Question on interstate sales by an FFL.

[Twiki357]

This question came up then I read post #162 by JohnBT on the thread about Cavalry Arms. In the post, the purchaser pled guilty to making false statements to purchase 40 guns from another state. Part of the case against Cavalry Arms was selling four hand guns to a person from another state.

It made me wonder about the FFL license. Can the FFL holder operate in any state, or is the license state specific? The reason I ask is because a few years ago I purchased a handgun from a dealer at a gun show in Phoenix, AZ (He did all the paperwork & background check.) But, he did not automatically issue me a receipt. I had to ask him for it. After I got home I noticed that the only address printed on the receipt was in Las Vegas, NV, no indication that he had any operations in Arizona other than his presence at the gun show and he did not collect sales tax.

Without getting into the local business license, tax collection issue, was this a legal transaction from the FFL standpoint?

And in the Cavalry Arms case, if the purchaser had not illegally acquired AZ ID, could not the owner of Cavalry Arms have just crossed into California and had a legal transaction with a CA resident, assuming that the guns were legal in CA?

I'm just trying to get a better understanding of some of the ridiculous ATF regulations.

 

[mnrivrat]

Keep in mind that the BATF seems to believe the 68 gun control act is some sort of living document subject to re-inturpretation by them as they go.

Your gun purchase in AZ from a Nevada dealer (if he was a dealer) would not be legal today. Perhaps it was at that time ? The FFL is state sensitive and can not be used to do business in another state when talking about the actual transfer of a firearm. Today, that Nevada dealer could not deliver a firearm to you at the gun show. He could not transfer a handgun to you period. A long gun sold to you under that circumstance would have to be picked up at his operation in Nevada, or transfered to a AZ dealer for you to pick up in state.

PS: It is also my understanding from our last BATF briefing that an FFL dealer can not physicaly pick up a gun at an out of state gun show. It must be shipped to his business address in the state where he holds the FFL.

 

[NavyLCDR]

PS: It is also my understanding from our last BATF briefing that an FFL dealer can not physicaly pick up a gun at an out of state gun show. It must be shipped to his business address in the state where he holds the FFL.

Absolute nonsense. That may be the information you heard, but it is completely bogus information. An FFL buying and receiving a firearm in person in another state violates no Federal statute whatsoever.

18 USC 922 (a)(3):

§ 922. Unlawful acts
(a) It shall be unlawful—
(3) for any person, other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to transport into or receive in the State where he resides (or if the person is a corporation or other business entity, the State where it maintains a place of business) any firearm purchased or otherwise obtained by such person outside that State,

 

[Bubbles]

Licenses are not only state-specific, they are location specific. We can operate only out of our premises address or at a bona fide gun show within our state. While we can attend out of state gun shows, we can not transfer a firearm at one.

As an example, my business is five miles the VA state border. I could set up a table at a gun show in VA, but someone who buys a gun from me there would either have to travel to my premises address in WV and pick up the gun there, or I'd have to transfer the gun to an FFL in VA (especially if the buyer is a VA resident and purchased a handgun), who would then transfer the gun to a buyer.

 

[NavyLCDR]

But, it WOULD BE perfectly legal for Bubbles to go to a gun show in VA and BUY all the guns he wanted to with his FFL, and he could legally walk out with them in hand to return to his business in WV.

 

[Sam1911]

his

Her...

 

[NavyLCDR]

his

Her...

Their...

 

[Frank Ettin]

his..

Her...

Their...

Nope, his. Single pronoun, and in English the convention has long been that when gender is indeterminate, the masculine pronoun is used.

Yes, I know that makes me "not politically correct" and a throw-back. But dang it, I want our language back.

So there!!!!!

ETA: Unless we know that Bubbles is female (it's logical, but I don't know for sure), in which case it most definitely is "her."

 

[Sam1911]

Unless we know...http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7405041

I'm just trying to be polite!

 

[Frank Ettin]

Unless we know...http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=7405041....

Oops, missed that thread.

Sorry, Bubbles.

 

[TexasRifleman]

The reason I ask is because a few years ago I purchased a handgun from a dealer at a gun show in Phoenix, AZ (He did all the paperwork & background check.) But, he did not automatically issue me a receipt. I had to ask him for it. After I got home I noticed that the only address printed on the receipt was in Las Vegas, NV, no indication that he had any operations in Arizona other than his presence at the gun show and he did not collect sales tax.

Outside of the funny conversation above, that does seem to me to have been an illegal transaction based on the info you've given.