Laws regarding purchase of pistol at gun shows

[cbourbeau32]

I live in SE Oklahoma and the best and nearest gun shows are in Dallas Texas. As long as I buy from a non FFL individual is that legal since I live in Oklahoma? ?Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Charlie

[Mikey]

Charlie - you had best check the laws in your state to see if it is legal to purchase from an individual (private purchase) without having to have the firearm registered through a dealer for interstate transfer, and  also check to see what laws are in place regarding out of state purchases. 

I doubt, even in Texas, that you can purchase a handgun at a gun show and walk home with it if you are an out of state resident.  If the dealer is a Texas dealer he can only sell to another dealer in an out of state purchase - actually, he can sell it to you but most likely has to transfer it to a Oklahoma dealer in order for you to pick it up.  If the dealer at the show happens to be from Oklahoma then he can sell to you but you would probably have to wait to pick up the handgun when you got back to Ok. 

Best thing to do is check the laws first, especially in regards to private purchases across state lines.  Mikey.

[jhm]

Charlie:  The biggest and best gunshow will be in Tulsa in Oct. The Wannamacher show at the fair grounds, If you can wait that long there will be handguns there to fill every price range you can think of, and some that you would never want to pay, its a 2 day event and you will need most of the 2 days to see it all.  Like Mikey said check into Ok. Laws to be on the safe side.   JIM

[rockbilly]

You can purchase from a non FFL dealer.  What this usually means is the individual has purchased a space and is selling their personal firearms,  currently there are no requirements for paperwork on this is type of purchase/sale.  Unless OK has changed the law recently there is no requirement to register a gun with the state or local LEO, so there should be no problem with the state.

Just for personal protection, I have always insisted on some form of identification (driver's license), I record the name, license number and state, make, model and serial number of the gun just for my persona records.  This way if a situation ever arises where I have to explain where a gun registered to me has gone, then I have the information.  If a person does not want to give me the info I tell them to walk.

[35Rem]

From the ATF's FAQ's:

(B2) From whom may an unlicensed person acquire a firearm under the GCA? [Back]

A person may only acquire a firearm within the person’s own State, except that he or she may purchase or otherwise acquire a rifle or shotgun, in person, at a licensee's premises in any State, provided the sale complies with State laws applicable in the State of sale and the State where the purchaser resides. A person may borrow or rent a firearm in any State for temporary use for lawful sporting purposes.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3) and (5), 922(b)(3), 27 CFR 478.29 and 478.30]



(B3) May an unlicensed person obtain a firearm from an out-of-State source if the person arranges to obtain the firearm through a licensed dealer in the purchaser’s own State? [Back]


A person not licensed under the GCA and not prohibited from acquiring firearms may purchase a firearm from an out-of-State source and obtain the firearm if an arrangement is made with a licensed dealer in the purchaser's State of residence for the purchaser to obtain the firearm from the dealer.

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/faq2.htm#b3

Your state may be more restrictive...

[Robert357]

Good advice, in my State at the Collectors Association I belong to we all offer and check drivers licenses to make sure that handgun private sales don't involve anyone crossing state lines. 

Actually, one of the stories I heard as I pulled out my drivers license to show the person I was buying from that I was a state resident.  (He just glanced at it and the picture and didn't write anything down.)  He told me about how he had asked one time and the guy pulled out a Canadian drivers license.  He had to tell the guy that he was sorry, but that he couldn't sell the handgun to him for both their own good.

[wncchester]

So far, all the BATF men deal with are purchases made from or through dealers.  Dealers are those in the profession or business of buying and selling, meaning we who are not dealers may sell our private guns to other private individuals without a licensee or gov. paper work. 

Peripheral topic; that is the "gun show loop-hole".  It's gets the liberals worked up because they don't want us selling a gun to our neighbor or through newspaper classified adds, nor even being allowed to pass them along to a relative or a grand kid, etc, without gov. permission.  To attain that, they want to require a dealer to record and process all exchanges - for a price of course.  That explains why so many gun store operators would like to see the "gun show loop-hole" closed; it would mandate we give them some dollar shares from all privately owned gun transfers. 

DON'T LET THE LIBERALS ELIMINATE THE SO-CALLED "GUN SHOW LOOP-HOLE"!  It isn't about gun shows at all, it's about gov. control of our personal non-PC property...