My brother lives in California and he's going to give me a .38 special. He wants to buy a bigger handgun.
I seem to be getting a variety of answers on what is legal and not legal about how to get that gun to me. Clearly, it cannot be mailed regular mail and so that leaves UPS, Fed Ex, etc. (a private carrier).
Then I read for handguns it has to be mailed to a dealer, or licensed holder, etc.
I am not licensed yet and my brother in CA is not licensed, he keeps it his home only.
So, does anyone know how I can legally get this handgun from California to me in Texas without me having to drive there to pick it up?
Thanks!
Give it to the BATFE and meet them in Ciudad?
/wiseass
For a fee you brother can have a dealer in CA mail it to a dealer in your neighborhood. Simple!
But federal law requires you to use an FFL holder. Your brother will have to find one in CA to ship it, and I think he has to ship it to another FFL holder near you. Then, you go pick it up.
I'm sure there is someone that has done it. One issue is getting someone to actually ship it. Some of the shipping companies refuse to accept firearms. But, an FFL will be able to help you there.
FFL dealer in Kalifornia to FFL dealer in TX. They may charge you a few bucks but it beats driving there. As far as I know that is the only “legal” way to do it. Or get holder to make a deal with you. NOT LOL!
Or you can just fly out there and bring it back on the plane in checked baggage in a locked case!
The FFL Holder Network is designed to make it easier for a buyer to get in touch with an FFL holder in his local area that is willing to manage the transfer of his firearms purchase. The FFL holder will typically charge a nominal fee for providing this service. In addition to the fees listed, the FFL holder may be required by law to collect sales tax, background check fees, or other transfer-related fees.
http://www.gunbroker.com/FFL/DealerNetwork.aspx
This is for a gun auction site, but the FFL holders will almost certainly work with you once you select someone local to you. Go to the site, put in your zip code and look through the list of those close by.
Simplest way (unless it has sentimental value).
Have him go to a gun show and sell the gun.
Buy another here in TX, there are plenty here.
Also, if it’s just a .38 revolver, it would be almost as cheap to buy one like it here in your home state. Revolvers generaly speaking are not expensive!
Check the various state laws. My dad lives in Virginia and has a condo in Western Pennsylvania. He has to drive 45 minutes out of his way to clear the Western end of Maryland to legally take his gun to the condo.
Before your local FFL releases to you he may have to run a background check
What ever happened to mailing it a piece at a time? Send it in 4 separate packages. Frame, cylinder, grips, and trigger mechanism.
Fly in full burqa. Or just drive and enjoy the view of the USA while you still have a chance to see it without TSA checkpoints on the roads.
You can expect to get different rules depending upon which UPS office you use and which employee waits on you.
My daughter was able to ship after "disassembling" the gun and shipping it in two packages. Neither of the packages was required to be second-day air, signature required, as I believe is UPS policy.
The receiving FFL can supply a code number which permits his FFL to be verified online. This is a good thing to have to assure UPS that the gun is being shipped to an FFL. Make sure that your receiving FFL is willing to do the transfer and follow his directions.
I agree with Sudetenland. That’s how my son did it. He had it shipped to the gun shop across the street from his home. No problem.
I had to deal with this issue a few years ago and both researched on the BATFE site and called BATFE to confirm. Then I read the statute.
FFL to FFL is clearly allowed. Each takes their cut. Where I live, the cut is so large that it would be close to half the value of a normal used .38spl revolver to do the transfer. Add in shipping and insurance, and you’re over half the value.
If the owner is permitted to possess the gun in another state (e.g., don’t take an unlicensed gun into MD), then the owner can transfer directly to an FFL in the foreign jurisdiction while physically present there. The FFL can then sell to whomever the FFL wants, including the person who comes in with the owner. This makes sense since the big deal is making sure the gun is shipped only to an FFL and that the background check gets done when the FFL transfers to the 3d party.
Finally, you’re always allowed to ship a gun directly to an FFL. From the BATFE website faq: “ A person may sell a firearm to an unlicensed resident of his State, if he does not know or have reasonable cause to believe the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under Federal law. A person may loan or rent a firearm to a resident of any State for temporary use for lawful sporting purposes, if he does not know or have reasonable cause to believe the person is prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under Federal law. A person may sell or transfer a firearm to a licensee in any State. However, a firearm other than a curio or relic may not be transferred interstate to a licensed collector.
[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3) and (5), 922(d), 27 CFR 478.29 and 478.30]
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Additionally, the only requirement I’ve been able to find for transfer is that you need a FFL in the buyer’s state — there doesn’t seem to be anything requiring the seller / owner to ship the firearm through an FFL in the seller’s state:
“Q: May an unlicensed person obtain a firearm from an out-of-State source if the person arranges to obtain the firearm through a licensed dealer in the purchaser’s own State?
A person not licensed under the GCA and not prohibited from acquiring firearms may purchase a firearm from an out-of-State source and obtain the firearm if an arrangement is made with a licensed dealer in the purchaser’s State of residence for the purchaser to obtain the firearm from the dealer.
[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3) and 922(b)(3)]
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Do your own research though — it may be hard to get FFLs to help you because many of them are ignorant of the transfer provisions or they are so legitimately scared of BATFE being arbitrary and capricious in interpreting its own rules that they will insist on the clearly safe FFL to FFL transfer.
http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/unlicensed-persons.html#gca-unlicensed-transfer
One more thing. The one thing you CANNOT do is drive to CA to pick up his handgun. You can buy rifles and shotguns from FFLs in other states. All handgun transactions between residents of different states must pass through an FFL.
When I had to drive from Nevada to Alaska I had a couple of handguns, I had a person and an address in Alaska to send parcels.
So I stripped the guns into various bagged components and mixed them into a shipment of hobby tools and HO railroad trains. Sent them by UPS. Not a problem.
Nowadays I would use several shipments of “machine tools” and don’t forget to add some machine tools to the shipment.
You have gotten good answers to your question, but I just wanted to add: The NRA crafted the laws that are the problem to your question. They even coined the phrase “sensible gun control” that the Brady Bunch uses while doing it.
Less than a year prior to that one of those dealers had done a transfer from an out of state manufacturer to me without any qualms.
No matter what the law says you need to talk with FFL at both ends to see what's going on at the time.