# Laws regarding reselling of firearms **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404 "2003-10-14T16:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404/1 "2003-10-14T16:28:48Z")
I live in CA. If I legally own a firearm (shotgun or pistol) and want to later resell it because I no longer want to own it, what legal procedures must I do to comply with applicable state laws? Is there limits as to who I can resell my firearm to? Are there oversight agencies which I must notify of the sale? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404/2 "2003-10-14T16:38:59Z")
I’ve never resold a firearm, but what I recall from the hunter’s safety class I took several years ago, you have to go through a licensed firearms dealer. They run a background check on the new owner, change the name the gun’s registered in and will notify any agencies that need to be notified. As to who you can resell it to, nobody that couldn’t buy it new. That means no felons, minors, insane folks, or people with restraining orders against them. I think the dealer will charge a fee, but it’s a fairly small one. ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404/3 "2003-10-14T16:56:46Z")
Maybe in California but around here there is no laws against dealing between provate individuals. Advertise them right in the paper to sell. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404/4 "2003-10-14T17:21:50Z")
Same here in Missouri. See them advertised in the paper all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404/5 "2003-10-14T18:16:15Z")
Listen to **Ender\_Will** , you must go through a dealer to transfer a firearm in California. _Federal_ law does not prohibit private sales to someone who is not prohibited from owning a firearm in your own state but that’s not the end of it. There are services such as [gunbroker.com](http://gunbroker.com) that can be used to facilitate sales but you still have to go through a dealer to make most transfers, particularly across state lines. This is one way to advertise to a national market and still be legal. I live in Arizona so I don’t have to necessarily go through a dealer on this end as you would in California. Once a sale is negotiated the buyer has his local dealer send me a copy of his federal firearms dealer’s license signed in ink. I keep the original for my records and make a copy for my shipper. I ship to the dealer which is legal under federal law. The dealer places the gun in his inventory and transfers it to the buyer on a form 4473. In your case it will be a dealer to dealer transfer before the buyer gets the gun. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404/6 "2003-10-15T00:37:01Z")
In N.Y., you need a federal firearms licence to sell or buy a pistol. Rifles and shotguns can change hands without the intervention of a licenced person. I’ve done it a few times (with pistols) with a friend of mine (an FFL holder.) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404/7 "2003-10-15T05:16:50Z")
Why not visit the [California DOJ Firearms Division](http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/) web site? Also check out the [California State Law Summary](http://www.firearmslawcenter.org/content/california.asp) site where I found this tidbit: “When neither party to a transaction is a licensed firearms dealer, firearms transfers must be completed through either a licensed dealer or a law enforcement agency.” ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-regarding-reselling-of-firearms/207404/8 "2003-10-15T07:58:05Z")
- - - As noted, in CA you must transfer through a licensed gun dealer. … - This was the source of one of Arnie’s main pre-election gaffes: once when he was asked how he felt about gun control, he said he wanted to “continue the assault weapons ban and _close the gun show loophole_”. --\>The “gun show loophole” being where in many states, a person can set up a table at a gun show and sell guns to others without doing background checks, because it’s considered a “individual-to-individual” sale, and not a dealer since the seller doesn’t engage in it regularly or attempt to live mainly off their earnings. —Except that CA _has no “gun show loophole” already_, because all transfers of any kind have to be done through a dealer, who would be required by law to do the background check anyway. CA’s laws on the matter are already stricter than federal laws… This is the very reason anti-gunners shouldn’t be involved in making gun laws–they frequently do not know what they are talking about. ~