How many FFLs need to be involved when a private party sale includes shipping?

[doctor1911]

This is a situation I might find myself in, so I am going to try to make it general enough to aide others:

Private party sale of 1 handgun.

Buyer is in one corner of PA. Seller is in the opposite corner. Handgun will have to be shipped.

Can the seller personally ship it to the buyers FFL?

OR

Must the seller take it to his local FFL and have his FFL send it to buyers local FFL?

Thanks in advance!

[evilfij]

Legally speaking you can ship directly to the FFL, but the buyer has to find an FFL that accepts shipments from individuals. Most don't.

[JBubba57]

Here's what a trusted buddy experienced last year, shipping a rifle from the Midwest to the Southeast:

First you have to find a local dealer to receive it for you. If he wants to charge more than $25 for the service, or he makes up new "regulations" about the transfer, find another dealer. You can look up dealers in your area here: http://www.gunbroker.com/User/DealerNetwork.asp, if you don't already have a favorite.

Three things to watch out for with the dealers:

First, you are not BUYING anything from them. They can't charge sales tax. Its none of their business how much you paid for it, and any "taxes" they charge are going right into their pocket, not to the state.

Second, it does NOT have to be shipped from a dealer. The SELLER can simply send it by USPS to the dealer directly. If the receiving dealer insists that firearms can only be shipped from dealers, expect the SELLER to charge an extra $50+ for having to put up with that ignorance.

Third, the receiving dealer does not have the right to see the ID of the shipper. BUYER and I had a problem with this one because he only has one dealer close by and he insisted that he needed to see my ID before receiving the rifle.

Once you have your dealer and the details worked out, they will give you a signed copy of their FFL. Send that along with the payment to SELLER and then he can ship it to the address listed on the FFL.

Here's what gunbroker.com says about it:

By Federal Law, firearms can only be shipped to an FFL Holder. If you do not have an FFL, you must make arrangements with an FFL Holder in your state to handle the transfer. We maintain a list of FFL Holders who are willing to handle transfers for qualified buyers. Please contact an FFL Holder before placing a bid to make sure you qualify.

and

FFL Holder NetworkThe FFL Holder Network is designed to make it easier for a buyer to get in touch with a local FFL holder in his local area that is willing to manage the transfer of the buyer's firearms purchase. The FFL holder will typically charge a nominal fee for providing this service. In addition to the fees listed, the FFL holder may be required by law to collect sales tax, background check fees, or other transfer-related fees.
It is very important that you contact the FFL holder before placing a bid on an item to verify the complete cost of the transfer, to verify the legality of the item in your area, and to make sure you qualify to pass any required background checks.

The FFL Holder Network is at http://gunbroker.com/User/DealerNetwork.asp in case you didn't see it above.
Put your zip code in and see what's out there for you.
For my area, the fees go from 20 to 30 dollars or even "10% of deal, min. 50 dollars" (yeah, right, like I'm gonna do that one!), and some of them do try to collect sales tax, and some will do the local law call-in and some won't.

Hope this helps.

(I am not affiliated with gunbroker.com or the FFL Holder Network. I'm faced with the same shipping situation as everyone else, for a gun I'm trying to buy, so I've been looking at this, too.)

[shermdo]

IMO the answer is ONE. You need a FFL only on the buyer's side of the transaction.

[Xringshooter]

JBubba57, you wrote:
"Third, the receiving dealer does not have the right to see the ID of the shipper."

I am sorry to say that the receiving FFL may not have the right to see the senders ID but he DOES have the right to know who and where it is coming from as he HAS to enter that into his aquisition/disposition book. If the sender is an FFL the receiver just needs a copy of the senders FFL. If the sender is a private party the receiving FFL needs the senders name and address.


Doctor1911:
If you are a seller the buyer can talk to his local FFL and see if the FFL will accept it from a private party. If the FFL will, then the seller can ship it via common carrier (UPS, FedEx for a handgun). When it arrives, the FFL will get in touch with the buyer to do the transfer. If it is a long arm, you can ship directly to the buyer as long as both parties are residents of PA. A long arm can be shipped USPS, UPS or FedEx. Shipping a firearm from UPS and FedEx you will probably have to take it to the main terminal. Satellite locations typically will not do this.

If the only FFL that the buyer has locally will not accept from a private party, then you have no choice but to ship from FFL to FFL.

[RobW]

What I hear from my local dealer is that he is doing a CYA for the PSP, who are apparently major ball-breakers. I've talked to him about this quite a few times, as he has done more than a few transfers for me! From his perspective, the thought of having an auditor up his butt with a microscope because a private party didn't include a bill-of-lading or didn't send overnight isn't worth what he can charge for the transfer. FFL to FFL is just business as usual for him, so that's all he accepts. I generally just figure the extra few bucks into the transaction cost when I decide whether to buy or sell.

Of course, YMMV
--RobW