Tricky gift question

[Falstaff66]

Unusual situation just occurred to me last weekend. I live in MA and have a LTC. We maintain a vacation home in Vermont. I don’t own it, my wife’s parents do, but we paid to substantially renovate it and they can’t even travel to it anymore. They will leave it to us.

A long time friend in Vermont knew I was looking for a carry gun and gifted me a Sig 938 from his collection (on my birthday). No purchase and it was a surprise to me. Yet I left it at at the house in Vermont because I am unsure whether I can bring it to Massachusetts. I can’t really use an FFL because the transfer effectively occurred in Vermont, while I was at least temporarily resident there.

Any thoughts on how to handle this one? Looking into the new Vermont law, there is now a background check for private “sales”, but not for gifts from family. This is neither. I’m pretty well stuck on unraveling this one.

 

[Len-2A Training]

Feds allow for dual residency. You may (or may not) qualify for that. You probably need an expert opinion from a VT firearms attorney as each state has their own state laws wrt to residency (or not).

It a very nice gun (I own one) and well worth researching the legal requirements.

 

[Falstaff66]

Feds allow for dual residency. You may (or may not) qualify for that. You probably need an expert opinion from a VT firearms attorney as each state has their own state laws wrt to residency (or not).

It a very nice gun (I own one) and well worth researching the legal requirements.

Thanks. He knew I liked it and he loves his Shield. I think you’re right that this is just too complicated not to get an opinion.

 

[Falstaff66]

So does anybody know of a decent gun law attorney in Vermont?

 

[Len-2A Training]

So does anybody know of a decent gun law attorney in Vermont?

Either contact whatever VT state pro-gun org exists or ask a VT FFL for said info. The state org should be able to point you to one or more knowledgeable attorneys.

 

[MisterHappy]

Post in the VT laws section?

 

[nstassel]

It's a mass compliant gun, so why not just have him send it to a mass ffl so you don't have to sweat it.

 

[aim]

Not every P938 is mass compliant (primarily due to a lack of a loaded chamber indicator - the Ma**h***).

 

[kalash]

Can't the OP just file an eFA10 leaving the seller info blank?

 

[aim]

If the OP is comfortable claiming federal residency status in VT, yes, an eFA10 with a blank seller should be sufficient. On the MA side, at least; no idea on the situation in VT as of late.

If the OP isn't comfortable with that or the concept of the no-paperwork gift F2F between VT residents, then returning a loaned pistol back to its original VT owner may be a completely safe way out. What model P938 specifically is it anyhow?

 

[dcmdon]

You don't need an attorney.
1) VT doesn't have any laws regarding the gifting or secondary transfer of a firearm between residents.
2) The feds consider you to be a resident of VT when you are there. The criteria is that you make a home there. It doesn't matter if you own it, rent it, or are a regular guest there. One ATF inspector I met at SHOT that I discussed this with said that an easy common sense criteria was whether you kept clothing and a toothbrush there.

If that's the case, then per the ATF you are a bona fide resident of VT when you are up there. If you want actual written documentation, a reasonable thing, then look no further than the instructions for Question 2 on a ATF form 4473. Which says (I have removed language related to armed forces for simplicity's sake):

Question 2. Current Residence Address: U.S. Postal abbreviations are acceptable. (e.g., St., Rd., Dr., PA, NC, etc.). Address cannot be a post office box. County and Parish are one and the same.

If you are a U.S. citizen with two States of residence, you should list your current residence address in response to question 2 (e.g., if you are buying a firearm while staying at your weekend home in State X, you should list your address in State X in response to question 2).

I have attached a copy of the 4473 for your reference to this post.

 

[dcmdon]

So the gifting in VT was a legal transfer between individuals per VT and ATF. (since VT doesn't require background checks or forms)

Bring the gun into MA whenever you want to. At that point you must eFA10 it. Use the Registration option and leave seller blank. Because the transfer happened in VT, this is not a MA transfer. You are simply moving YOUR gun into MA. So registration is the appropriate option.