Maybe this is commonly understood by everyone in the "gun world"....and maybe the Professor will tolerate this little tidbit of regulatory news...if for no other reason than it just needs to be out there for all to see and, secondarily, who knows, maybe I'm wrong. However, having just been involved in a transaction in a manner that I had not done in years it got my focus and close scrutiny so I'm fairly certain I am 100% on the mark.
I happened to purchase a pristine Smith & Wesson Model 12 for my S&W .38/.357 revolver collection from an on-line auction site. The seller included his personal details in the box which, since he was in Georgia, I had him ship to a Federally licensed firearms dealer in my home town of Dallas, Texas. My FFL called me after the revolver arrived to tell me that the seller violated the law because he didn't use an FFL to ship the gun. This struck me as odd because the seller was very obviously knowledgeable with respect to shipping firearms interstate. So I decided a little bit of Internet legal research was in order.
As a first issue, I confirmed what I always thought to be the case - nobody is shipping guns_legally _interstate without an FFL and a background check on the _recipient's_ end. We thereby establish anti-gun Big Lie number one, to wit, that there is a huge market in non-background checked firearms transactions on line; it is simply not so
Illegal sales are a whole other matter - thereby establishing anti-gun Big Lie number two, to wit, that there is somehow no difference between legal and illegal sales made from the Internet, that simply "everyone" is buying firearms on-line without a NICS check. Malarkey (legal term from the Old Country).
Legal _intrastate_ sales are different, of course. That is not the subject herein.
The rules are simple - you can buy a firearm from any seller in any state wherein you do not reside and the seller does not need to ship "FFL to FFL" as long as the shipment is "seller to FFL to buyer/recipient". The FFL on the recipient's end will take care of the NICS check and necessary paperwork and it's all legal and no new requirements for background checks are necessary.
Check out the rules taken directly from the ATF website: http://www.atf.gov/files/firearms/industry/0501-firearms-top-10-qas.pdf 2. May I lawfully transfer a firearm to a friend who resides in a different State? Under Federal law, an unlicensed individual is prohibited from transferring a firearm to an individual who does not reside in the State where the transferee resides. Generally, for a person to lawfully transfer a firearm to an unlicensed person who resides out of State, the firearm must be shipped to a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) within the recipient's State of residence. He or she may then receive the firearm from the FFL upon completion of an ATF Form 4473 and a NICS background check. 7. May I lawfully ship a firearm directly to an out-of-State licensee, or must I have a licensee in my State ship it to him? May the licensee return the firearm to me, even if the shipment is across State lines? Any person may ship firearms directly to a licensee in any State, with no requirement for another licensee to ship the firearm. However, handguns are not mailable through the United States Postal Service and must be shipped via common or contract carrier.(18 USC §§ 1715). Firearms shipped to FFLs for repair or any other lawful purpose may be returned to the person from whom received without transferring the firearm through an FFL in the recipient's State of residence. FFLs may also return a replacement firearm of the same kind and type to the person from whom received. 18 USC § 922(a)(2)(A). ***GRJ***
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