is this the "law"?

[delcosheriffsucks]

about a year ago i was at a gunshop, looking at a sig and 2 guys came in and asked to do a transfer for a pistol, the man behind the counter said no problem but if the guy he was transfering the pistol to was denied by pics he would than have to do a pics check on the origional owner of the pistol in order for him to leave with the pistol. is this how the law is or was he full of it?

[Robert Kayland]

It's my understanding that a pistol transfer is as follows:

a) The dealer is actually taking the pistol into formal inventory when the seller does a transfer, and it technically becomes the property of the dealer for that moment until the PICS check is done on the intended buyer.

b) If for some reason the buyer doesn't pass, the dealer can't merely give back the pistol to the original owner, since it's in his inventory.

In short, whoever is going to get the pistol needs to pass a PICS check from the dealer. He can't release the gun to anyone without doing the PICS.

Yeah, it's screwed up... like most gun laws.

And no, dealers will not do a PICS check on an intended buyer first, just to see if he passes... at least, none that I know of will do that... I'm sure there are some laws surrounding that too.

[Chvyrs90]

It's my understanding that a pistol transfer is as follows:

a) The dealer is actually taking the pistol into formal inventory when the seller does a transfer, and it technically becomes the property of the dealer for that moment until the PICS check is done on the intended buyer.

b) If for some reason the buyer doesn't pass, the dealer can't merely give back the pistol to the original owner, since it's in his inventory.

In short, whoever is going to get the pistol needs to pass a PICS check from the dealer. He can't release the gun to anyone without doing the PICS.

Yeah, it's screwed up... like most gun laws.

And no, dealers will not do a PICS check on an intended buyer first, just to see if he passes... at least, none that I know of will do that... I'm sure there are some laws surrounding that too.

What he said. When I transferred a pistol to someone, PICS went down. The owner said, once the process begins, he cannot return the weapon to me.

[donm]

The same is true for a consignment. If it doesn't sell, the dealer has to perform a PICS to transfer it back to you.

[Gun]

What if you leave a firearm for repair, modification, etc?

[donm]

What if you leave a firearm for repair, modification, etc?

I've seen this discussed on the forum recently but my quick search failed. The answer is that in this case it doesn't go into anybody's "bound book" and no legal "transfer" takes place. I've done this to have night sights installed and no PICS check took place when I retrieved it.

[renalp]

It's my understanding that a pistol transfer is as follows:

a) The dealer is actually taking the pistol into formal inventory when the seller does a transfer, and it technically becomes the property of the dealer for that moment until the PICS check is done on the intended buyer.

b) If for some reason the buyer doesn't pass, the dealer can't merely give back the pistol to the original owner, since it's in his inventory.

In short, whoever is going to get the pistol needs to pass a PICS check from the dealer. He can't release the gun to anyone without doing the PICS.

What a mess. I'm wondering, what happens next? If the original (possibly illegal) owner comes back with a "clean" buyer to accept the transfer, doesn't that smell like a straw purchase? If it's not eventually transferred does the gun sit in limbo? Is it eventually forfeited, and if so, to whom?

[Robert Kayland]

What a mess. I'm wondering, what happens next? If the original (possibly illegal) owner comes back with a "clean" buyer to accept the transfer, doesn't that smell like a straw purchase? If it's not eventually transferred does the gun sit in limbo? Is it eventually forfeited, and if so, to whom?

Well, if the original owner lets the gun sit in the dealer's shop, then it is sort of in limbo... until that time the original owner passes the PICS check and gets his gun back... or (if both the intended buyer AND the original owner fail a PICS) some third party buyer is willing to purchase the gun.

And yes, that could smell like a straw purchase, if said new buyer came in accompanied by the original intended buyer... but if anything went wrong down the road, crime-wise, it would be the straw purchaser (and the perp) who would be in hot water...

Maybe the dealer as well, if it were a particularly heinous crime and the authorities wanted to bust chops and thought they could convince a judge/jury that the dealer was negligent in not recognizing an obvious straw purchase...

But that's a tough case to prove... and I'm willing to bet, except in the rarest of occurrences, the dealer won't have to answer for a straw purchase. Many dealers I've spoken to have told me outright that if they smell a rat, they won't make the sale... but there would have to be some painfully obvious signs of rodent.

After all, a person who passed PICS came in and bought a gun... how is the dealer supposed to predict the future?

Note too that if the original owner never claims the gun back after a given amount of time, the dealer is probably allowed to keep it, much like a landlord can keep a tenant's stuff after a tenant moves out and leaves stuff behind. What that given amount of time is, according to law, I have no idea.

[kpw]

The PICS check is on the buyer, not the gun itself. I purchased an LCR from an individual a couple weeks ago. I had my paperwork filled out and the PICS check ran before the seller even showed up with the gun. If I had failed PICS, the seller would have simply left with his gun as no transfer had yet taken place. Dealers should run PICS before transfers are completed but they wouldn't get their transfer fee if there was a denial, so they won't.

[huckleberry63]

Boy its nice to be in Georgia.....go to gun shop with carry permit, fill out the paperwork with carry permit and DL, leave with new purchase in about 10 minutes. AND if you sell or purchase to private individual, no transfer needed. All done between seller and buyer. Is there a waiting period for handgun purchases??