Brownign Buckmark for Xmas

**WWGunslinger** · December 25th, 2009, 07:16 PM

My dad got me a Browning Buckmark for Xmas this year. He bought one for himself a little while back and i commented on how much I liked his so he must have remembered that.

He purchased it and it was under his name. He said that he wants it under my name and the guy at the shop told him to stop by when we're free and he'll transfer it to me.

I've read (but maybe misunderstood) that a father gifting a firearm to his son doesn't require any paperwork. Is that correct?

I've also heard that PA doesn't have a gun registry or something, so again, no need to "put it in my name"? Or is it because it's a handgun, it has to be transferred to me?

**pred** · December 25th, 2009, 08:14 PM

He can gift it to you legally,,,,
BUT shall we say you go and give it to another and deny it when the guy gets picked up for a crime with it, You Dad is looking at 10 years.
NOT for a second I think you would do that, But your Dad most likely told the shop employee his intentions and the employee told him he needed to transfer it into your name.
If I were to give a gun to my Sis, And I trust her with my life, I would most likely have her transfer it, I like to stay Extra legal,,,,,,,
Once had a dealing with ATF, And there is nothing like having all papers ready and waiting fir just such an occurance,
Peter
OH, Great Dad ! !! And Merry Christmas ! ! ! ! !

**cgbudde** · December 25th, 2009, 08:27 PM

I don't know your or your father, but I doubt he would give you a handgun if he didn't think you were a responsible son. I would not register it in your name, unless your father demands it. There is two reasons why a gun shop would tell you to have it transfered, one he doesn't fully know the laws, second i bet he charges $20 or more for the transfer, thats quick and easy money for him.

**PennsyPlinker** · December 25th, 2009, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by pred

He can gift it to you legally,,,,
BUT shall we say you go and give it to another and deny it when the guy gets picked up for a crime with it, You Dad is looking at 10 years.
NOT for a second I think you would do that, But your Dad most likely told the shop employee his intentions and the employee told him he needed to transfer it into your name.
If I were to give a gun to my Sis, And I trust her with my life, I would most likely have her transfer it, I like to stay Extra legal,,,,,,,
Once had a dealing with ATF, And there is nothing like having all papers ready and waiting fir just such an occurance,
Peter
OH, Great Dad ! !! And Merry Christmas ! ! ! ! !

Parent to child or husband to wife does not require a transfer. Sibling to sibling does, so you would have to transfer it to your sister to do it legally. To a certain extent, I can see the concern on the part of the father, but if someone is going to commit a crime with the gun, it is the person who commits the crime, not the one he got the gun from, who is responsible. The only exception to that is if the gun was transferred illegally.

Note: I am not a lawyer. But I have transferred handguns to my children both in and out of state. In the state, it is simple. Here is your gun. Go enjoy it. Out of state requires a transfer through an FFL.

**levib** · December 26th, 2009, 11:13 PM

I would not run the gun through anything at the store in this situation because:

the 'transfer' was already legal, since you are father and son in PA and he has no reason to believe you aren't allowed to own it and you know you are allowed to own it
registering the transfer in the PA sales database will cost at least $5 for the privilege of running a PICS check and a trip to the store, both of which are wasteful because of the reason above

If your father continues to want to, there isn't really any good reason not to unless you are extremely averse to the PA sales database. While I'm against the database, I don't think it's an important enough reason to not buy a gun and especially not important enough to not get something officially in my name in the database because of a gift!

**WWGunslinger** · December 27th, 2009, 01:19 AM

I thought so, thanks for confirming this. We went to the gun shop anyway (I really wanted to see what else they had for sale) and the guy told us since it's a father-to-son gift, no need to transfer.

It's a super small shop and they didn't have much. I almost bought some .45 ammo because it was cheaper than I've seen lately, but I don't shoot .45 that much so I didn't want to spend the money (I have other things I'd rather get 1st).

I really want to go out and shoot it, but the weather has been so crappy for the last few days.