# The Law on buying handguns? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2004, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346 "2004-02-21T07:41:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SoulSearching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@SoulSearching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulSearching)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/1 "2004-02-21T07:41:08Z")
[http://www.flashdistributor.com/](http://www.flashdistributor.com/) That website claims to sell authentic guns at very low prices and anyone can buy them. This is conflicting with my knowledge that a person must be 21+, acquire a license, and have other requirements which must be met. The website states that anyone 18 and older may buy a gun. Are the guns actually toys or is the site a scam??? ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/2 "2004-02-21T07:45:32Z")
> [@SoulSearching](#): > > [http://www.flashdistributor.com/](http://www.flashdistributor.com/) > > That website claims to sell authentic guns at very low prices and anyone can buy them. A Desert Eagle for $39.95? They’re toys, probably Airsoft. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/3 "2004-02-21T08:45:28Z")
Yup. Like **Doc Nickel** says, it’s gotta be a pellet gun or Airsoft. Trust me. Even if it were a “Saturday night special”, you wouldn’t even look crosseyed at a pistol for less than three digits (~$100). Most _quality_ handguns run between ~$300 - 800. Tripler I smell a rat. Don’t buy a $39.95 handgun. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/4 "2004-02-21T12:44:56Z")
From the site in question: > [@](#): > > All of the Guns below will shoot metal and plastic bullets or 6mm paint > balls. They are available in single shot, semi-automatic, or full auto > (depending on the model). They are available in regular or metal. > These guns are NOT toys!! They will only be sold to adults over 18 > years of age. They are for target practice only. In other words, they are toys, and are trying to jazz them up a bit. Heck, a BB gun can put your eye out, kid, so are they toys as well? 🙂 Regardless, most definitely not firearms. I picked up a beauty of a Mosin-Nagant for 40 bucks, but don’t count on finding Desert Eagles for 39 bucks. (although that is about what those favorites of hollywood are worth, even though the sell for ~a grand, give or take). Other than pre-1899 and blackpowder firearms, a ‘normal’ (non-licensed, etc) person cannot just buy a firearm over the internet. Not legally, at least. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/5 "2004-02-21T18:29:25Z")
The fact it mentions several of these cheap guns as being full auto should have tipped you off right there. You need to jump through special hoops to buy Full auto, and they sure as hell arn’t going to be going for less then $100. You’d be very lucky to find a good FA weapon for less then $1000. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/6 "2004-02-21T20:43:22Z")
Federal law has a clear definition of what a firearm is and you can’t buy one mail order. Bottom line is they need to use fixed cartridges with an explosive charge, i.e. gunpowder. Muzzle loading rifles, pistols and revolvers do use gunpowder but are not regulated as firearms by federal law thouth they are by some states. Compressed air and spring piston guns are not firearms, but again some states restrict them. Also a flamethrower is ironically enough, not a firearm. ---
**Author:** ![SoulSearching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@SoulSearching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulSearching)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/7 "2004-02-22T01:57:18Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > From the site in question: > > In other words, they are toys, and are trying to jazz them up a bit. Heck, a BB gun can put your eye out, kid, so are they toys as well? 🙂 Regardless, most definitely not firearms. I picked up a beauty of a Mosin-Nagant for 40 bucks, but don’t count on finding Desert Eagles for 39 bucks. (although that is about what those favorites of hollywood are worth, even though the sell for ~a grand, give or take). > > Other than pre-1899 and blackpowder firearms, a ‘normal’ (non-licensed, etc) person cannot just buy a firearm over the internet. Not legally, at least. It saids they shoot metal bullets, and if you look at their ammo page, they have what appear to be real ammunition. This site is so confusing. If they are pellet guns, then why don’t they just say “pellet guns”…I am a college student living a rough part of town in Atlanta, GA…I am seriously looking into buy a gun(but with no ammo in it) and keeping it in my apartment…so should the situation ever arise, I could scare someone off… ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/8 "2004-02-22T03:17:35Z")
> [@SoulSearching](#): > > It saids they shoot metal bullets, and if you look at their ammo page, they have what appear to be real ammunition. This site is so confusing. If they are pellet guns, then why don’t they just say “pellet guns”…I am a college student living a rough part of town in Atlanta, GA…I am seriously looking into buy a gun(but with no ammo in it) and keeping it in my apartment…so should the situation ever arise, I could scare someone off… They can say they shoot “metal bullets” but they are not firearms, and they are not using powder to fire “bullets”. At best they are using compressed air or CO2 or a spring to shoot a metal “bullet” in the same way that a BB gun shoots a metal “bullet”. The site has the words “prop guns”, “movie guns”, “replicas” all over it, so I’m unsure of why there’s any ambiguity here. They don’t say “pellet guns” because technically they aren’t pellet guns. But they’re not real firearms either. I love this quote: > [@](#): > > This tough Marine Pistol will shoot a > special 100% capsicum round that will > disable the toughest grizzly bear. Why > spray 'em when you can hit 'em with a 12 > Ga. Right. If a grizzly bear comes after you and that’s all you have, the best bet is to put it near your head and spray yourself down with the capsicum to make your head unpalatable to the bear. Because my favourite reference, _Alaska Bear Tales_, claims that generally you can live through the bear attack so long as he doesn’t get your skull into his jaws. Crunch. With respect, having a gun just to scare someone off is a highly poor idea IMO - as opposed to being trained in using it and having the ability to use it should your life depend on it. The merits and drawbacks of that are better suited to GD. ---
**Author:** ![MadScientistMatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@MadScientistMatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadScientistMatt)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/9 "2004-02-22T04:33:52Z")
> [@SoulSearching](#): > > It saids they shoot metal bullets, and if you look at their ammo page, they have what appear to be real ammunition. This site is so confusing. If they are pellet guns, then why don’t they just say “pellet guns”…I am a college student living a rough part of town in Atlanta, GA…I am seriously looking into buy a gun(but with no ammo in it) and keeping it in my apartment…so should the situation ever arise, I could scare someone off… I’m also a Georgia resident who owns two rifles and a crossbow. Last time I bought a gun, they did carry out a background check to verify I had not been convicted of any serious crimes. I don’t think they asked for my hunter’s safety certificate, which I did have on me. Taking one of those classes would be a good idea, or better yet, actual firearms instruction as the hunting safety courses don’t have any hands on expereince with guns, just illustrations of the safe ways to handle them. I definitely recommend some firearms safety training if you’re considering buying a gun, and keeping it under lock and key. It wouldn’t do to come home and find the burglar’s found your gun. If it’s just for pointing at would-be burglars, one of those Mosin Nagants would probably work pretty well. The market’s flooded with a lot of Eastern European countries selling their stockpiles, often in pretty decent condition at unbelievably low prices. And even if you’re not keeping any ammo for it, you could stab an intruder with the bayonet. 🙂 Or those airguns would probably be just as effective at scaring people as the real thing. Handguns, by the way, require a good deal more paperwork to obtain than rifles. I haven’t looked into the exact requirements myself, but it’s not too difficult with a clean background check. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/10 "2004-02-22T04:56:04Z")
> [@Una Persson](#): > > With respect, having a gun just to scare someone off is a highly poor idea IMO - as opposed to being trained in using it and having the ability to use it should your life depend on it. The merits and drawbacks of that are better suited to GD. I’ve often heard this, but I can’t for the life of me figure out _why_. Is it gonna piss the guy off if you _don’t_ shoot him? Is he likely to take it and whup you with it? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/11 "2004-02-22T06:19:13Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I’ve often heard this, but I can’t for the life of me figure out _why_. Is it gonna piss the guy off if you _don’t_ shoot him? Is he likely to take it and whup you with it? Err…I don’t want to get into GD territory, simply because I stopped beating my head in those threads a long time ago. So I’ll try to answer that factually speaking, it is the opinion of some (myself included) that because a firearm is a deadly weapon, one should never possess or be the steward of such an item without a responsible and sober and serious effort to be trained and knowledgeable about the use and storage of said weapon. And that said weapon would never under any circumstances be brandished or used to threaten another person unless you had a firm and clear belief that use of the weapon was called for. And if the use of the weapon is called for, then it follows that one should be able to use the weapon - to have it be loaded and operational. Another general opinion is that “faking” someone out with a replica gun or an unloaded gun is a dangerous situation. You are in a situation where the person you are faking out is now under a serious interpersonal pinch-point and is thrown into immediate fight or flight mode. Having had loaded guns pointed at me and pressed against me, I can verify this. And if your bluff is called, they are going to possibly escalate the situation much, much worse than they were originally. In other words, they’re going to “teach you a lesson” for trying to pull a stunt like that. I’ve seen it happen, once. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/12 "2004-02-22T07:16:46Z")
> [@Una Persson](#): > > …Another general opinion is that “faking” someone out with a replica gun or an unloaded gun is a dangerous situation. You are in a situation where the person you are faking out is now under a serious interpersonal pinch-point and is thrown into immediate fight or flight mode. Having had loaded guns pointed at me and pressed against me, I can verify this. And if your bluff is called, they are going to possibly escalate the situation much, much worse than they were originally. In other words, they’re going to “teach you a lesson” for trying to pull a stunt like that. I’ve seen it happen, once. To add to that, if you pull a firearm out, (unloaded), and the other person sees that, and pull out their firearm (loaded), you are back to holding a bad club when the shooting starts. If you are going to present percieved lethal force, you may as well make it actually lethal. Unless, of course, **SoulSearching** is talking about ‘unloaded’ in the sense of a empty chamber, full mag. Some people are big on the ‘Israeli Draw’, and I can see certain advantages to it. (As well as disadvantages!) ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-law-on-buying-handguns/230346/13 "2004-02-22T15:01:31Z")
Why using an unloaded pistol is bad? The main problem is that, psychologically speaking, if a criminal enters your home at night he is either: 1) prepared for a confrontation, 2) intends to flee if discovered. In the second case, you don’t need a pistol, loaded or otherwise. When the criminal becomes aware that you are awake and aware of his being there he will flee. In the first case, the criminal is likely armed. He is not afraid of you or what you are going to bring to confront him. He is assured that he can overcome you. It isn’t a supernatural, inhuman immunity to fear, but rather the criminal has an aggressive mindset. He views, again psychologically speaking, you as prey. Confronting such a criminal with an unloaded pistol is foolish. Yes, it is possible to invent scenarios where an unloaded pistol would be useful and welcome. You confront the ne’er-do-well, and in sight of your gleaming firearm he loses his cool and flees for the hills, but they aren’t realistic in the sense that they don’t conform with the typical scenario or with typical criminal behaviour.