# Pennsylvania Gun Laws **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 23, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337 "2013-07-23T23:31:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jrod1160](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@Jrod1160](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jrod1160)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/1 "2013-07-23T23:31:27Z")
I am purchasing a hand gun from my sister-in-law. The gun is registered in Pennsylvania and I live in Ohio. Do I need to go to a licensed PA gun dealer to transfer the gun? ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/2 "2013-07-23T23:34:35Z")
> [@Jrod1160](#): > > I am purchasing a hand gun from my sister-in-law. The gun is registered in Pennsylvania and I live in Ohio. Do I need to go to a licensed PA gun dealer to transfer the gun? Since when does Pennsylvania maintain a gun registry? ---
**Author:** ![Jrod1160](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@Jrod1160](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jrod1160)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/3 "2013-07-24T00:26:53Z")
I assumed it was registered, lets just say it was purchased in Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/4 "2013-07-24T00:56:06Z")
I am not a lawyer. This probably should be moved to IMHO, since you’re asking for what I think is legal advice. A mod’s been notified. That said, the following [page](http://www.atf.gov/content/firearms-frequently-asked-questions-unlicensed-persons) from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is probably going to help you. As I understand your situation: you are a resident of Ohio, the seller is your sister-in-law, she is a resident of Pennsylvania, and neither of you have a federal firearms license (FFL)? Plus, she’s alive, right, this doesn’t have anything to do with a bequest from a will? And you are trying to purchase the firearm while you are in PA? Oh, and you don’t own any property in PA, such that you can be considered a resident of PA while you are there? Then, it looks like, according to the BATFE’s citation of the 1968 Gun Control Act and 1934 National Firearms Act, that you will need to make the transfer through a FFL holder: > [@](#): > > A person may only acquire a firearm within the person’s own State, except that he or she may purchase or otherwise acquire a rifle or shotgun, in person, at a licensee’s premises in any State, provided the sale complies with State laws applicable in the State of sale and the State where the purchaser resides. A person may borrow or rent a firearm in any State for temporary use for lawful sporting purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/5 "2013-07-24T01:55:39Z")
> [@Jrod1160](#): > > I am purchasing a hand gun from my sister-in-law. The gun is registered in Pennsylvania and I live in Ohio. Do I need to go to a licensed PA gun dealer to transfer the gun? Your SIL can ship the gun to an Ohio gun dealer. You can go to the Ohio gun dealer and complete the transfer just like you were buying a gun at any dealer in the state. The dealer will charge a transfer fee (typically $25 to $35), and you may need to pay state sales tax or ‘use tax’. You can find an FFL holder near you using [this resource](http://www.gunbroker.com/FFL/DealerNetwork.aspx). (You don’t need to go to a ‘gun store’; just make the transfer through a licensee.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/6 "2013-07-24T03:37:57Z")
Legal advice goes in IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/7 "2013-07-24T08:07:37Z")
And your SIL in PA can’t just unload and pack the firearm and drop it off at UPS or USPS to send it to your local firearms dealer in OH. She’s got to take it to her local firearms dealer in PA for him to ship it to your local guy. Blame Lee Harvey Oswald. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/8 "2013-07-24T16:17:36Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > And your SIL in PA can’t just unload and pack the firearm and drop it off at UPS or USPS to send it to your local firearms dealer in OH. She’s got to take it to her local firearms dealer in PA for him to ship it to your local guy. Blame Lee Harvey Oswald. [Official Government Source](http://www.atf.gov/content/firearms-frequently-asked-questions-unlicensed-persons#shipping-firearms-carrier) > [@](#): > > **Q: May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by common or contract carrier?** > > \*A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by a common or contract carrier to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm. > > [18 U.S.C. 922(a)(2)(A), 922(a) (3), 922(a)(5) and 922(e), 27 CFR 478.31 and 478.30]\* So, yeah. The SIL can pack up the (unloaded) gun and ship it off to the dealer by FedEx. (I don’t recall UPS’s rules, but I know I’ve shipped a rifle through them.) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/9 "2013-07-24T23:36:57Z")
Generally, handguns are UPS or FedEx **overnight air** (UPS Next Day Air or FedEx Express Priority Overnight). USPS won’t do it. Long guns may be sent using slower/cheaper methods. All 3 will take long guns. The shipper **will not** need to ship through an FFL, butyou will need one to send it to. IF she goes through an FFL, then they can ship USPS, although I doubt that would be cheaper. She should declare it as a firearm when shipping, of course. [UPS](http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/guidelines/firearms.html) [FedEx](http://www.fedex.com/us/freight/rulestariff/prohibited_articles.html) Don’t know about if sales tax is required, but terminology: if they charge you, it’s sales tax. **If tax is required** but they don’t charge you, then use tax is what you are supposed to declare on your tax return. It’s not strongly enforced, but it required and not collected, then you’re _supposed_ to still pay it April 15. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-gun-laws/664337/10 "2013-07-25T02:04:14Z")
I’ll add that some FFLs will not accept shipments from a private party, only from other FFLs. If your SIL ships it herself, be sure in advance that the receiving FFL is OK with it.