Renting storage space

[oblivionboyj]

A friend of mine is going to be temporarily living and working in MD, but he is an OH resident.
His job will be bringing him to our state in around 6 months, at which time he will establish residency in PA.
He does not have a place to store his guns (rifles, shotguns, a few pistols) in OH anymore, and it is not logistically fesable for him to take a trip "home" anyway.
He is asking me to help him find a way to store his firearms in PA because since he is never going to be a resident of MD he is not interested in registering his pistols and "assault" rifles.
He's not looking to circumvent the law, and so long as the guns dont reside in MD he will not be.

So my first thought was for him to rent a storage closet in PA and leave them there until he moves.
He asked me if there was a way to store them at my house and I said no because I believed that would be considered an illegal transfer.
It got me thinking though; why cant I rent him storage space in my home?
If I were to rent him space in my home (with a written contract stating the rental arangement and cost, and laying out the privilages and restrictions) to store a locked case to which I had no key or access, wouldn't this be the same as renting a storage space from a legal standpoint?
I am just looking for some options for my friend so that neither of us run affoul of the law (no matter how stupid the law is).

[knight0334]

He can rent a locker and store them there. Also, he can store them at your place, but they should be kept locked up with only him having the key/combo to the containers that they are in. If they are kept locked up you would not have control and custody of the guns, therefor you wouldn't possess them. He'd maintain ownership and there wouldn't be a "transfer".

[West Chester]

http://reference.pafoa.org/statutes/...ms-prohibited/

(a) Offense defined.--No person shall make any loan secured by mortgage, deposit or pledge of a firearm, nor, except as provided in subsection (b), shall any person lend or give a firearm to another or otherwise deliver a firearm contrary to the provisions of this subchapter.
(b) Exception.--
(1) Subsection (a) shall not apply if any of the following apply:
(i) The person who receives the firearm is licensed to carry a firearm under section 6109 (relating to licenses).

[PaBimmerGuy]

maryland does not have mandatory registration. he can take his guns with him into the state without any problems.

im not a lawyer but i lived in maryland for more years than i care to admit.

[oblivionboyj]

http://reference.pafoa.org/statutes/...ms-prohibited/

None of the referenced subsection would apply to the situation I am proposing.
There would be no loan, or promise of repayment secured by a using a firearm as colateral.
Only a rental of physical property for the purpose of storage.
What he stores there would be in no way loaned to me or intended for my use.

[PaBimmerGuy]

if the guns were secured in cases with tamper evident seals or locks it would not be an illegal transfer.

inal but i discussed something similar my atf inspector. my situation was shipping guns to meet me. as long as the receiving party didnt mess with the boxes you were okay. the same was true with living a box to be picked up by ups.

so if your buddy either bought a cheap gun cabinet which he put into your basement and didnt give you a key he should be okay.

my first comment still stands. maryland cares very little about what you bring into the state when you move there.

[knight0334]

if the guns were secured in cases with tamper evident seals or locks it would not be an illegal transfer.

inal but i discussed something similar my atf inspector. my situation was shipping guns to meet me. as long as the receiving party didnt mess with the boxes you were okay. the same was true with living a box to be picked up by ups.

so if your buddy either bought a cheap gun cabinet which he put into your basement and didnt give you a key he should be okay.

my first comment still stands. maryland cares very little about what you bring into the state when you move there.

Note though that MD has an "approved gun list" that may prohibit importing into the state certain guns.

[oblivionboyj]

Note though that MD has an "approved gun list" that may prohibit importing into the state certain guns.

My friend has reason to believe that he owns guns that may not be on this list, and he does not want to find himself on the short end of this one.
He is also being told that current MD law does require handguns to be registered.
His plan is to put all questionable guns in a safe haven until he is able to get out of MD in a few months when his job will bring him permenantly to PA.
His plan is to retain a shotgun for HD and nothing else at the place he is staying in MD.

[knight0334]

My friend has reason to believe that he owns guns that may not be on this list, and he does not want to find himself on the short end of this one.
He is also being told that current MD law does require handguns to be registered.
His plan is to put all questionable guns in a safe haven until he is able to get out of MD in a few months when his job will bring him permenantly to PA.
His plan is to retain a shotgun for HD and nothing else at the place he is staying in MD.

To be safe with MD's laws, he should buy a cheapo gun cabinet and lock up his guns at your house(if you don't mind). The shotgun shouldn't be an issue with MD law.

[PaBimmerGuy]

He is also being told that current MD law does require handguns to be registered.

registration is voluntary.

maryland is like pennsylvania in requiring that transfers be recorded including gifts between spouses. however just like pennsylvania if you move into the state there isnt anything that you need to do.

http://www.nraila.org/GunLaws/Federal/Read.aspx?id=74

the handgun roster deals with transfers. selling or offering for sale or having an ffl transfer it. i believe that if you already own it there isnt an issue. however that should be addressed to the state police firearms division. believe or not the guys that work there actually know the laws and how they are interpreted. had many conversations with them in the past.

the handgun roster is 73 pages long.

http://mpdc.dc.gov/mpdc/lib/mpdc/inf..._md_roster.pdf

you could always visit http://www.mdshooters.com/ and get answers from people who currently live there.