Buying and selling long distance

Person A wants to buy a gun from Person B. If both live in the same state, they first need to make sure that the gun is legal to own and transfer. Call or write a prominent criminal defense attorney or the State Attorney General.
Don't ask police officers; most don't know the intricacies of transfer regulations. If everything's OK, meet
somewhere and go to it.

Now, you could go through the procedure as if you were in different states, allowing a dealer on the receiving end to handle paperwork. If no one minds paperwork. It would be perfectly legal in many (most?)
states to simply UPS/FedEx the gun to the person -- except that you don't know who he is, and Federal law prohibits such transfers. I certainly wouldn't send a gun to someone I didn't know unless I could establish some bona fides.

If they live in different states, the seller must determine if it's legal to send the gun to the buyer's state. There are books, pamphlets, etc. about this, but nothing will beat an informed and knowledgeable dealer on the receiving end. The buyer will need to provide the seller with details of a dealer who will handle the transaction. The seller should contact the dealer and ask the legality/transferability questions in
person. Then you box the gun up securely along with a note containing your information, the dealer's information, and the customer's information, take it to UPS or FedEx (NOT THE POST OFFICE!!),
fill out the shipping form, declare it as a firearm being shipped to a dealer, insure it for its value, and they'll take it away. Contrary to popular disinformation, the firearm only needs to pass through an FFL on the receiving end. Long guns can ship ground, but handguns must ship next-day. Both carriers offer some
type of 'next-day saver' that's less costly than regular next-day. The receiving dealer will usually want some
fee for handling the transaction -- he has to unbox it, check the paperwork, enter it into his bound book, contact the customer, stand around while the customer flails indecisively about nothing, then get back to work after the paperwork is finished and filed.


Persons A & B want to trade guns. Same basic procedures as above. If they live in the same state and no laws prohibit the transfer, meet somewhere and go to it, or whatever. If they live in different states, each will
need a dealer to receive the firearm from the other guy.


FIREARMS MUST BE SHIPPED UNLOADED. Any FFL who receives a loaded firearm by common carrier or mail (dealers can mail firearms to other dealers or to distributors/manufacturers) MUST report it to BATFE before the close of the business day. NO CHOICE, people! The licensee doesn't know if it was an honest mistake or if he's being set up ... gotta follow the law.

Ammo can be in the package with the firearm. It needs to be in original or other secure packaging that won't break open and dump loose ammo in the box. Wrap it in a paper sack and tape it good.


I mentioned UPS and FedEx.
I deliberately left DHL out of the mix, because I went to their Website when they put in a hub nearby (well, kind of -- 45 miles) to check their firearms policy. There were more weasel words in the firearms section than I would have believed possible. Let's just say I won't be requesting shipment by DHL.