Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

AtomicPunk wrote:When I lived in Massachusetts, I was told that without a FFL, a person could only sell 5 guns a year. Could someone confirm for me that there are no federal or Virginia laws that similarly limit the number of guns one can sell?

It wouldn't surprise me in the least if this was just a Massachusetts thing.

Thanks

First off, nope no limit on the number of guns you can sell here in Virginia. Since we don't register our firearms here in Virginia, there would not be any way to enforce it.

Do the residents have to register their firearms in Massachusetts? How does the state enforce the limit of 5 firearms being sold per year?

There are no state laws that specifically limit the number of private firearms transactions an individual may make per year.

Thanks for the replies.

totes6 wrote:Do the residents have to register their firearms in Massachusetts? How does the state enforce the limit of 5 firearms being sold per year?

I didn't have to register any and I left there circa 1997. As far as I know, residents do not have to register them now.

When you sold a gun however, you had to fill out a "blue card," a short bill of sale-type form and mail it in to the State Police. So I guess if you sent in more than five they would know. Obviously, this is absurd as it would only catch people who inadvertently incriminated themselves to one law by following another. Those intentionally breaking the laws were completely unaffected.

In an earlier post, I recommended downloading my bill of sale form. The second page of the form is "instructions", but there is a discussion in there of why you ought to use the form I wrote (from the perspective of a firearms law attorney, anyway). You certainly don't have to have a bill of sale or receipt; like in the used furniture auction market, you paid the money, the possession of the item is your receipt. But if you do things that way, because you're not "paranoid", you probably ought to save up between two and six thousand dollars so you can pay me to defend you when you get charged with whatever crimes the gun was used in, or for having sold the gun to a convicted felon, or engaging in transactions involving stolen merchandise. Again, you don't have to, and you have the perfect right to represent yourself at trial, too (unless, of course, you're "paranoid").