Questions on out of state rifle transfer

[Trekbike]

I had some questions on a potential sale of a rifle from an individual out of state. The lead came through a co-worker off of a non-firearm forum. Here are the details.

• I'm in TN, he's is MI.
• If I understand correctly he is eligible to ship it direct to a FFL in TN without getting a FFL in MI involved. Correct?
• He also has ammo he is selling with the rifle. I believe the ammo has to be shipped separate from the rifle. Correct?
• He is eligible to ship the ammo direct to me via UPS or Fedex correct?
• Assuming I end up doing the purchase, since he is an individual, how do I protect myself in the purchase. I don't want to just send the money without knowing if he will ship the rifle. I doubt he will ship it without payment first. Is there a way to pull this off?

Thanks for any help on my questions.

 

[kingpin008]

If I understand correctly he is eligible to ship it direct to a FFL in TN without getting a FFL in MI involved. Correct?

Correct, as long as your FFL is willing to accept shipments from non-FFL holders. Some are fine with it, some aren't.

He also has ammo he is selling with the rifle. I believe the ammo has to be shipped separate from the rifle. Correct?

Correct.

He is eligible to ship the ammo direct to me via UPS or Fedex correct?

Correct.

Assuming I end up doing the purchase, since he is an individual, how do I protect myself in the purchase. I don't want to just send the money without knowing if he will ship the rifle. I doubt he will ship it without payment first. Is there a way to pull this off?

See, this is where going through a FFL on both ends is beneficial. If it goes FFL-to-FFL, you don't have this worry. Otherwise, one of you is just going to have to trust the other and either send payment first or ship first. That's not to say that if he stiffs you, you have no recourse. You can open a complaint with the polce on his end, and depending on how you paid, you may be able to involve the USPS postal inspectors. From what I've heard, they take such things pretty seriously.

Good luck!

 

[Trekbike]

Thanks for answering my other questions. This did bring up another question on your comment below.

See, this is where going through a FFL on both ends is beneficial. If it goes FFL-to-FFL, you don't have this worry.

Since I haven't done this before I don't really understand the process. Would I pay/send the money to his FFL?

After receipt of my money then his FFL sends to my FFL. Correct?

 

[NavyLCDR]

FFLs are really only there for shipping/transfer purposes, they are not escrow agents, unless they will do something like that as a favor. Your best bet is to send him payment in some form that can be recalled, such as personal check, and write or electronically memo the payment that it is for make/model/caliber rifle.

If you don't get your rifle, then dispute the payment method that you did not receive the goods you ordered.

 

[kingpin008]

Since I haven't done this before I don't really understand the process. Would I pay/send the money to his FFL?

If you're going to handle it FFL-to-FFL, you pay your FFL whatever he charges to handle the transfer on his end, and then you send a copy of the FFL, plus the cost of the rifle and whatever his FFL is charging to handle the transaction on his end to the seller. The seller then takes the rifle to his FFL, pays the fee, and his FFL ships the rifle to your FFL, who will notify you when it arrives.

Sounds a little complicated, but it's not too bad.

After receipt of my money then his FFL sends to my FFL. Correct?

Yup, that's pretty much it!