Looking to buy a handgun face-to-face, how can i make sure it is legally safe for me?

T

the_collector

New member
Title pretty much says it all. I hope to buy a nice ruger security six within the next week or so. I am 19, and where i live it is LEGAL to buy face-to-face as long as the buyer (me) is 18+. I am, so...

How can i legally cover my butt! I will make out receipts, have us both sign them, and that way we each have one(i will be very descriptive in them). But how do i make SURE he/the gun arent in any legal trouble and make SURE im am not liable for anything???

I cant exactly do a background check, but what information should/can i ask him for?

Thanks for any input
I just havent bought firearms in this fashion, the gun store is one thing, but this is new to me
 
There are two websites that can help with determining if your gun is "hot."

These sites will probably not do you any good before the buy. The police will be of little help either unless you tell them it MAY have been used in a crime.

If it HAS been used in a crime, the police will seize the weapon and perhaps you.

If you can get the serial number of the weapon, you can Google "hotgunz.com" and "stolenweapons.com."

IF the weapon has been stolen AND IF the information has been entered in the database, the weapon should show up as stolen/lost.

The thing is, many guns are stolen and a lot of the numbers do not get entered.

The police have access to the federal databases that are more complete. It would not take much effort to track a serial number for you. But they won't.

I do not do many FTF transfers because of the risk. When I do, I do it in daylight at my indoor shooting range on the parking lot and I have an armed witness watching the transaction. Usually one of the RSOs.

If ANYTHING seems hinky, call a halt and go no further.

Geetarman:D
 
Get to know a police officer I have a friend that runs all the number for me and if its stolen they take it but usally the guy selling it dosent mind if the officer is standing right there
 
Thanks, i will definitely ask him for the serial numbers before we meet up. I live in GA. Good idea about talking to a police officer, and i do plan on bringing along a friend

Anything else though, Im going to ask to see his Driver's License, and get the info on it (address, etc)
 
Believe it or not, your own "gut feeling" can be pretty accurate on that kind of thing. Con artists specialize in deceit, but most people I have encountered that dealt in stolen goods really do look and act like people who deal in stolen goods.

If you get his name and address from a drivers license, that should be good enough. Even if the gun should turn out to be stolen, you have the name of the person who sold it to you and that should be good enough for any LEO.

There are a couple of sites that list stolen guns but only if someone enters the data; they are far from comprehensive and are not official. LE lists are part of stolen property data bases; not all LEAs have them and they are not generally available to the public. AFAIK, there is no general national list of stolen guns.

Jim
 
I'd never sold a gun FTF prior to earlier this year, but in the last six or eight months, I've sold three. In all cases, I wasn't very concerned about liability issues, as I knew my guns weren't stolen, but nobody asked about the origins of the guns during the transfers, either. My main concern was my personal safety. I was able to get a "feel" for the buyers during phone conversations, and didn't sense a reluctance to meet in public places (not so public as to draw attention to a "gun buy going down" where it would scare the horses). One deal was done in the lobby of a gun store/shooting range where I know the (armed) guys behind the counter, one was done in a coffee shop parking lot where nobody was watching, but where there was lots of traffic, and one was done at a local business address on a weekend morning when nobody was around, but which I "cased" beforehand. I asked to see the buyers' drivers license, to sort of confirm that they were legal to buy - though I wouldn't know a fake DL if I saw one - and I wrote down the name on the license. That was due diligence, as far as I was concerned. I think meeting at a gun club or range is probably best, as you don't have to worry about "GUN!", but it's still a public place.
 
In California I sold some guns as a private party to another. We went to a local gunstore to do the transaction in terms of the proper registration and wait. I had a few people trying to get unregistered (in their name) guns, I told them I had no interest in having a gun registered to me in someone else's hands. There were a few people who declined to do a legit transaction and that was okay for them to walk away.

Buying a gun the reverse holds true, if the seller doesn't want to go to a gunstore with you for proper registration something is wrong. Obviously I'm not talking about anyone you know well.

Back in the late 70's I had a wanna be biker type that lived next door that brought me an Auto Mag that had a cased set of two barrels, the 357 auto mag and the 44 auto mag with the magazines. He wanted more for it than I was willing to pay as he didn't seem to want to divulge where it came from. I doubt he was involved in stealing it but it more than likely was stolen. He left it for me to "check out" I had a LEO friend (Steve) who was a motorcycle riding buddy two doors down so I took the serial number to him to run. He asked if it was stolen and said if it came up as stolen he was going to have to come up with something for why he was looking at it. I told him he could have the name of the neighbor that gave me the gun if it showed up on a hot sheet, the idea of someone having their guns stolen deeply irritated me. It surprised me when it didn't come up. Biker Bad Boy showed up and I acted like I really didn't want anything to do with it, I asked him what he was doing with a smoking hot gun. He looked like a deer in headlights, I said I'll tell you what, I'll give you $200 for it. My wife yelled from the kitchen, you aren't going to buy a stolen gun and I told her hush. BBB acted like he didn't want to touch the gun, in fact he seemed hugely relieved to take $200.

I took San Francisco Peninsula phone books calling every dealer looking for ammo, I found 4 boxes of Norma at one store and the guy took $125 for all four and another single box at $35 at another store. That was all of the available ammo on the whole peninsula. I then went to shoot it so I was cleaning it and noticed cracks on both sides of the lug overlapping in the center to where a 1/16th inch of metal was all that was holding the lug to the barrel. There was no way I was going to shoot it like that.

Steve asked me what was up with the pistol and I told him I had bought it and would turn it over if it ever showed up as hot, my guess is that the rightful owner would have gladly compensated me for what I paid. Steve had told another cop friend who apparently wanted one of these and I was offered $700 for it, which I took. I told the guy about the cracks and he said that the barrel would be replaced by (faulty memory) either Auto Mag or AMT if they had bought it at that time.

I was pretty irritated a year later when a guy at the San Jose fairgrounds gun show who traded a lot of auto mags said he would pay $4500 for one of those two barrel sets.

Easy come easy go huh?
 
The Op is the Buyer.

If the seller wants a bill of sale that's fine. depending on your state it may or not be needed. It's very rare the buyer wants one.

When I do a FTF one person brings cash the other brings the gun. We swap.
We go home. That's it, no paperwork.

If it concerns you that much use and FFL for the transfer

GA is pretty much the same as Florida. Meet and swap.

AFS
 
Also, make an effort to write down the vehicle description and more importantly, the license plate number of the vehicle the Seller arrives in.
 
Hire a P.I. to tail him after the buy, just in case........LOL meet face to face, take gun to favorite gun store ask them to do transfer, pay transfer fee and leave. Or not.
 
Hire a P.I. to tail him after the buy, just in case........LOL meet face to face, take gun to favorite gun store ask them to do transfer, pay transfer fee and leave. Or not.
Click to expand...

He can't do a dealer transfer because he is under 21.
 
Jim Keenan said:
Believe it or not, your own "gut feeling" can be pretty accurate on that kind of thing. Con artists specialize in deceit, but most people I have encountered that dealt in stolen goods really do look and act like people who deal in stolen goods.
Click to expand...

This^^

When I buy a handgun face-to-face, I purchase from someone that doesn't give me a "hinky" feeling. I've never been asked for ID or asked for their's. No paperwork exchanged hands unless it was the original papers that came with the gun.

It's nice living in a state that doesn't require registration.

I'm not going to use my handguns for any nefarious purposes, so there's little chance the authorities will ever run the serial number. If I happen to wind up with a stolen or "wanted" gun I won't ever know unless I have to file an insurance claim or a future buyer runs a check. Then I may be out a couple hundred dollars. Big deal. I'm not going to check the history of every gun I buy to catch the one in a thousand that may have a tarnished past.
 
Thank you very much, you have all been helpful :D
I feel a lot better, and the guy has been very helpful in sending me pics, and information...along with his number. I have decided that unless he asks me for info i probably wont ask him for any

Again, many thanks. I fee better about ftf exchanges now
 
if you both have been in communication then that is the best way....

sounds like the seller has already checked you out and feels okay with it... if either or both of you are on the internet and specifically gun forums then you can do a search of that person's post and find out all kinds of stuff about the person and usually be pretty re-assured.
 
According to Federal Law, you cannot own a handgun until you are 21 years of age. Both you and the person who sells you the handgun could get in trouble.

Ineligible Persons

The following classes of people are ineligible to possess, receive, ship, or transport firearms or ammunition:

* Those convicted of crimes punishable by imprisonment for over one year, except state misdemeanors punishable by two years or less.
* Fugitives from justice.
* Unlawful users of certain depressant, narcotic, or stimulant drugs.
* Those adjudicated as mental defectives or incompetents or those committed to any mental institution.
* Illegal aliens.
*Citizens who have renounced their citizenship.
* Those persons dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces.
* Persons less than 18 years of age for the purchase of a shotgun or rifle.
* Persons less than 21 years of age for the purchase of a firearm that is other than a shotgun or rifle.
* Persons subject to a court order that restrains such persons from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner.
* Persons convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
* Persons under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year are ineligible to receive, transport, or ship any firearm or ammunition. Under limited conditions, relief from disability may be obtained from the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, or through a pardon, expungement, restoration of rights, or setting aside of a conviction.

http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/Federal/Read.aspx?id=60
 
Bill - can you cite the actual law for this? It is my understanding that persons under 21 cannot purchase a handgun from a federally licensed dealer, but they can posses and own handguns at the age of 18.
 
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