What is the law on selling a handgun to a 20 year old?

I

Ingram

Moderator
WA state..... though I doubt it matters....

Should I sell it to his parent and then instruct him to hand it down as a gift? It seems kind of superfluous but is that the legal way to go about this? Are private sales subject to the same 21 age rule as dealer sales? I tried google for a few minutes but couldn't come up with anything (no doubt to poor searching skills :confused: ).

Thx.
 
The only thing worse than taking legal advice from a stranger on the web is taking it from an LEO. They are not lawyers, and if they had the legal knowledge or training to answer those types of questions they'd be making a lot more money in a job where getting shot is a lot less likely.

Your state's penal code is probably posted online. If it's not, it's probably available at the library. Time to do some research.

Here you go.

http://www.leg.wa.gov/RCW/index.cfm?section=9.41.240&fuseaction=section

This says that 18yr olds can legally possess pistols in certain circumstances. That may not be the entire story, but it's a start.
 
I would be hesitant to sell the gun to someone under 21. I would also be hesitant to sell to his parents knowing that it was intended for someone under 21.

If something happened involving the gun, I would not what it to come back to me and the fact that I knew it was intended for someone under 21.

The only exception might be if it were a close family member.
 
If something happened involving the gun, I would not what it to come back to me and the fact that I knew it was intended for someone under 21.
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If it's a legal transaction, what would come back to you.
 
If it's a legal transaction, what would come back to you.
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From my perspective (not a lawyer and not 100% sure of the laws relative to such a transaction) I would not want to have to fight a court battle facing some liberal group and their attorneys wanting to hold me responsible what might have happened when an "underage" person purchased a hand gun from me.

"If the federal government doesn't see fit for a 20 year old to buy a hand gun, why did you?"

The fact that I would be hesitant to make such a transaction is my position based on my lack of complete understanding of the law.
 
It is legal to shoot a pistol with adult supervision here in the state of Washington, but it is not legal to own or posses or carry a handgun if you are a minor codes for wash. state
look under title 9 and 9A. everything that has to do with Washington st. gun laws and carry laws are in these two sections.

:cool: :cool: :) :) :)
 
My question was not so much directed at you specifically as it was the system of making legal transactions subject to litigation. And it should have said "what should come back to you". I apologize for the poor wording

If the federal government doesn't see fit for a 20 year old to buy a hand gun, why did you?
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Their only problem with it seems to be an FFl selling a gun to someone under 21.
Maybe someday I'll understand how a gun that goes through an FFL is somehow more dangerous for an 18 year old to own than one that goes through private hands.


I would say that your position is ridiculous but the Bryco decision proves me wrong.
So unfortunately I'll have to say say that your position should be ridiculous.
Maybe someday it will be.
 
No pistol purchase or possesson until 21 in WA state. Selling one to someone under 21 is felony.
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What's your source for that information? The statute I posted clearly defines legal possession of a pistol by a person between the ages 18 and 20.

"RCW 9.41.240
Possession of pistol by person from eighteen to twenty-one.
Unless an exception under RCW 9.41.042, 9.41.050, or 9.41.060 applies, a person at least eighteen years of age, but less than twenty-one years of age, may possess a pistol only:

(1) In the person's place of abode;

(2) At the person's fixed place of business; or

(3) On real property under his or her control."

it is not legal to own or posses or carry a handgun if you are a minor
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Where do you see that in your link?
 
John
Its simple i live here and you live in Texas. i have already had to deal with the local PD on this issue several times in the past when my son was 18.
you have to literally read the whole damn thing to find all the here withs and here nows and all the legal mumbo jumbo. what i wrote was down and dirty version of what people around here no by heart unless they are new to the area or new to guns period. what you quoted is in the section but it only apply to private property. out in public a Minor may not own or posses a hand gun under the age of 18 while buy himself with out it being a felony, or my do so if with a legal adult past the age of 21. but the gun can not be loaded in the possession of a minor in public or concealed on said minor or it is a felony. gun must be in possession of a legal adult past the age of 21. that is the simple version in reality the wash. st. gun laws contradict them selfs a number of times. look in our state constitution state constitution
section 24. it seems our own legislators keep trying to pass laws to out law guns and yet it says right in our st. con. that we have the right to bear arms to protect ourselves.
the rest about minors is for minors and the fact if you got our local channels you would see several minors every day being caught with handguns and charged with a felony(the media really likes to play that up). each state has different ways of interpreting there laws and around here it all depends on what county you live in and what kind of mood the cops or judges are in.
 
I read the law to mean that an 18 yr old could own a pistol and shoot it on his own property.

Are you saying he can't even do that?
 
john
please re-read my last post, I said right in there that on private property or his property he can do pretty much as he pleases as long as he is shooting a gun that is not banned by federal or state law. but in reality that doesn't mean much to people that don't live in the Seattle metro plex area. up here north of Seattle where we one of the only county's to vote red in both election, state and federal, people pretty much shoot what they want. its just out in public that they have been really coming down on minors with guns. the biggest town close to where i live is Mt. Vernon and Bellingham. things in those towns and down south in the Seattle area are like night and day in comparison to living out in the small mountain and rural towns. as you have already read some of our laws, they contradict them selfs in a lot of areas. and the politicians around here will sell there grandmother down the river to win. most of those type are the super liberal types. but yet we have a lax and easy CPL system and its very easy to get one. all i know is what i have learned in the 25 + years i have lived here and what and how different jurisdiction's interrupt the laws. hell half the cops don't even now the current CCW laws.
an 18 year old can buy a long gun but not a hand gun until he is 21. he can own and shoot one on private property but out in public he has to be 21 or his ass is grass. its really that simple. they don't know the laws like they should so most cops and local judges just wing it. the reason they are coming down on the Minor's so bad is because we have a full blown gang problem up here and a few police chiefs that are anti-gun to the max. the worst one being Seattle's. he's for total seizure of all guns period.
:) :) :) :)
 
constitution

Law makers (politicians) have a way of getting around a constitution. In S.C. our constitution says gambling is illegal. For a few years we had video poler machines all over the place that paid off. The powers that be decided to raize the liscense fees for these machines to 2K a year each and they were for entertainment and it was not gambling. Because of a legal snafu, these became illigal a few years ago. Now we have a state run lottery, but this isn't gambling either because the government says so....

Since in Washington state someone under 18 can have a gun with Adult supervision, I say sell it to the parents and don't worry about it.
 
b357
basically thats what they want you to do and then transfer to the youth when he turns 21. but as we all know the more non papered guns the better. several of my sons friends have CPL's and carry everyday using guns that were bought for them when they were a minor. the cops don't really care, all they what to make sure is that you have a valid CPL and thats about it. my son-in-law carries a sig229 that i bought 5 years ago and traded to him and hes never been questioned as to were he got it or if it was bought in his name. all he tells them is, it is on permanent loan from me and they shrug it off. the big thing around here is anyone caught with a loaded gun or a handgun under age then they figure they are really fighting crime i guess. its all the anti's and gangs that have the police trying to enforce laws that have been on the books for years. as long as you keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble they leave you along for the most part except down in Seattle, they have a chief who is a rabid anti gunner and thinks the Brady bunch is the best thing since Apple pie.
 
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