DesertFox- wrote:
Do background checks even exist at all? I was under the impression there were checks and waiting periods and whatnot, but I found out my dad was able to buy his gun today by walking in with cash and walking out with a brand new pistol. o.O Inb4 state to state variation; it was rhetorical
Transfers going through an FFL (dealers) must go through the National Instant Check System, which is a database of "prohibited persons." If your name gets flagged, they can't make the transfer. Some states require pretty much all sales to go through FFLs, while others allow non-dealers to do their own transfers. Non-dealers don't have access to the NICS.
For example, if a guy wanted to sell a pistol to his neighbor in Wyoming, he could. If I wanted to sell a pistol to a guy in Wyoming, I would have to send it through a Wyoming FFL, since I can't sell handguns to residents of other states (federal law). If a resident of Colorado wants to sell a firearm, they will have to go through an FFL to get a check done, per CO's new laws.
A lot of people, including myself, don't like "universal background checks" because it forces people to pay an FFL for the transfer. My grandfather knew I wasn't a violent felon when he gave me his old gun, and fortunately the law didn't require me to go pay $40 dollars in fees from an FFL to do the paperwork for a gun worth less than $100.
My other grandfather wanted to get rid of an old gun he had, but he was a resident of a different state, and I wasn't about to pay an FFL's transfer fee for an old revolver that might not even lock-up correctly!
Last edited by RAIMIUS (2013-03-22 07:56:15)