Different state transfer question

[jeepmor]

I have a pistol for sale in the Portland, Oregon area. I've had inquiries from Washington residents and I'm not exactly clear how to properly transfer the gun, if I can at all.

Do I have to ship through an OR FFL to a WA FFL, or may I simply ship the pistol to a WA FFL directly and have them handle the transfer. I'm not clear on how to properly conduct this with a Washington resident and if I have to first transfer out of my possession in Oregon and then ship to Washington for the another transfer transaction, it quickly becomes needlessly expensive.

Also, Oregon shops are telling me that they cannot "sell" a handgun to a Washington resident. Am I in the same boat as the Oregon dealer in the regard that I too am not allowed to sell a handgun to a Washington resident?

If anyone knows what to do and can provide me proper reference for verification, it would be much appreciated. I've bought several firearms from out of state folks on Gunbroker, so what am I missing here?

 

[Mighty_Joe_Young]

I have a pistol for sale in the Portland, Oregon area. I've had inquiries from Washington residents and I'm not exactly clear how to properly transfer the gun, if I can at all.

Do I have to ship through an OR FFL to a WA FFL, or may I simply ship the pistol to a WA FFL directly and have them handle the transfer. I'm not clear on how to properly conduct this with a Washington resident and if I have to first transfer out of my possession in Oregon and then ship to Washington for the another transfer transaction, it quickly becomes needlessly expensive.

Also, Oregon shops are telling me that they cannot "sell" a handgun to a Washington resident. Am I in the same boat as the Oregon dealer in the regard that I too am not allowed to sell a handgun to a Washington resident?

If anyone knows what to do and can provide me proper reference for verification, it would be much appreciated. I've bought several firearms from out of state folks on Gunbroker, so what am I missing here?

Long guns may be purchased by a non-licensee who appears in person at a licensee's premises, provided the sale complies with the laws of the respective states.

Handguns may only be purchased by non-licensees who are residents of the state in which the licensee is also a resident. Or rather, licensed to do business.

Non-licensees who wish to transfer firearms to/from another non-licensee are only permitted to do so if the other party is a resident of the same state. (This is difficult to enforce.)

There is no law prohibiting a non-licensee from shipping a firearm to a licensee in any state.

Under the scenario you describe, the Washington buyer would arrange to have you ship your firearm to an FFL holder in his state. This FFL holder would then conduct the NICS check and transfer the firearm to the Washington buyer. There is no legal requirement that an FFL holder in Oregon handle your end.

 

[hermannr]

You can sell to a WA resident through a WA FFL. You ship it to the person you are selling to C/O the FFL. The purchaser pays the FFL his fee for the transfer, and takes it home.

Your purchaser has to tell you which FFL in WA he wants to use, and if and what information that FFL wants from you. The FFL I use will only accept a transfer from another FFL.

If you were selling the item to me, you would need to take it to an FFL in Oregon and have the FFL in Oregon transfer it to me C/O my FFL here in WA. The FFL in Oregon will charge you a fee for that service.

Some FFL's will accept a transfer from a private party, but not all. It is legal to do so, but they don't have to. That is information you need to know first.

 

[jeepmor]

Many thanks gents, I think I have it.

I ship to WA FFL and all is good, pending purchaser has a clean background, which in this case, WA's NCIS system will check.

 

[nalioth]

If you are close, you can drive the gun to the WA FFL.

 

[deadin]

If you are close, you can drive the gun to the WA FFL.

Actually only the owner (or another FFL) can deliver the gun to the WA FFL.
The buyer doesn't "own" the gun until it has been properly transfered to him via the WA FFL.
Any FFL that would accept a firearms and log it into his book from anyone other than the seller/owner or another FFL is asking to lose his license.

 

[CoRoMo]

Actually only the owner (or another FFL) can deliver the gun to the WA FFL.

Not true.

Any common carrier can deliver the gun. Your post otherwise doesn't apply here anyway because the OP looks to be the owner, not the buyer. Therefore, he can deliver it to the WA FFL himself.

 

[deadin]

because the OP looks to be the owner

Oops! You're right on that! I've been following a couple of these discussions and got confused on just which one was the OP.

As to the delivery question, I should have clarified that only the owner or a FFL can deliver to an out-of-state FFL in person OR through the services of a common carrier. (Or USPS for long guns and FFL to FFL for handguns.)
Point being is that you cannot take/send a firearm you do not own to a FFL and have him run it through his books as being acquired from you and then as disposed of to you. (Well, you can, if you legally own it in the first place. Just paying the seller and taking possession does not meet the criteria of legal ownership. It has to go through the FFL(s) book(s) first.)

Now another question would be if I were to sell a handgun to someone in another state and the buyer has a FFL that will accept from a non-licensee,
could you deliver that handgun to the FFL for me? (You just happened to be going that way.) Would you? Even if the receiving FFL had all of my paperwork? (ID, DL, etc.)
I don't know the answer to this question. Maybe we can get an opinion from one of our Internet lawyers. I know that I wouldn't put anything into my book that I didn't receive directly from the legal owner or another FFL.
(But I'm a belt AND suspenders sort of guy.)

 

[CoRoMo]

...could you deliver that handgun to the FFL for me?

I was searching for this answer after making my post because I know that it has been discussed before. I think the answer is yes because all the FFL needs is the name and address of the person they received it from. That's not necessarily the deliverer, but the owner/seller. My search turned up nothing directly specific to this question though.

A lot of FFLs want to see ID and even get a photo copy of that ID, but it is not required by law. They only have to record the source of the firearm, so they need some sort of basic info. Most will probably not accept a firearm from 'some guy' who walks in and says, "I'm delivering this for the guy who owns it, his name and address are_____". I think, technically they could accept the gun and that info and be fine, but that's a sketchy way to maintain records.

 

[jeepmor]

Did not work.

 

[hermannr]

what did not work Jeep?