Handgun transfer from c&r to wife to father-in-law

[krzmagister]

Is it legal, in PA and according to Federal Law, to buy a handgun with a C&R License, gift it to your wife, who then gifts it to her father? Is this something that he could use to protect his home? Is this something that he could safely carry later if he got a ccw? Thanks in advance to all of you.

Kurt

[y0rlik]

Is it legal, in PA and according to Federal Law, to buy a handgun with a C&R License, gift it to your wife, who then gifts it to her father? Is this something that he could use to protect his home? Is this something that he could safely carry later if he got a ccw? Thanks in advance to all of you.

Kurt

That sounds like bad news.

Leaving out the C&R bit (we'll get to that in a bit), while the proposed transfer meets the letter of the law (husband to wife, wife to her father, both allowed exceptions), if you run into a picky judge/LEO/etc. who thinks you are trying to do an end run around the laws (which is what it seems like to me -- a nobody from DE), he/she/it could make your life miserable.

The other part of this scenario which screams 'Danger, Will Robinson!' is using a C&R license to acquire the handgun. C&R licenses are for the purposes of facilitating a personal collection. The ATF takes a very dim view on individuals using it to acquire firearms for other individuals. If they find out you have done it, and they can prove you had intent to do it, then you could wind up in a world of hurt (think revocation of the license at a minimum and possible vacation time in the iron bar hotel).

My question is: why are you trying to evade the laws here? I understand the desire to have a few guns 'off the records', but usually when someone starts asking about how to do legal but circuitous familial transfers to get their third cousin twice removed a gun, there's something fishy going on. Is your FIL prohibited from owning guns? If so, then you are facilitating a *felonious* transfer, and that is very bad news. If he can't own a gun, then he can't get an LTCF either, so anytime he carried it concealed would also be illegal. If he's not prohibited, why doesn't he just go buy a gun himself? Transfer fees aren't that much, and you do things completely aboveboard. If he really can't afford it right now, buy it as a bona fide gift and do the transfer at an FFL.

[spblademaker]

Gift her dad the money and let him buy it himself...right? Something about "Denmark" and "rotten" comes to mind!

[39flathead]

As a C&R Licensee, you should have the number for the ATF on hand.

Give them a call and ask them about the procedure regarding disposing of a firearm acquired with your C&R.

[hornady]

Hummm first post, shady question, kind of makes you think.

[medsteele]

Gifting it that way seems technically legal, but it's quite obvious you're trying to circumvent the law. If your father-in-law is not legally able to own firearms, I believe it's not even legal for your wife to give it to him anyway.

No one here is going to recommend this course of action. From an outside perspective, it appears to me your father-in-law is ineligible to own a firearm, so unless you've got a decent explanation for your question, I'm telling you not to do it.

[mauser]

My 2¢ on the OP.
No matter how you look at it it sounds shady at best. The two scenarios that come to my mind are:

1, Maybe there's a particular handgun available as a C&R that is hard to find locally but readily available online, like possibly a CZ82. I rarely see those available in gun shops and occasionally at shows but they're usually expensive unless they're in poor condition, non-matching or whatever. AIMSurplus almost always has them in stock for about $219.00 and their quality is always good.

2, Maybe the OP has a handgun that was previously acquired via C&R that is no longer readily available or has gotten prohibitively expensive. If that's the case it certainly wouldn't be my first choice as a defense/carry weapon.

That being said, it's usually only about $30.00 -$35.00 to have a licensed gun shop receive it from an online source and do the paperwork for a proper non C&R transfer directly to the FIL, or about $25.00 - $35.00 to have the shop do the proper transfer from your collection/bound book to the FIL.

That seems like a small price to pay to avoid the possible negative consequences of a transfer that appears to be technically legal but of questionable intent.

[carrguy1]

I'm not really condoning it either but the thought that comes to my mind, similar to what mauser has just said, maybe the father in law wants him to try to do it this way to avoid paying an FFL fee on a shipped gun. I hate having to pay that fee as well but, even if it's technically legal, why take the risk, especially for just $30 give or take.

[krzmagister]

Hi all,
Thanks for the info. I was not trying to be shady. I know it is my first post (I actually joined here a while back in order to browse the classifieds). In fact, I don't even have a C&R -yet. I was just curious because I eventually wanted to gift my father-in-law a handgun because I know he would like one and would not buy one for himself (He is both former Navy and just all around cheap). I am cheap too to and would like to avoid the transfer fee as long as it was completely legal.
I haven't even gotten a speeding ticket since I was 16 and I have a sensitive job in which I cannot even remotely get into trouble. I of course have read the PA Firearms code up and down and am pretty familiar with it though I am not as familiar with the ATF code. I appreciate all of you who took time to answer my questions. Thanks again,

Kurt

[medsteele]

If your job is that important (and aren't they all in this economy), cover your ass and pay the $25-50 transfer fee. It might be possible to circumvent it, but the ATF has a funny way if interpreting the rules as they see fit.