TexasCHLforum.com

How to receive a gun as a gift?

Very gratefully......

Interesting question about declaring at a traffic stop. If you are reaching into a glove box for an insurance card that has a gun in it, yeah I would say something about having the firearm and be directed by the LEO's instructions.

Otherwise, while the CHL holder has to display his license anytime ID is demanded by a LEO AND he/she is carrying. There is no such declaration language I found in the MPA wording which is what you would be carrying under until you are old enough to obtain a CHL. So you don't have to say anything.

But look at my signature...I am neither qualified nor pretending to give legal advice.

pips wrote: The gun department guy at the Academy my sister works at told her that she would "have to get the gun transferred in the gift recipient's name."
Also, if I give my sister money to buy the ammo I am going to be using at the range, is that considered a straw purchase?

First off, GunGuy is an idiot, have him explain exactly how the "transfer" process would work. Since there is no registration in Texas it will be an interesting story. Ammo cant be a "straw" purchase as that refers to firearms. Texas law makes little mention of ammunition, mainly about child access. Guns are gifted every day in Texas I imagine. I gave my GF a spanish .38 I bought just last week as a anniversary gift. The form (first question) asks if your sister "is the actual purchaser" of the firearm and she is indeed, with her money and intent.

I have never heard of any law that prohibits anyone under 21 from buying ammo. If there is, would someone please post a reference to it? I do know of many stores that have this policy, Academy included, but it is only store policy, not law. As TAM said, his son could buy .223 ammo, but not .45 ammo. Every time I have bought ammo from Walmart, .22 specifically, when the clerk enters the sale in the computer, they always askif it is for rifle or pistol. I always say rifle.

Again, I think this is store policy only, but if such a law exists, someone please post it.

pips wrote:Thanks everyone. So once she gifts the gun to me, is it still under her name?

On the 4473, yes, but not as a matter of "gun registration." If a FFL transfers the firearm, then there is a paper trail recording the new owner's information. But, in Texas, no such paperwork is required for a face-to-face transaction between private parties, so the FFL transaction is where the paper trail stops. But that does not mean that "ownership" stops where the paper trail stops. In other words, if your sister gave you the gun, and then later you sold it to a 3rd party, and it was stolen from that third party and later used in a crime and then recovered by police, then (with some narrow exceptions) neither your sister, nor you, nor the 3rd party are legally responsible for the crime committed with the gun.

pips wrote:One of the main worries from my sister is what would happen if I were to screw up and, god forbid, accidentally shoot someone at the range. Understandably, she does not want to be the one held responsible, and I do hope that I would be the one to suffer the consequences if it were my mistake. What would happen if I were pulled over for a traffic violation and the firearm were in the vehicle, do I inform the LEO that the firearm is mine or my sister's?

You are over 18. Unless you are known to have gang affiliations or have a felony conviction under your belt, you are absolutely allowed to be in possession of a handgun in your car, under the authority of the MPA. It doesn't really matter if she bought it, or you bought it. Any legal liabilities you might have in an encounter with an LEO, based on a failure to conceal the weapon from plain view for instance, would fall on your shoulders, not your sister's.

tomc wrote:I have never heard of any law that prohibits anyone under 21 from buying ammo. If there is, would someone please post a reference to it? I do know of many stores that have this policy, Academy included, but it is only store policy, not law. As TAM said, his son could buy .223 ammo, but not .45 ammo. Every time I have bought ammo from Walmart, .22 specifically, when the clerk enters the sale in the computer, they always askif it is for rifle or pistol. I always say rifle.

Again, I think this is store policy only, but if such a law exists, someone please post it.

IIRC, the GCA of 1968 says must be 18 to buy ammo for a rifle or shotgun, 21 to buy ammo for a handgun

tomc wrote:I have never heard of any law that prohibits anyone under 21 from buying ammo. If there is, would someone please post a reference to it? I do know of many stores that have this policy, Academy included, but it is only store policy, not law. As TAM said, his son could buy .223 ammo, but not .45 ammo. Every time I have bought ammo from Walmart, .22 specifically, when the clerk enters the sale in the computer, they always askif it is for rifle or pistol. I always say rifle.

Again, I think this is store policy only, but if such a law exists, someone please post it.

It is really a law, not just store policy. Those of us old enough remember when you actually did sign a log for ammunition purposes. When I bought my first rifle, I could not buy any ammo for it because .22LR fits in a pistol.

Here is the law. Title 18, Section 921 Subsection (b) (18 US 921(b)) says:

(b) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed
manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or
deliver -
(1) any firearm or ammunition to any individual who the
licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than
eighteen years of age, and, if the firearm, or ammunition is
other than a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or
rifle, to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable
cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age;

Bullwhip wrote:

pips wrote:The gun department guy at the Academy my sister works at told her that she would "have to get the gun transferred in the gift recipient's name."

Gun guy has no clue. Don't take legal advice from him.

Same thing recommended to me after buying an 870 in Houston today as a gift. I think it was friendly advice to remove any possible liability of wrongdoing on the seller or gifter. Or just really misinformed store training procedures.