TexasCHLforum.com

New to site so sorry if this is posted to the wrong area, it may be, I searched several pages and found nothing similar to the questions I have.

Question 1;
If I purchase a handgun from a private party, carry it for a couple of years, and (heaven forbid) I have to use it defensively, what problems am I facing if this gun comes back involved in a crime, or stolen?

Question 2;
Is there any place I can go (as a non LEO) that I can verify the history of a gun before/after a purchase?

Question 3; (not to beat a dead horse as I saw a long post about this)
Does obtaining a bill of sale or fire arm transaction form (not through an FFL) from a seller willing to do this step waive my accountability if the scenario in Q1 happens?

Question 4;
Can/will an FFL process my private firearm purchase for a fee?

Thanks for any insight y'all have on this topic.

#1. I'll defer to a lawyer on this one and would be interested in their opinion. If/when I'm buying a used gun, I insist on a bill of sale. There are many here on this forum that would refuse to do business with me for that reason alone, and I respect their right to make that decision, but a BofS along with proper, current ID is a must for me, for just the reasons you identify.

#2. I believe your local PD would run the serial number for you. Call them and ask.

#3. Again, a legal question I'll defer to a lawyer. IMO, IANAL, having a signed BofS goes a long way to securing your freedom if the gun comes back stolen at a later date.

#4. Yes.

Wodathunkit wrote:New to site so sorry if this is posted to the wrong area, it may be, I searched several pages and found nothing similar to the questions I have.

Question 3; (not to beat a dead horse as I saw a long post about this)
Does obtaining a bill of sale or fire arm transaction form (not through an FFL) from a seller willing to do this step waive my accountability if the scenario in Q1 happens?

Question 4;
Can/will an FFL process my private firearm purchase for a fee?

Thanks for any insight y'all have on this topic.

#3: A bill of sale would help investigators figure out who you got it from. They are always grateful for little things like this, and it shows that you made a good faith purchase of goods.

#4: Yes, they should, but the price will vary (but keep in mind this does NOT verify the firearm isn't stolen. FFLs have no access to stolen firearm databases)

Now: What if I told you that for between $50-$100, you can purchase insurance that will absolutely absolve you from any chance that the firearm is stolen, would you pay it? If you said "Yes", then I encourage you to just buy a new firearm. If you're genuinely worried about a secondhand firearm being stolen property, don't buy it! Imagine the fun you would have if you took the firearm in to be checked (or an officer checks it during a traffic stop) and it actually was stolen. Best case: You lose the firearm. Worst case, you spend a lot of money "lawyering up." If you don't have a reasonable comfort level about who you are purchasing from, don't do it.

buying "new" in every case would certainly rule out a lot of very fine vintage firearms

A bill of sale, and a reliable witness/friend to observe said sale, will go a long way to proving that you did indeed purchase said firearm from the seller.

EVEN if your firearm was used in a crime, you would still need to be placed at the scene of the crime, which is extremely unlikely if you're just a regular working dude like most folks. At most, I would imagine, they could possible take the firearm to hold as evidence until any real culprit is apprehended.

I, personally, wouldn't worry about anything other than serviceability when purchasing a used firearm from a seemingly normal citizen.

That's ME though.

Do what YOU think is best.

This is what I do.

First, while I have purchased several guns from private parties, the guns I carry were bought through an FFL.

Second, I try to have an idea of who I am dealing with when I purchase from a private party. So if I can, I do a background check through google and a couple of other sites. There have been deals that I have passed up after doing a background check.

Third, I get the identity of the seller, if at all possible from a driver's license or better yet CHL. And I document it for myself.

Bills of sale are good too although I usually don't use one.