Ship handgun in CA to father in UT

[Scoutmaster]

Does anyone know the legalities of shipping a handgun from California to my father in Utah? Do I need to go through FFL's in both states, in CA only, or can I just ship by common carrier?

 

[HankB]

IANAL, but my understanding is that under Federal law, you can ship to an FFL in your father's home state, who will then complete the transfer. (Best confirm that the destination FFL is OK with doing the transfer first.)

I don't know if a common carrier (e.g., UPS, FedEx) in CA will accept a handgun for shipment from an individual, even if it's going to an FFL in another state; there may be some CA law that applies.

 

[mac66]

You could legally ship it to yourself at your father's house. Technically you would have to use a FFL to transfer the ownership of a firearm to your father.

 

[Librarian]

CA doesn't care; so long as the transfer goes through an FFL in UT, how it gets there is between you, the FFL, and the carriers.

You may find it convenient and cost-effective to use a CA FFL to ship, as an FFL can use USPS.

 

[Frank Ettin]

You could legally ship it to yourself at your father's house. Technically you would have to use a FFL to transfer the ownership of a firearm to your father.

Misleading.

It's not about ownership. It's about possession. Under federal law, the OP's father, as a resident of a different State from the OP, may lawfully take actual, physical possession of the gun only by having it transferred to him by an FFL in compliance will all usually formalities (e. g., completion of a 4473 and NICS background check).

Possession means:

1 a : the act of having or taking into control...

Transfer is about possession, not ownership.

Some definitions of "transfer" (emphasis added):

• http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/transfer:

  ...Transfer encompasses the sale and every other method, direct or indirect, of (1) disposing of property or an interest therein or possession thereof;...

• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/transferred:

  2. Law To make over the possession or legal title of; convey.

• http://law.yourdictionary.com/transfer:

  Any and every method of removing something from one person or place to another; specifically, the handing over of possession or control of assets or title. ...

Let's look at the statutes:

1. 18 USC 922(a)(3), which provides in pertinent part (emphasis added) as follows:

   (a) It shall be unlawful—
   ...
   
   (3) for any person, ... to transport into or receive in the State where he resides ...any firearm purchased or otherwise obtained by such person outside that State,...

   
   
2. And 18 USC 922(a)(5), which provides in pertinent part (emphasis added) as follows:

   (a) It shall be unlawful—
   ...
   
   (5) for any person ... to transfer, sell, trade, give, transport, or deliver any firearm to any person ...who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in ... the State in which the transferor resides..;

Violation of the federal interstate transfer laws can get the transferor and transferee up to five years in federal prison and/or a fine (plus a bonus of a lifetime loss of gun rights). I can't imagine any shipping or FFL fees being more expensive than that.

 

[Scoutmaster]

For Frank Ettin:

Let me ask a related question. What if my father gave me the gun many years ago and I drove it back to Utah myself and gave it back to him. The gun is CA legal, nether my father or I are prohibited people under state or federal laws.

(And I live in Silicon Valley)

 

[Frank Ettin]

For Frank Ettin:

Let me ask a related question. What if my father gave me the gun many years ago and I drove it back to Utah myself and gave it back to him. The gun is CA legal, nether my father or I are prohibited people under state or federal laws.

(And I live in Silicon Valley)

You both become eligible for up to five years in a federal slammer, plus, of course, the ever coveted lifetime loss of gun rights.

It's very simple under federal law. A transfer from a resident of one State to a resident of another has to go through an FFL. It doesn't matter if it's a gift or sale. It doesn't matter if the transferor and transferee are related. It doesn't matter if the gun is shipped or handed to the transferee.

Read those excerpts from the relevant statutes closely, and it will be clear. There are a few very narrow exception (e. g., a bequest under a will), but they don't seem to apply here.

 

[Jim K]

You can't take the gun to UT and give it to your father, but unless there is some state law problem, and if you are going to make the trip anyhow, it will probably be cheaper if you can take it to UT* and turn it over to a local FFL dealer for transfer to your father. Your father will probably know a UT dealer to whom the gun can be given/shipped. If you ship it, make sure you get a copy of the UT dealer's FFL to prove the shipment is legal.

*Keep the gun unloaded and locked in the trunk so as not to run into concealed carry problems in CA.

Jim

 

[steelerdude99]

The bottom line is that an interstate transfer without an FFL is illegal. Who owns the firearm is irrelevant.

Below is a link to Cal Guns on registration information specific to CA. If you are and stay a resident of CA and the state knows you have a firearm, CA or Uncle Sam may be interested how it made its way to another state should it show up elsewhere.

http://wiki.calgunsfoundation.org/Firearms_registration

chuck

 

[Frank Ettin]

The OP's questions have been answered.