Well, I ALMOST bought a gun today. Question about drivers licenses and buying guns.

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priv8ter

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My wife has told me no more guns until we buy a house. Well, the other day at the casino, I got lucky and won enough money playing cards to buy a decent gun. My wife conceded that it would be okay for me to use some of this money to buy a gun.

Long story short, I'm sitting at Sportsman's Warehouse, trying to decide between a Ruger Blackhawk in .45LC for $319, or a NAA .22 Mini for $159. I ended up picking the .22 Mini. It's the kind of neat 'niche' gun that I would probably keep passing up in favor of other more conventional weapons if I don't get it soon.

So the guy behind the counter starts doing up the paperwork, while showing other folks other guns the whole time. After 40 minutes, he is ready to call me in so I can purchase my new tool, and he is giving the paperwork one final look.

'Hey...your drivers license address doesn't match the address you wrote down.'

Yes I say, I moved about 18 months ago, and the license is good for another 3 years. :)

'Ooo...I'm afraid I can't sell you this gun then.

:what:


So, I'm mad. I'm mad because I had the money out on the counter. I could see myself off in the woods at this little gravel pit playing with my new gun, blowing up gallon water jugs. I'm mad because it took this guy 40 minutes to look at the paper work close enough to notice this.

Most of all, I'm mad because I don't know if what he did was right, or not. In the past 18 months since moving, I have bought 5 guns, three of them pistols. On all of those, the address on my paperwork has been different than the address on my drivers license, AND my carry permit.

So, has my local gunsmith that I usually order guns through been letting me get away with something he shouldn't, or was I victimized by the corporate 'I have to do things this way, sir' mentality?

Either way, maybe it's just a sign from above that I need to wait until we buy a house before I get this gun. Or, it's a sign to support my local gunsmith! :evil:

I'm just looking to see if my anger is justifed, :fire: or misplaced(as in, I need to be mad at myself.

Oh, and since I know laws are different everywhere, I live in Washington, where with a permit, there is no waiting period on firearm purchases.

greg
 
Well, I hate to break it to you, Sparky, but having a non-current address on your driver's license isn't just a paperwork drill, it's illegal in most states. You have a time period, usually 60-90 days to get a new license with your current address on it. Had you been stopped, you could have gotten a ticket for having the incorrect info on your license (assuming the cop found out your current address). It's no big deal most places -- you'd probably only get a warning.

When buying a firearm, your address is part of the ID procedure. Sorry it rained on your parade, but had you followed the rules and gotten an updated license, you'd have walked away with your purchase like you wanted to.
 
Don't feel bad. when I bought my Beretta, I couldn't get checked r take it home because my drivers license had expired just two weeks earlier! The dealer did let me pay for it and held it until Monday, when I renewed my license.

At the range Sunday, I got a (slight) scare when someone mentioned how they were held up over a temporary license. In their case, they were told they had to show the plastic card, not the paper, even though all the information (including picture) was on it.
 
Yep, up here, if you don't get your licence changed I think it becomes invalid. You get 6 days to inform the MTO about a change of address. I had a look a Washington's rules.
"You must notify the Department of Licensing within 10 days of an address change..." priv8ter, you're already in violation. Go here.
http://www.dol.wa.gov/ds/faq.htm#address
 
I did the same exact thing once -- only it was 2-3 weeks after I had moved. I wrote down my actual current address and the guy at Gander Mountain noticed the discrepency. Told me he couldn't sell it to me.

I just asked him if he'd hold onto it for a bit while go take care of that. It was OK if it was just the paper temporary thing that they stick on the back, right? Yep.

Ran to the Secretary of State's office, got the deal done, came back. I think he was surprised that I actually went and did it all that quick.

Standing Wolf is right though -- waiting 40 minutes to check out your paperwork is absurd. I can fill out a 4473 in under a minute I bet so there's no reason for them to go wandering off for all that time while I read the whole thing.
 
Yeah, I know...

Thanks Sunray. After posting my initial rant, I did some research on my own, and saw that about 20 minutes ago. :uhoh:

Having spent nine years in the Navy, I got used to moving once a year, and having a drivers license that wouldn't expire as long as I was on active duty. That was nice and very stress free. :cool:

But, now that I am John. Q. Public, ignorance is no longer an excuse. :uhoh:

Anyway...I am just glad that I am a silent, brooding mad guy, and that all I did was walk away mad. My other instinct was to rip the guy behind the counter up...luckily, I didn't do that, or would have had to go back and appologize. As it was, I went to the knife counter and bought a $50 Kershaw Chive, with the Rainbow Titanium finish for my wife. Pretty knife. She's been playing with it for about half-an-hour, and I'm SOOOO afraid one of her fingers is going to end up on the floor :uhoh:

Guess I know what I need to do tommorrow on the way home from work, before everything shut's down for the weekend. Oh, and my wife too...she has the same address on her drivers license, otherwise I would just send her to buy me a gun!

As for the 40 minute thing...There was one guy working the gun counter(guess it was dinner time for everyone else) and he was trying to keep track of about 4 people fondling things. My two-year old daughter though, who decided she wanted to go along for the ride when she saw daddy putting on his shoes, was much less...patient.


greg
 
In New York you just notify the DMV and write your new address on the back of the driver's license. Handgun licenses have to updated within 10 days.
 
Alaskas a bit different in that they relax the rules about addresses on 4473s....thus guys come in from the bush and only jave PO boxes on their ID cards...thats OK for ATF, they put down their PO box and their physical address viz:

First Red House by The Slough
Next Door to Store...
Cabin next to Runway..

And my favorite...the guy that had a shack on the Beach on the Bering Sea..

"One Beach Road"

WildihaveaboringregularaddressthoughAlaska
 
Hmm, here in California, you have to show a utility bill or something to prove your place of residence. The gunshop had no problem with that fact that my driver's license and utility bill addresses didn't match.
 
Ummm....

I was just curious: If you're saving to buy a house, and that means you can't spend any more money on guns...
Click to expand...

Ummm...now you are starting to sound like my wife!

It's like this. I had to run on the reservation to buy some fireworks, and, low and behold the only cash machine was at the casino. And, you had to walk buythis Caribean Stud table to get back to my car, and one thing led to another...

greg
 
I'll do ya one better--here in FL, if you move, you are not required to get a new reprint of your CWP, you only have to inform them of the new address via phone or Internet. To get a duplicate costs ~$15 IIRC.

We moved last year and I called in and changed my address and opted not to pay the $15 fee to get a new license. I also changed the address on my DL to my PO box.

I have bought a couple of guns since we moved with nary a hiccup. I went to put a Colt M4 on lawaway and the guy said I had to bring in 3 copies of different utility bills and whatnot to prove my physical address. First I have heard of any of this nonsense. ANyone else have a similar issue?

Greg
 
priv8ter in the state of washington you do have to notifiy the DMV when you move and they change your address in there computer but they won't issue you a new licence. all they do is give you a sticker to put on the back to write in your new address, unless you wan't to pay for a new one it is not reqirered to get a new one with your new address on it, only that you have changed it in there computer system. as far as your permit goes, as long as it is valid you don't need to change your address on it till you renew it, unless you just want to spend the money. that is what i was told by the DMV and the sheriffs office that issued my permit , although in some countys or citys the permit reqirerment my different. all the same I had problems with my drivers licence and permit addresses not being the same after I moved once. every time i bought a gun they would put me on a hold at NICS everytime the gun shop would call in a check. so when it came time for me to renew both I used my parents address because they own thier home and i now there not going anywere. since then I have not had a problem. so yes it dosn't matter as long as the state is concerned but it dose matter when you have a idiot behind the counter who dosn't know this or bother to check it out.
P.S. DON'T use a P.O. box on your drivers licence, thats a no no according to the state when it comes to gun buys.

:cool: :cool: :cool: :) :) :)
 
DON'T use a P.O. box on your drivers licence, thats a no no according to the state when it comes to gun buys.
Click to expand...
Might be in Washington, but it's never been a problem for me in Montana.

I always get through the NICS stuff in about 5 minutes, except for the time that the system was down for about 24 hrs. (think about that last one, all they have to do to ban gun sales is defund or otherwise monkeywrench the background checks:( )
 
I remember buying my Marlin 60 at Wal-Mart... I hadn't picked up a new license yet since all we "have" to do is call it in at the very least. All they wanted was a current bill with the current address, strangely, that didn't work anywhere else. :D
 
TallPine thats why the very first thing i said in my post was "in the state of washington", as far as the permit goes it all depends on the county or city. all i know is i was told that you could not put a P.O.box address on your licence and use it for buying a gun. this states has some strange rules anyway but on the other hand its very easy to get a carry permit. go figure.


:) :) :)
 
DOL does require that you notify them when your home address changes. When I moved, I went to get a replacement license. When you use a check at a store to buy something, the clerks look at the address on the check and the address on the license to see if they match. Some wil let yo slide, but I have seen some clerks refuse a check based on the difference in addresses.

To make matters worse with Washington State DOL, the recently instutited a program to allow for a 5-year drivers' license and were extending the old 4-year license by allowing people to renew for 1 year to get into the 5-year deal by simply mailing a $5 check to them and you got a sticker that simply showed a year for the license expiration. You got a letter that said that DOL had notified merchants throughout the state that certain people would have this stick on what appeared to be an "expired" license.

That BS didn't work too well. I have a one of the extension stickers on my driver's license and when I bought some stuff at the local Wally World, the clerk wanted to see my license, saw the "old" date and refused the check. I had to get the friggin store manager to OK the check after he had to be "reminded" about the extension program and then I preceded to rip him a new one in front of all the customers and check-out clerks for not informing his staff of the regulations. He said he tried to tell everyone but missed a couple of clerks.

So the next morning, I went to the DOL headquarters in Olympia where I got a new license and pretty much told the section manager what I thought of the new process. Turned out they were getting tons of requests for replacement licenses because of the sticker not being accepted as valid ID.
 
I've had PO Box on my driver's license for about twenty years and never had a problem buying guns. I got the PO Box because when I first moved to the town where I live I had three different apartments in five years, and changing addresses is a hassle. Now I'm glad I have it, because I live in the country and after losing two mailboxes I made sure all mail goes to the box. In fact I couldn't even get an NRA VISA card because they demanded a physical mailing address, and I don't even have a mailbox or a way to deliver mail at my house now. Another benefit is privacy, if there is such a thing in today's world. No one at work has my physical address, nor is it in the phone book.
 
It's got to vary by state. I'm also in the PRK. After moving, I dutifully sent my information to the DMB (err, DMV, sorry). Other people told me they just sent you a little card to keep with your license, so I waited and waited for it...then called (waiting a few hours on hold), only to be told they had the info and didn't plan on actually sending me anything.

So buying a pistol, the shop didn't bat an eye. Buying a rifle from Big 5, though, the manager threw a fit until I explained that I had bought a handgun with the same set of information I was providing him...
 
I couldn't even get an NRA VISA card because they demanded a physical mailing address
Click to expand...
Weird ... I have one of those cards, and used a PO Box as the address for several years. I now have it coming out here to the rural route, otherwise I don't get the bill in time since we only check the PO box once or twice a month now.

But then they changed companies that provide the card, so maybe that is the policy on new cards.

It sure is nice living in MT with the more relaxed rules. In CO you were supposed to notify the drivers license people within 30 days after moving - which for years I pretty much ignored as I was camping out on timber sales and had no physical address ;)
 
"what were you doing in a casino?"

Adding to his retirement fund.

"Come on, Lucky 7! Daddy needs a better condo in Clearwater!"
 
quote:

quote:
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DON'T use a P.O. box on your drivers licence, thats a no no according to the state when it comes to gun buys.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Might be in Washington, but it's never been a problem for me in Montana.

I always get through the NICS stuff in about 5 minutes, except for the time that the system was down for about 24 hrs. (think about that last one, all they have to do to ban gun sales is defund or otherwise monkeywrench the background checks )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

__________________


Thats the one benifit to NYS Pistol Permit system. I don't have to get a NICS check. Every Permit comes with a free 5yr pass. You get a little white piece of paper with your permit you show both to the guy selling the gun. He then puts the Permit # in the NICS approval box, you walk out with new gun.

Also if I am not mistaken if NICS doesn't approve or deny you within 72hrs the gun is yours. So buy defunding and not getting back to people they basicly would just create a 3 day waiting period.
 
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