Are you under a Stay At Home order? Have the gun shows in your area closed down due to the pandemic? Gun stores around the country are overrun with new purchasers and more questions than ever are being asked about how to conduct a private sale as an alternative.
What is the law in Florida on conducting a private sale as an alternative?
If you decide to conduct a private sale with an individual, it is important you know what can and cannot be done, and how to stay on the right side of the law.
PRIVATE SALEs
Your next-door neighbor asked if you would be interested in selling your Glock 17, and it just so happens that you’ve wanted to make room for a new Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0. Florida and federal law do not require the sale of the firearm to be registered, nor do they require the seller to perform a background check on the buyer.
The only requirements are 1) the buyer must be 21 years or older; and 2) the buyer must not be a prohibited person. What if you did not know your neighbor was convicted of a felony many years ago? Could you get in trouble for selling him your Glock? No, only your neighbor would be committing a felony. However, if you knew that he was a prohibited person and you decided to sell the gun to him anyway, then you both are committing felonies. The law does not require you to ask the buyer if he or she is a prohibited person, but if you know you cannot complete the sale.
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OUT-OF-STATE RESIDENTs
Furthermore, you and your neighbor are not required to use a Federal Firearms Licensed dealer (“FFL”) to complete your transaction. Under Florida and federal law, it is perfectly legal to directly sell a firearm to another individual who resides in the State of Florida without having to go through an FFL. This applies to both handguns and long guns.
The only time the law requires you to use an FFL for your private sale is when you are selling a firearm to another individual who does not reside in Florida. In that situation you must have an FFL in Florida transfer the gun to an FFL in the state in which the buyer lives who can complete the transaction. If you forgo this step because the buyer is vacationing in Florida and wants the firearm for his trip back home, you both are committing a 3rd degree felony under federal law, which carries a penalty up to five years in prison.
DOCUMENTATION
Although selling a firearm to another Florida resident does not require the transaction to be recorded, we suggest that you have a bill of sale executed anytime you sell a firearm. That way, if the firearm you sold is later used in a crime, you will have a paper trail to show law enforcement, documenting that you are not the owner of the gun.
If you have any questions regarding selling a firearm in a private sale, please call U.S. LawShield and ask to speak to your Independent Program Attorney.
If a private citizen sells a handgun to another private citizen, and neither of them realize they live in seperate states, and neither of them are aware that it is illegal to buy/sell firearms to citizens of seperate states, has either party still committed a crime?
Asking because a friend may have committed such a crime about 10 years ago by making such a sale.
On a bill of sale a name and address is required.
In the case of a relative that legally owned ordinary firearms & who was a resident of Florida died. The spouse of the deceased wants to give the firearms to a sibling relative of the deceased who lives in Georgia. The wishes are consistent with the estate plans. May the family merely meet to transfer the firearms rather than being required to go through a FFL dealer? The relative in Georgia that is to receive the firearms already owns a firearm & is not “prohibited” under federal law & also has passed a background for a CCW.