[magnumrt]

Thanks for all the help! The gun is not a stolen, step mom ran the serial at work and it was clean.