Obligation of private seller in NH

garandman

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Yesterday on WGBH, one of the talk show hosts claimed they attended a gun show in NH and found plenty of people willing to sell to them. They did not indicate if they'd identified themselves as MA residents, or if they were attempting to buy a long gun or hand gun.

What is the obligation of a private seller, in NH or any other state, to verify that the person they are selling to is a resident of their state (for a handgun), not a PP, and if resident of another state, can lawfully own a long gun?

Is this federal law, or stat-to-state?

I'm writing a response.
 
Yesterday on WGBH, one of the talk show hosts claimed they attended a gun show in NH and found plenty of people willing to sell to them. They did not indicate if they'd identified themselves as MA residents, or if they were attempting to buy a long gun or hand gun.

What is the obligation of a private seller, in NH or any other state, to verify that the person they are selling to is a resident of their state (for a handgun), not a PP, and if resident of another state, can lawfully own a long gun?

Is this federal law, or stat-to-state?

I'm writing a response.

well, its a crime to perform an interstate transaction without an FFL involved, and its against the law to furnish a firearm to someone who is a prohibited person, so I would assume that its on the individual person to decide where their comfort with dancing with the law is.

It doesn't seem that there is any obligation or process through which a person must be sure they are not doing something wrong (in other words, the law doesn't say that a person must perform a background check). I don't know about NH, but in some other states, IIRC, there are laws that say you must be reasonably sure they are not prohibited, etc.
 
There may be plenty of people willing to sell to him. Once he handed over the cash, I suspect the next question might be "What is the name of your FFL"
But you're right, conveniently too few details to really know what the reporters agenda was but considering it was GBH I can guess at his slant.
 
AFAIK, for handguns if you don't know the person (no statue listed for how well you know them or for how long), and they don't have a NH P&R, you're supposed to use a FFL. Not sure about anything for long guns other than making sure the person is a NH resident. As already mentioned, if it's crossing state lines, it needs to go through a FFL in any case. Of course, if the person buying has a residence in NH (and resident P&R) then that takes care of some scenarios.


I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express in the past year... [smile]

Personally, I'd make sure I wasn't violating any federal laws by selling a firearm to someone. I'd also want to be sure the person I'm buying from is on the up and up. Better to just walk away from a sale/purchase that seems a bit hicky than get jammed up.
 
Personally, I'd make sure I wasn't violating any federal laws by selling a firearm to someone. I'd also want to be sure the person I'm buying from is on the up and up. Better to just walk away from a sale/purchase that seems a bit hicky than get jammed up.

Especially since it could also be a sting operation you get snared by if you aren't careful.
 
Federal law is why a private seller would want to confirm that the buyer is a resident of their state, so NH doesn't explicitly duplicate the Federal requirement.

See RSA 159, specifically 159:7 and 159:14:
NH RSA said:
159:7 Sales to Felons. – No person shall sell, deliver, or otherwise transfer a pistol, revolver or any other firearm, to a person who has been convicted, in any jurisdiction, of a felony. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a class B felony.
. . .
159:14 Exemption. – None of the provisions of this chapter shall prohibit an individual not licensed under the provisions thereof who is not engaged in the business of selling pistols or revolvers from selling a pistol or revolver to a person licensed under this chapter or to a person personally known to him.
Thus nearly everybody asks to see a NH resident pistol and revolver license for a [thread=311105]private sale[/thread].
 
According to the NH Supreme Court, it depends on what the meaning of domiciled is.

Apparently, if someone is here momentarily, that is good enough.

Oh what a tangled web we weave...
 
Federal law is why a private seller would want to confirm that the buyer is a resident of their state, so NH doesn't explicitly duplicate the Federal requirement.

See RSA 159, specifically 159:7 and 159:14:

Thus nearly everybody asks to see a NH resident pistol and revolver license for a [thread=311105]private sale[/thread].

The above are the correct citations.


It is interesting to note RSA 159:14 says "person licensed under this chapter". It is interesting because chapter 159 includes TWO licenses. Which license are the referring to? Both? I wouldn't be surprised if this has already been clarified somewhere, but I don't know the answer.

159:6 License to Carry (also known as Pistol or Revolver License)

and

159:8 License to Sell
 
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