Gun transfer help!

[Tsengle]

Here is my situation: A partner at work was given a gun when his old friend moved out of state over 5 years ago and they never did a transfer into my friends name. Now my friend wants to give me the gun but how do I register it in my name without the registered owner, who moved out of state over 5 years ago and no way of contacting him these days. Thanks in advance and all suggestions and help is appreciated!

[Ed_Hazard]

Not a LEO?Lawyer


The state would rather have the gun on the books than floating around out in the gray market. All you have to do is take the gun to a FFL and do a PPT between you and your buddy and all will be kosher.

The only thing that might sour this is if the gun is stolen, so as long as your sure about that, you should be ok just doing a PPT and registring it to you as the new on the book owner.

[Tsengle]

If I take it to a shop won't they want the registered owner present not my buddy who was given the gun 5+ years ago..seems like my buddy doesn't need to be there if the shop doesn't care that the RO isn't present.

[Cokebottle]

If I take it to a shop won't they want the registered owner present not my buddy who was given the gun 5+ years ago..seems like my buddy doesn't need to be there if the shop doesn't care that the RO isn't present.

You'll be fine.

As long as the gun doesn't show as stolen there will be no issues with the transfer (and you can run the serial number yourself to verify this if you do have any doubts).
The DOJ knows that a lot of guns are transferred illegally. They are just happy to get another one into the system.

Regardless, SOMEONE must go to the FFL with you to appear as the transferor. You can't just walk into the shop and ask them to register it in your name. Your buddy was a party to an illegal transfer, but he can still legally transfer it to you.
The DOJ isn't as efficient as the DMV.

BTW: Do you have a brother Derek?

[TRICKSTER]

Your friend is the owner. Just because it's not registered to him doesn't change that fact. As long as it isn't stolen or your friend isn't a prohibited person, you shouldn't have a problem. To do this, BOTH of you need to go to a FFL, you as the buyer and your friend as the seller.

[Tsengle]

Copy thanks for the responses. What's the waiting time?

[TRICKSTER]

10 long days.

[Tsengle]

Thought so

[Cokebottle]

Yes I have a half brother named Derrick

I sent you a PM.

[Notorious]

Wow. The state is willing to forgo prosecution under the mandatory FFL transfer law in order to get another gun into the system... Shows you where the priorities are!

What if the weapon is a long gun? Then there is no record anyway.

[Cokebottle]

Wow. The state is willing to forgo prosecution under the mandatory FFL transfer law in order to get another gun into the system... Shows you where the priorities are!

Pretty much.
The problem can be proving the case... and the cost/benefit of prosecution.
Example, if the gun has NEVER been registered, then like a long gun, they have no clue as to the history. Thomas might be buying it from the original owner... or it may have been transferred 5 times between 1980 and 2011... if 4 of those transfers were before 1991, they were legal.

Of course, if it was registered and the seller isn't the RO, there's still the issue of DOJ's sloppy book keeping. Every few months someone posts that they "ran" their name and DOJ indicated that they not only still owned guns that they had sold years ago, but in some cases had guns registered to them that they had never owned.

Also, if the illegal transfer took place more than 36 months ago, the statute of limitations protects all parties involved in the transfer.
The transfer itself was illegal. Continued possession of the unregistered gun is not illegal. There is no ongoing crime after the transfer.
Right now, I could give you my XD9 and, other than this post, there would be no evidence that the transfer took place after August 29, 2008, since the gun was registered to me prior to that date.

Simply too much reasonable doubt to make it worth the expense of prosecution.

What if the weapon is a long gun? Then there is no record anyway.

Exactly...
Burden of proof is on the state. In the case of a long gun, the only records are in the FFL's files, and that's going to take a warrant. Of course, the "trail" begins with the FFL that the manufacturer shipped the gun to.
So Ruger shipped that 10/22 to Riflegear and I bought it.
They then question me "Where's the gun?"
"What gun? Got a warrant?"
They come back with a warrant.
"I sold it to Bob through Ammo Bro's."
Another warrant to Ammo Bro's to confirm.
Another warrant to question Bob.
Bob sold the gun to an AZ resident through Joe's Guns & Grub in Phoenix.
The gun then changed hands in AZ 4 times without an FFL legally before being shipped back into California.

How many warrants is a judge going to issue for a misdemeanor charge?
Oops.... One of the FFLs in the chain of custody went out of business. Their files were shipped to Washington.

Or....

Oops.... One of the FFLs in the chain of custody suffered fire/flood/burglary and their bound book and 4473 files were destroyed or stolen.


Why do you think the gun-grabbers are pushing so hard for long gun registration and retroactive registration of existing guns that are legally unregistered.

[Notorious]

I wouldn't bet my luck on something going on in the chain of events with out of state sales and ffl disappearances but I get what you're saying.