"Foreign" transaction?

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cjwils

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This is hypothetical in my case, since I did not proceed with the transaction; but with all the internet access available all over the world these days, I suspect this sort of thing is already happening.

I am a US citizen who recently visited Canada. While there, I used the free wifi service at the hotel to access a well known internet gun broker website, which is based in the US. If I had clicked on the Buy it Now button for a firearm, while sitting in Canada, would there be any legal ramifications? I suspect not, because the financial transaction would have occurred in the US after I returned home, and the transfer of hardware would have occurred after I returned home.

I could make this thought experiment more complicated by adding this: What if I had mailed a check from Canada or somehow transmitted my credit card number from Canada to the gun seller in the US?
 
To make things either easier or more complicated (take your pick):

Suppose the gun was a handgun, you are a resident of Iowa, and you were in a hotel in Arizona. We know that Federal law says you can only buy handguns in your state of residence, so can you place the order from another state?

Or ... suppose you were to go to a gun show in Nebraska, pay the nice man at the table for a S&W classic revolver, and have him ship it to your friendly (?) local FFL in Iowa. Legal? I hope so, because I'm pretty certain it happens many times, somewhere in the country, every weekend.
 
It's completely legal and you really haven't done anything until you fill out the 4473 and take delivery.

Much ado about nothing.
 
are there any states left that still dont require a background check for private sales at a gun show? What if you bought and immediately took delivery of a private sale at a gun show in another state away from home?
 
You could have been on the moon. It doesn't matter where you enter the contract, it's where you consummate it. The internet "gun broker" (ha ha) website will send the gun to the FFL of your choice, and you will pick up said gun there, all, presumably in your home state of Washington where all would be kosher. (You are from Washington, yes?)

I did the same from the Philippines through probably the same well-known internet "gun broker" and my gun was delivered to my FFL in my home state of Arizona where I completed the transaction after I returned to the U.S..
 
kilimanjaro said:
You can purchase a long gun at a gunshow out of state, if the purchase is legal in your state....
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Wrong again.

One may under federal law buy a long gun in a State which is not his State of residence only if (1) the long gun is transferred to him by an FFL; and (2) the long gun is legal in his State of residence; and (3) the transfer complies with the legal conditions in both the transferee's State of residence and the State in which the transfer takes place.
 
And I think there has been a misunderstanding of the OPs original question.

As I interpreted it, he was in Canada on vacation in a hotel, ordered a gun he liked off the internet from an internet site, and the gun is to be delivered to a dealer in his home state of Washington. I don't see any laws broken there.
 
gyvel said:
And I think there has been a misunderstanding of the OPs original question.

As I interpreted it, he was in Canada on vacation in a hotel, ordered a gun he liked off the internet from an internet site, and the gun is to be delivered to a dealer in his home state of Washington. I don't see any laws broken there.
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I think most of us understood the question, and I think all except maybe one of the responses addressed it. I agree, no legal issues.
 
Hey, Frank, you might want to check your comprehension a little bit, my post clearly reads 'if legal in your state'. That just might include states that don't allow private sales, you think?
 
kilimanjaro said:
Hey, Frank, you might want to check your comprehension a little bit, my post clearly reads 'if legal in your state'. That just might include states that don't allow private sales, you think?
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Hey, yourself. Your ignorance is showing.

With regard to a resident of one State buying a gun from a resident of another State (e. g., at "a gunshow out of state"), it's not a matter of state law. Federal law prohibits it except, possibly, through an FFL.

Federal law has outlawed private sales (and any transfers under most circumstances) of firearms between residents of different States since the enactment of the Gun Control Act of 1968 -- over 45 years ago.
 
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What federal law is violated by a non-licensee selling to nonresident if the seller does not know know or have reasonable cause to know the buyer to a non-resident?
 
Dreaming100Straight said:
What federal law is violated by a non-licensee selling to nonresident if the seller does not know know or have reasonable cause to know the buyer to a non-resident?
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You're assuming facts not in evidence. And there is also the question of the buyer's criminal liability.

We have discussed federal law applying to interstate transfers of firearms, including long guns and hand guns, and including transfers by sale, gift and otherwise, in no fewer than nine threads in the last two years (and many more if one goes further back). Each of these threads over the last two years cite and quote the applicable federal law.

  1. buying a handgun when resident of PA lives in MN

  2. Non-resident gun purchase

  3. Face-to-Face Gifting of a handgun to a son/daughter who is resident of another state

  4. Nevada Resident Buy Pistol from Arizona Private Party

  5. Does any state allow non-residents to buy guns and ammo?

  6. I'm from Iowa, can I buy a handgun in Ohio?

  7. Selling firearms to an out of state resident

  8. In what states may out-of-state buyers purchase firearms?

  9. Private sale out of state?

Whether in a particular case the evidence will support successful prosecution will depend on exactly what took place and how it took place. The point is to understand what the law is so that one may avoid engaging in conduct which could expose him to criminal liability.
 
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