Firearm Resale Question

[villa]

I would ike to own an M1 Garand. Unfortunately, as I am not a citizen, I am not eligible for the Citizens’ Marksmenship Program that sells army surplus ones.

Is there any legal problem if a friend who is eligible purchases one from said program, and sells it to me? Would we need to go through a registered dealer for the resale, or is that only on certain classes of weapon?

[Bobotheoptimist]

Check your state laws (I’m unfamiliar with FTF transfers in your state). If the friend purchases it with the intention of immediately selling it to you, there might be a problem. “Straw purchase” is not firmly defined, in my opinion. It seems to be aimed at stopping the purchase for someone unable to legally own one, but if someone buys one for someone that is legally allowed to … I just don’t know that there is a clear decision on that. Not saying there isn’t, I just don’t know.

But about your residence status, from what I see on Firearms – Virginia State Police -

Does one have to have U.S. citizenship to be eligible to purchase a firearm?
A buyer who is not a citizen of the United States must have lawful alien status and must establish that he or she is a resident of a state by providing a valid photo identification and documentation such as a utility bill or lease agreement which would establish that he or she has resided in the state for at least 90 days prior to the date of the sale.

Congress has passed prohibitions that apply to “any alien in the United States in a non-immigrant status” with certain exceptions and a waiver process. Contact the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives if you have questions about these regulations.

[villa]

Bobo - I’m aware I am allowed a firearm. The program I want to purchase from specifically excludes non-citizens. It’s a sale of army surplus old rifles. I am pretty certain there is no problem with me owning this weapon, I just would rather buy one cheap through this program rather than through a dealer…

ETA - I hoep this didn’t come across as snotty. I didn’t mean it to…

[Bobotheoptimist]

The thing I’m worried about is the legality of your friend buying it for you. Once it’s out of the hands of the CMP, they don’t have any say what happens. But the straw purchase laws are (to me, anyway) unclear. In my opinion, since you are able to legally own then it is not a straw purchase by definition.
But looking at the Virginia website, FTF transfers do not need to go through an FTL.

I keep editing, I should get my thoughts in order before I post.

If your friend buys it for himself then sells it to you at a later date, it doesn’t look like there are any problems. If your friend buys it with your money and the intention of acting as a middle-man… Loan your friend some money and then when he can’t pay you back in cash he could just repay with a recently acquired M1 from his collection that you covet.

[villa]

That was my gut feeling too - and don’t worry, I’m not going to hold you (at gunpoint) to it…

[Bobotheoptimist]

For a small fee, many FTL’s will handle a transfer for you. To be 100% sure you could pay the $25 and have your friend xfer it through them.

Or you could be vewy vewy quiet and go ahead and do it