need help quick on transporting a handgun

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sonier

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I didnt expect to have a handgun when i arrived to Georgia, but long story short, my grandmother wanted me to bring her .32 SW model 30 back home to colorado. I am 19 years old and I know i can have a handgun legally but cant yet buy one till im 21. The states I will be passing through are Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, tennesee, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, I am leaving tuesday Jan 4th, tomorrow. I am researching all the laws on my own but I deffinately need would like some input on people who know the laws much better than I.
 
Your problem is not The transportation per se, but the fact that it is not legal for your grandmother to give you that gun, or for you to receive it, because you reside in different states. This assumes you are a resident of Colorado.

If you were 21, she could send it to an FFL in Colorado, but since you are 19, I can't think of any way for you to legally take possession of it.

If you are actually a resident of Georgia and just going to school in Colorado, then there are no big issues, and standard rules for interstate travel apply.
 
Once Granny hands you the gun it's in your hands and you now OWN it. I assume you are driving so store it unloaded deep in your luggage and boogie on back to Colorado.
I brought a rifle and a handgun of my fathers back from Montana a couple years ago on an airplane with no problems.
 
Interstate transfers of handguns require a dealer for the most part. Long guns present no problem but can't do it with a handgun. Take it to an FFL and have him send it to an FFL in your state if you want to be strictly legal.

I brought a rifle and a handgun of my fathers back from Montana a couple years ago on an airplane with no problems.
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I'm sure you didn't have any problems because no one would think to ask, but technically you did break the law doing that.
 
Blackrock said:
Once Granny hands you the gun it's in your hands and you now OWN it.
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And two felonies are committed in the process violating 18 USC 922 (a)(3) and (a)(5).

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/718/usc_sec_18_00000922----000-.html

TexasRifleman said:
Take it to an FFL and have him send it to an FFL in your state if you want to be strictly legal.
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And what would the receiving FFL do with the gun? They would not be able to transfer the gun to the OP...well, not for 2 years, anyway!

To the OP,
If you want to remain within the bounds of the law, you're going to have to wait on this one, unless you and your grandmother are actual residents of the same state.

As far as transporting the gun goes, lock the unloaded gun and ammo in the trunk of the car and go. If your vehicle does not have a trunk, lock the unloaded gun and ammo in a case, put it as far to the rear in the vehicle as it will go.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/718/usc_sec_18_00000926---A000-.html
 
And what would the receiving FFL do with the gun? They would not be able to transfer the gun to the OP...well, not for 2 years, any
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I was assuming a parent or someone over 21 would get it and gift it to him. I don't think that gets to straw purchase land anyway, just grandmother gives it to dad, dad gives it to son etc. Guess I should have played out the whole process.
 
TexasRifleman said:
I was assuming a parent or someone over 21 would get it and gift it to him. I don't think that gets to straw purchase land anyway, just grandmother gives it to dad, dad gives it to son etc. Guess I should have played out the whole process.
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I was going to bring that up and decided against it. :D How can there be a straw purchaser if there is no purchasing going on... :scrutiny::uhoh::eek::neener:

Of course the person receiving the gun from the FFL would have to be a Colorado resident in order to gift the gun to the OP and the FFL would have to be in Colorado.
 
Yeah that's where that stupid straw purchase thing gets so fuzzy. This seems to be to be a legal way out, but who knows.
 
Someone is going to come along and post, "The kid can't get the gun from the FFL himself, so if you got him a gun from an FFL and gave it to him as a gift it would be illegal!" Which would not be factually true.
 
It would appear that since a family member is involved, is he already not being "gifted" the gun by family? And is not inheritance gifting of guns exempt from certain portions of those regulations?
 
so Since the gun was a gift, since it was a gift does this mean I dont have to worry about the cross state transfers? This whole deal is so messed up. I need to get my grandfathers gun that was gifted to my grandmother and then she wants my mom to have it, my mother is a resident of colorado as well.

If I put the gun in the trunk and dont have any ammo in the vehicle or bags at all will i be bothered with if i get pulled over?
 
Sonier, the only legal way to transfer a handgun to a resident of a different state is by going through an FFL, which you cannot do because of your age.

There is no exception for a 'gift'. There is an exception for an inheritance, but that has to be through a formal process in probate court-- it is clearly not enough for your grandmother to give you your grandfather's gun.

We all know that we can get away with a lot of things that are illegal if we don't get caught. There are things that are more or less likely to get caught. I certainly would not advocate anything illegal, and I think we should limit the discussion to the current state of the law. I am surprised to see people post in a public forum facts that can get them a 10 year federal sentence.

The bigger question is how can someone who is 18, the age of majority in almost all states, legally not be allowed to buy a handgun, or alcohol.
 
In order for inferitance to happen, grandma would have to pass away. She already inherited the gun from grandpa. If she wants your mom to have the gun, then send it to a Colorado FFL for transfer to you Mom. How hard is that?
 
It would appear that since a family member is involved, is he already not being "gifted" the gun by family? And is not inheritance gifting of guns exempt from certain portions of those regulations?
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No. "Inheritance" means there is a death involved, and either a disbursal of a specific gun to a specific heir, spelled out in a will, or through intestate succession.

There is no "gifting by family" exemption.
 
No. "Inheritance" means there is a death involved, and either a disbursal of a specific gun to a specific heir, spelled out in a will, or through intestate succession.

There is no "gifting by family" exemption.
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Thanks for the clarification

so legally im screwed. This sounds like something that needs to go to the supreme court.
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No, have it sent to the FFL for your mom in your state
 
regardless of the current law I personally see no real wrong in a grandmother giving a 19 year old a handgun even if they live in different states. Illegal? maybe or probly. Smacks of tyranny to me.
 
regardless of the current law I personally see no real wrong in a grandmother giving a 19 year old a handgun even if they live in different states. Illegal? maybe or probly. Smacks of tyranny to me.
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Tyranny or no, it's the law and on THR we follow it. If you don't like it, work to change it.
 
regardless of the current law I personally see no real wrong in a grandmother giving a 19 year old a handgun even if they live in different states. Illegal? maybe or probly. Smacks of tyranny to me.
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No doubt it's ridiculous, but it's the law and we don't ever advise breaking it here.

Sure, it would be very easy to just stick the thing in a box in the trunk and drive home, probably never get caught.

But, on the one chance that he did get caught the consequences are life changing.
 
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