VA private sales with Military

[jdonovan]

Not true. Whenever someone receives a firearm on behalf of a legal entity (corporation, LLC, trust, etc.),

yes... I WELL aware of that... those subtleties seemed not worth adding to the discussion as 1911 fan was still very confused about residence.

[scales]

Hello all. I'm active duty military and heading to VA on a 90 day TAD. Will I be able to buy a firearm if I present my military ID and TAD orders?

[Diomed]

Hello all. I'm active duty military and heading to VA on a 90 day TAD. Will I be able to buy a firearm if I present my military ID and TAD orders?

On temporary orders you're like any other visitor, you can purchase rifles and shotguns as long as they're legal in your state of residence. Everything else you would have to have sent to a dealer in your state of residence for transfer.

[johnnyfive]

Ok, so I've got a tough one. I am currently stationed in Virginia. My friend was also stationed in Virginia. We shot together a few times and he ended up leaving his handgun at my house. He was supposed to pick it up before transferring but overlooked it. So now I have a handgun in my house that belongs to someone who is currently stationed in Japan. Someone else said "hey, I'll give you $200 for Tony's gun". Turns out, Tony is open to selling it, but we don't know how or if we can. I don't own the gun and Tony isn't here to sell it. Any ideas?

[rromeo]

it sounds like your friend legally gave you a gun when you were both in the same state. It's yours now.

That's just my opinion.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[johnnyfive]

Hmmm... I guess I could just sell it and do a Bill of Sale now to transfer it to the other guy. I just don't want to do anything shady.

[rromeo]

I may be wrong, but I don't think it's shady. The property could be considered abandoned.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[Diomed]

As long as the transfer happened when you were both nominally Virginia residents, or residents of the same state anyway, I can't think of anything that wouldn't be legal about it. The law - the Gun Control Act - deals with possession and transfers of possession. Ownership is treated as a civil matter. If it came into your possession lawfully and leaves your possession lawfully, you're fine; if the other party objects he'd have to sue you in civil court (I guess he could say you stole it from him, but I can't see that case going anywhere with the fact pattern you presented).