Is it legal to give a family member a gun?

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

davek

Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2004
Messages
188
Location
Memphis, TN
At what point can you give a gun to a family member without it being considered a straw man purchase?

My mom has an old .38 snubby for home protection, but with her artheritis, she can no longer pull the trigger easily. I kinda worry about her and would like to give her my Sig P229 that I bought a little over two years ago. Additionally, she lives in another state...I'm in Tennessee and she's in North Carolina.

Are there any legalities that I should be aware of?

Would I be better off "trading" the Sig for the revolver? Or "selling" the Sig to her for a dollar?

Thanks.
 
You can give anyone that can legally own a firearm a gun at any time and it isn't a straw purchase. A straw purchase is when you lie on the forms to purchase a gun for someone other than yourself, generally for someone that cannot legally purchase a gun themselves.

The problem in this case is your mother lives in another state. To be 100% legal, you will need to send the firearm to a FFL in NC and then have him transfer the gun to your mother. "Trading" or "selling for $1" will not alter this requirement.
 
The problem in this case is your mother lives in another state. To be 100% legal, you will need to send the firearm to a FFL in NC and then have him transfer the gun to your mother.
Click to expand...

What if I just brought it along next time I visit her and leave it with her?
 
To "transfer" a firearm across state lines, it must go through a FFL (with the exception of bequeathment). Can you store your firearm at your mother's house? Yep. If you just go ahead and give it to her would you get caught for crossing state lines? Probably not. But to legally give her ownership of the gun, you must use a FFL in NC to transfer it.
 
Why does it have to be "hers"? Can't it remain "yours", yet be in her possession?
 
Why does it have to be "hers"? Can't it remain "yours", yet be in her possession?
Click to expand...

No. The only way for a handgun to be transferred, sold, traded, given, transported, or delivered to a resident of a different state is through an FFL in the recipient's state if you want to stay legal. The only two exceptions are bequests and temporary loans for sporting purposes.
 
Just to complicate things a bit, your mother needs to get a handgunl permit to receive a handgun in NC. The permits are "shall issue" but she will have to go through the paperwork.
 
Just to complicate things a bit, your mother needs to get a handgunl permit to receive a handgun in NC. The permits are "shall issue" but she will have to go through the paperwork.
Click to expand...

You're kidding!

She's not gonna carry. It's just for home protection.
 
The permits are $5 and it depends on her county of residence how hard they are to get. It's pretty much certain she can get one, it just takes more or less PITA to get it done. NC requires a "permit to purchase", one for each handgun acquired, $5 each. Some counties let you get quite a few per year, some limit you to the state floor of five minimum per upstanding citizen per year. Some let you get five at a time, some less. And so on.

Concealed Carry is a horse of a different color, as the saying goes.
 
Just to play devil's advocate.. what if he took the firearm with him for his own protection and just happened to forget it while visiting mom.
It would not be illegal for her to hold it at her house until you came to pick it up the next time you came to visit.
That and I have to say its scenarios like this that I believe the law has no business being involved whatsoever. If I "loan" my mother my gun its no ones business but ours. Now if she commits a crime with it.. then I could be held liable if that arrises.

But give me a break people.. to think that I have to report in to the government for every little thing in my life.. That is the essence of a police state is it not??

And honestly.. how many here would even think to ask the government before giving anything to one's own mother.

If my mom had glaucoma or suffered from bone spurs or chemo therapy for cancer and asked me for some cannibus. I don't give a rats arse what the government thinks. It's a plant God created, I'll give it to her if its going to ease her pain. If I had to spend the rest of my life in prison I'd do it in a heart beat. And consider myself a political prisoner.

So my opinion is if mom wants a gun to protect herself. I'm not about to ask anyones permission to take care of my mom.
 
But give me a break people.. to think that I have to report in to the government for every little thing in my life.. That is the essence of a police state is it not??
Click to expand...

We are already a police state in term of a the numbers of laws on the books and what those laws cover. We just havn't have the full effect of these laws yet.

So my opinion is if mom wants a gun to protect herself. I'm not about to ask anyones permission to take care of my mom.
Click to expand...

Amen brother!

I think it is funny that (some)southen states have more restrictions on handguns then IL. Yes I got have a permit(FOID) to process a gun. But Idon't have to get a permit for each handgun I own or inform the local LEO that I them.

-Bill
 
How many of us went to an FFL when we turned 18 or 21 and had dad or grandpa transfer to us the rifles/pistols/shotguns that he gave us growing up?

Would you like to call the police or shall I? ;)
 
Just my 2 cents -- what if, God forbid, she has to use that gun to defend herself? She won't need the aggravation of trying to explain her possession in addition to the emotional trauma she'll experience after the event ... especially if some anti-gun prosecutor is involved. If it were my mom, I'd make sure it's a legally documented transfer, if only for her peace of mind.
 
How many of us went to an FFL when we turned 18 or 21 and had dad or grandpa transfer to us the rifles/pistols/shotguns that he gave us growing up?
Click to expand...

First off, as long as you and dad or grandpa live in the same state its a non issue. I'm not sure you'd have to do anything about the rifles and shotguns either as its legal to purchase long guns outside of your state of residence and bring them home.

anyway ... read my signature
 
But I don't have to get a permit for each handgun I own or inform the local LEO that I [have] them.
Click to expand...
Actually, you don't have to inform the local LEO's in NC unless you live in Durham County [old racist law that's never going to go away]. It is odd though, that some portions of Southern gun ownership are more restrictive than the north.
How many of us went to an FFL when we turned 18 or 21 and had dad or grandpa transfer to us the rifles/pistols/shotguns that he gave us growing up?
Click to expand...
I'm pretty certain that intra-family transfers happen ALL the time and nobody's gonna get real upset about it.
 
Just my 2 cents -- what if, God forbid, she has to use that gun to defend herself? She won't need the aggravation of trying to explain her possession in addition to the emotional trauma she'll experience after the event ... especially if some anti-gun prosecutor is involved. If it were my mom, I'd make sure it's a legally documented transfer, if only for her peace of mind.
Click to expand...
Unless the Mom is poor, black, on welfare, with the son who is a bg felon (marginalizing the innocent), which is not the case here, I would love to see that case come up.

Validation of Jury Nullification.
 
Seeing that she lives in another state, it would be illegal for you to give the gun to your mother without going through an FFL.

But it would not be unlawful.
 
Hmmm . . . too bad you bought the pistol new, and too bad you and your mother didn't live - however briefly - in the same state since you bought the pistol.

If she had to use the pistol, and the shoot was good, I wonder how many DAs would want to prosecute a feeble, elderly, arthritic little old lady for not going through channels to protect herself?
 
If she had to use the pistol, and the shoot was good, I wonder how many DAs would want to prosecute a feeble, elderly, arthritic little old lady for not going through channels to protect herself?
Click to expand...

I would say a bunch. Or they would do so if it wasn't for the backwash they would get.

Get an older gun, like made in the 60's from a private sale. Give that to your mom. She can always claim it was her late husband's.

-Bill
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

K
  • Locked
Legality of Gifting a Pistol?
Replies
10
Views
569
TexasRifleman
T
G
  • Locked
Giving a gun away
Replies
15
Views
625
nalioth
N
S
  • Locked
giving or selling guns to out of state resident to
Replies
1
Views
564
Frank Ettin
Frank Ettin
C
  • Locked
How to legally purchase an unlicensed gun. . . NYS.
Replies
14
Views
2K
ctdonath
C
Skribs
  • Locked
Giving a gun as a gift
Replies
3
Views
448
CoRoMo
CoRoMo
Back
Top