Individual selling firearms, laws?

imported post

Hey this was bought up in another forum. I believe everywhere it is illegal to sell firearms to convicted felons and so forth. So what is an indviduals ( not a dealer) duty when selling? Are we expected to get background checks on all potential buyers. Could we be charged with negligently selling to a felon, if it came back on us??

imported post

Those laws can vary by state.

Google is your friend.

http://www.lcav.org/states/alaska.asp#SecondaryPrivateSales

imported post

Some states restrict private sales. In Ohio, you only have to verify that the person is of age and a resident of the state. The NICS background check is only available to licensed dealers in any case, so as long as you have no knowledge that a person is under weapons disability, you shouldn't be liable for representations they make as to their eligibility.

That said, there is a federal standard that defines a dealer as someone who "devotes time and attention [to the buying and selling of firearms] for the purpose of livelihood and profit." They don't specify a volume of traffic which crosses this threshold, but you can be criminally prosecuted as an unlicensed dealer if you meet that standard.

Even short of that, they could make trouble for you with unreported income if you regularly profited from gun deals and failed to declare such profits on your taxes. One-time estate sales or liquidation of a collection shouldn't be a problem, but you might be prudent not to advertise that you buy and resell guns as a regular activity. I don't know if or how they might be able to track displays at gun shows, for example.

-ljp