[gunsmoker]

As long as you sell only to law-abiding citizens who are residents of the same state that you are,
and don't sell to any prohibited persons (felons, domestic violence offenders, drug addicts, etc.) or people that you reasonably suspect are going to use them for crimes or smuggle them up north to some anti-gun state, you should be OK.

A bill of sale is strongly recommended, but not required.


The buyer does not have to have a GWL, or any carry permit for that matter.
The buyer might decide to only carry that weapon at his home, his car, his place of business, or unloaded in the case when walking to and from the shooting range or hunting fields .
No permit would be needed in any of those scenarios .

I would be careful not to sell to a resident of another state.
Be cautious if somebody calls you from a phone number that's from a non-Georgia area code.

Watch out if the buyer meets you in person and drives up in a vehicle with out-of-state license plates.

 

[gunsmoker]

If for example somebody says "I want to get this gun for my wife" then that's not suspicious --you can proceed with the deal.

If the buyer says "I want to get this gun for my cousin Vinny who lives in New York and he's having trouble getting one up there"-- that would be a big problem !

If the potential buyer asks what caliber it is and and says "do you think that's the right caliber for a woman?" you could say, "yes sure."
But if the potential buyer then adds "because, you know, I wouldn't want her to suffer unnecessarily; I want to be humane about it." that would be a clue this guy's intentions are all wrong.

 

[gunsmoker]

yeah, but just because cops come to ASK questions doesn't mean you have to answer them.
If you think that telling them about the history of your gun ownership and eventual disposition of a particular gun isn't in your best interests, you can always decline to answer any questions and slowly and politely close the door in their faces.


But, if you play hardball this way and the cops manage to convince a judge to issue a search warrant, looking for a gun that a Federal form 4473 says YOU bought, and were known to own X number of years ago, you can expect that the way those cops conduct the search warrant will be very unpleasant.
They'll damage your property, detain you and your family at gunpoint during the search, cut off or drill any locks they find on any safe or locked cabinet, and they might even go though your computer and filing cabinets looking for records, receipts, photos, etc. relating to the particular gun they're looking for.

I'd rather cooperate. And if I have a bill of sale to show them, I'm 99% sure they'll take a copy of it and be on their way, and I'll never see them again.

 

[gunsmoker]

gun in police custody

Here's a much more common reason to have a bill of sale for a used gun that you buy in a private party transaction:

You may one day have to go to a police station to pick up that gun after it was lost / stolen & recovered / seized for safekeeping/ seized for evidence.

The cops are unlikely to give you the gun back (even if they took it from YOU, and their own officer's police report and evidence tag shows that!) without you proving to them that it was your gun prior to the incident where it was taken from you. They'll want a store receipt or at least a bill of sale from a private seller.

If you don't have that, they keep your gun. What are you going to do about that? Hire a lawyer and spend $500 in legal fees to get back your $500 gun?

 

[gunsmoker]

Moe nobody cares who is the buyer and who is the seller.
The law is focused on the transferor and the transferee.
When you use an FFL in some other state, that FFL dealer is the transferor and you become the transferee.
If it’s a long gun, it’s OK in that other state.
If a handgun, the FFL must be in the transferee’s state.

 

[gunsmoker]

No.

No, I assumed that if you use an FFL in the seller’s state only that it would involve you as the buyer /transferee personally visiting that other state to complete the transaction.

If it’s an entirely mail-order or online deal, then you’re right.
Gotta be an FFL in your state.

 

[gunsmoker]

I wouldn't "rely" on it, but it might make me want some other form of evidence pointing to you being a Georgia resident.

 

[gunsmoker]

In light of the new definition of being engaged in the business of gun dealing,
I don't think I'd take advantage of a sale at a local gun store or big-box sporting goods store,
discounting a certain model 33% off normal (maybe they're discontinuing it, or the store won't be carrying that line anymore), calling it "mine" on the Form 4473 and then putting an ad up here to sell to some private-party buyer for $100 more than what I paid.