Legality of selling a pistol to a friend?

tenders

New member
I have a pistol that I would like to sell to a friend of mine. I legally own the pistol (in Maryland). He has nothing preventing him from buying pistols (he is also in MD, and he owns more guns than I do.). Can I legally sell the pistol to him directly, and just write up a bill of sale? Do we have to go through an FFL? I guess that I'm wondering if there is anything to prevent private sales of pistols in MD from one "pistol legal" party to another? (I know that you are all not lawyers, nor all from MD.) Any ideas?

Thanks,
-Tim
 
My guess is NO. NO. NO. I am PA resident but MD may be similar. In PA it is legal (for the time being while Clinton has screwed up the "gun show loophole")to sell a longarm to someone w/out an FFL

But HGs are verboten to transfer without an FFL to do the transfer and the paperwork. It i sprobably the same. You will need to take handgun to local dealer and have him go through the transfer. This would include NICS check ATF forms etc.


Orso
 
Or maybe you were just out in your boat and "dropped" it in the lake, then you r freind was swimming along and must have "found" it. Just a thought. I of course would never recommend such a thing and I of course also beleive you should do ALL things throught the proper channels.

P.S. Cash is also nice :rolleyes:
 
Check the state statutes. They are probably on the State's webpage. Here in Missouri I can sell to a private party if he gets a permit to purchase from the sheriff. It's the same permit required to purchase a handgun from an FFL and is also required for gunshows (what loophole do they keep talking about?)As long as he has that and I fill out the seller part and mail it to the sheriff, we're all just one big happy family. Kind of a pain, but it could be so much worse. If we could just figure out how to disown St. Louis. :(
 
tenders;

I am a MD resident also. Just heard a lawyer that specializes in gun cases speak on this subject last week. ABSOLUTELY NOT!! It must go through an FFL.

Too bad.
 
Thankfully, here in Ohio we can still transfer between private parties (for now). The only requirement is that any long gun sales must be to a person over the age of 18, and handguns must 21.

The gun shows I have attended recently announce over the PA system that some dealers will make a NICS call for a private sale if the seller so desires for a CYA. No dealer paperwork, just the call.
 
Well, I went and did the right thing and found out speciffically about this. Pistols are considered "regulated firearms" by the state of MD, and transferring one without the paperwork is a state felony. You can go and have an FFL do the paperwork for whatever they charge. Or, you can go the state police barracks in Jessup, and they will do it for a $10 fee. Then you wait 7 days for any dissaproval, and you can transfer ownership. That's what I'll be doing. I like to keep things nice and legal.

-Tim
 
Sounds like a clear case of infringement to me, tenders. Then again, I'm somewhat familiar with Maryland's firearms laws (I live in Virginia), so I am not at all surprised.

"Regulated firearm".

What part of "shall not be infringed" do they not get?
 
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