Transfer of possession

[Pastor Ron]

Not sure where to post this so if it's in the wrong place the mod's can bump it where it needs to be!

Just for conversation, let's say 25 years ago a son gives his father a .22 revolver to get rid of some pigeons roosting in the attic. The son does not want the revolver back and after the pigeons are gone the father doesn't want the revolver so the father gives it to a close friend... no FFL involved, no paperwork. Legal?

[Sgt.K]

Not sure where to post this so if it's in the wrong place the mod's can bump it where it needs to be!

Just for conversation, let's say 25 years ago a son gives his father a .22 revolver to get rid of some pigeons roosting in the attic. The son does not want the revolver back and after the pigeons are gone the father doesn't want the revolver so the father gives it to a close friend... no FFL involved, no paperwork. Legal?

Nope.

[Steve in PA]

Nope x 2. Illegal transfer of a firearm. In other words, a crime was committed by the parties involved.

[BestDefense=StrongOffense]

Hangun + gift to friend × Pa law = TRANSFER AT FFL.

[Displaced]

Was the father to friend transfer 25 years ago? If so, what was the law then...that is the proper question IMO. IANAL.

If father -> friend was recent, then hell no not legal.

[GunLawyer001]

(deleted for neatness)

[nlcrsn]

I understood that transfers 25 years ago did not require such procedures as ffl. ??

[Steve in PA]

Probably the opposite. Today, provided both are not restricted persons and both reside in PA, no transfer via FFL is required.

25 years ago, a father/son transfer probably required the use of a FFL.

[GunLawyer001]

I understood that transfers 25 years ago did not require such procedures as ffl. ??

Hmmm, maybe so....Section 6111 is certainly more detailed today than it was in 1990, by several pages of text, and has been amended as follows:

1972, Dec. 6, P.L. 1482, No. 334, § 1, effective June 6, 1973. Amended 1995, June 13, P.L. 1024, No. 17 (Spec. Sess. No. 1), § 5, effective in 120 days; 1995, Nov. 22, P.L. 621, No. 66, § 4; 1997, April 22, P.L. 73, No. 5, § 1; 1998, June 18, P.L. 503, No. 70, § 4, imd. effective; 1998, Dec. 3, P.L. 933, No. 121, § 4, imd. effective; 1999, Dec. 15, P.L. 915, No. 59, § 6, effective in 60 days; 2000, Dec. 20, P.L. 728, No. 101, § 4, effective in 60 days; 2008, Oct. 17, P.L. 1628, No. 131, § 5, effective in 60 days [Dec. 16, 2008]; 2012, Oct. 25, P.L. 1626, No. 199, § 1, effective in 60 days [Dec. 24, 2012].

I wasn't practicing law until 1994-1995, right about the time that Mirowitz and others were helping to revise the Uniform Firearms Act and fix some of the issues (or at least restrain the anti's from Philly), and by that time the transfer restrictions were in place, effective in 1995. Looking at some older copies of the Crimes Code, it looks like 6111 was aimed at "sellers", which would exclude gifts.

So, looks like 20 years ago, you couldn't gift a handgun to a local buddy, but 25 years ago, you could.

Good to know. Doesn't really come up a lot these days.

[Rimfire]

25 years ago would exceed the Statute of Limitations anyway