street purchase

T

towncarblue

New member
i live in cleveland OH .
i went to my local walmart today and i met a man i have never seen before.
he was selling 3 used firearms [ glock 30 , fnp-9 , derringer ].
i was interested in the glock 30 , it was slightly used , looked good and the was selling it for $420.
i wanted to buy it but i dont know if buying it would be illegal .
am i supposed to register the firearm with NICS or with OH state ?
was the man selling firearms illegally?
can i go to jail just for purchasing the firearm [assuming the man was an undercover police officer ] ?
 
I'm not familiar with Ohio's firearm laws... If you follow your local/state laws and an ATF-4473 is properly filled out & distributed appropriately then everything should be legit. Long as you don't get robbed or the gun doesn't come back stolen.

IMHO, I wouldn't buy a gun from a stranger in a Wal-Mart parking lot. It just sounds scuzzy with the potential for a horrible outcome.

Edit: I can't find any Ohio law that requires a 4473 to be filled out (it's required in Michigan). I would want some kind of transaction record with the sellers name, verified by checking ID. If he gets all squirrley about that then GTFO!
 
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Time to check you local and state laws. Ohio is not overly restrictive but you do need to be sure of any city or local garbage that might be waiting to bite you. But buying any guns from a stranger at a walmart I think I would be more worried that he is selling stolen guns than that he is a cop trying to bust you. (Oh and if he offers to sell you a full-auto/select fire anything run like h-ll away. Don't even look just tell him no f'n way and beat feet that could be a setup.)
 
I would not buy a gun from someone I did not know or did not identify himself. You could always make the verbal deal, then both go to Joe's Pawnshop for the transfer, then when it comes up stolen, you don't get ripped off or receive stolen goods.

You'll know it's a bogus deal when he refuses to sell at the same price through a dealer.

Maybe it's legitimate, but I would pass it up.
 
There is no ATF-4473 form required in Ohio as long as both parties are not FFL license holders. I would be more concerned on how this person approached you. If that concerns you, then I would go to any FFL holder and have them do the transfer to. If he balks at that, then there is definitely something wrong. Possibly stolen guns would be my guess.

Jim
 
Colbad, you nailed it on the head. What responsible gun owner, with half a brain ,would sell a gun that he had filled out paper work on previously in a wal-mart parking lot.
As a responsible gun owner we should make note of the car and it license number and call the local law enforcement and report them. More than likely the previous owner will be thankful.
 
I dont see the problem. I have done many gun deals in parking lots(personally Denny's is my favorite). Public places with lots of witnesses and security cameras. Why? First i will not let them come to my house for a deal. And i wouldnt expect to go to their house for same reason i dont want them at my house, plus it could be a trap to take my $$$. Going through a shop will increase the price, even if it is $30-40 that is a couple boxes of ammo. And i am cheap. You can call the police yourself with a serial number and they will run it and tell you if it is stolen(if the seller will not allow you to call then the answer is obvious). I also always have a friend a ways off with good eyes, a cell phone and a way to reach out and touch someone. And i would assume they do the same. I have never had a problem with any gun deal i have ever done like this. If the price is right and it is something you want i say make the deal.
 
If you're an Ohio resident and you visit a gun show in Ohio, you can buy or sell right there on the floor. Well within the law. Both parties must be Ohio residents, aged 21 or over and neither party must have any reason (whatsoever!) to believe the other may be a prohibited person.

I buy and sell guns this way often. I did exactly this a week ago. And the floor of a gun show is no different (legally or morally) than a Wal-Mart parking lot. Here's a free tip: you can do exactly the same thing with a hammer, a lawnmower or any other kind of mechanical ("potentially GASP dangerous") tool or device.

Embarrassing. Someone offering items in a -- 100% -- legal fashion and you've got him painted as a criminal.
 
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Hbhobby,

I completely agree with your statement. I just sold my LCP at pizza hut last week. But that was an arranged meeting. The OP stated that he was approached by a stranger at Wal-Mart and shown some pistols for sale. Totally different from yours, mine, and I assume many others experience with private gun sales.
 
Good lord, some random dude in a WalMart parking lot wants to sell you guns out of his trunk and apparently several here just think he is downsizing!!!!

Its one thing to complete a pre-arranged sale in a public place.....totally different when a random bag man shags you down in a parking lot and offers you guns for sale. Why not pick up a bag of weed at the same time and call it medicine. :eek:
 
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hbhobby said:
You can call the police yourself with a serial number and they will run it and tell you if it is stolen(if the seller will not allow you to call then the answer is obvious).
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Maybe the police in Payson will run a serial number for you, but the police around here won't. In fact, it's illegal here for them to use the system unless it's in connection with a crime.
 
Maybe the police in Payson will run a serial number for you, but the police around here won't. In fact, it's illegal here for them to use the system unless it's in connection with a crime.
Click to expand...

And, quite frankly, I don't believe the Payson PD or the Gila County SO will run ANY gun without it being physically in their hands.

Regardless, stranger or not, at $420.00, the (used) Glock was no bargain anyway.
 
Even running the numbers (if you can) only helps if the owner had a record and they got entered into the system when it is checked. Sometimes the owner is not home when the theft occurs or has to track down numbers before the FA can be entered as stolen. Stolen guns turn over several times, often before they ever get entered into the systems. It is also amazing how many people do not record their serial numbers.

A certain amount of common sense has to come into play in this type of a situation so as not to encourage theft.
 
And transferring through a dealer offers you no advantage. Dealers can't check to see if a gun is stolen.
A legal transfer is a legal transfer, period.
 
Yes, but...

A legal transfer is a legal transfer, period.
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True. But receiving stolen property is a crime, and if a stranger approaches me in a public place and offers to sell me something valuable, my assumption is that he probably didn't come by it legally. That's not the way honest people do business; it's risky for the seller, and he's probably not going to get top dollar for whatever he's selling (OK, guns may be a bit different in this regard, but in general -- no.)

I once had a fellow approach me on a street corner and offer to sell me a camcorder for $25; it was just before Christmas, and he was charmingly persistent about it. He was polite, I was polite, but... no sale. He had a box of them in the doorway behind him, and I was pretty sure it "fell off a truck."

And another thing: it's not the safest thing for the buyer, either. Presumably the seller is going to want cash, and his plan may be to take yours and keep the gun. If you think it's safe because it's a public place -- do a search on "parking lot" and see how many threads there are concerning crimes or potential crimes occurring in such places.

Not a good idea.
 
Technically everything is legal, as long as the guns are not stolen. But the details here would lead me to be suspect. I'd pass.

Asking someone in LE to run the SN is a good idea, and not illegal. Most will not do so unless they physically have the gun in hand though. If it does come back as stolen, and they cannot produce the gun it does not look good for them.

I've had a LE friend run a few for me. He told me in each case that if it came back as stolen he would be at my house within minutes to retrieve it. Fine with me. Better to find out it is stolen this way than on the side of the road in another town or state where I'm not known.
 
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