Stupid question and has probably been answered before...

[Silent Hunter]

If my father, who is a WV resident, purchases an HK MP5-A1 .22 caliber rifle (or any regulated firearms for that matter) in WV and gives it to me, a Marylander, as a gift is that a straw purchase under current law. Or is this exempt since it's a gift from a father to a son? Thanks

 

[l730dc]

I do not at all know what I am talking about.... but... lol... I would assume its fine but you would have to register it threw msp

 

[fabsroman]

Md Code Public Safety 5-136

(a) Scope of section. --

(1) This section does not apply to a person who purchases a regulated firearm as a gift if:

(i) the regulated firearm is a gift to a resident of the State; and

(ii) 1. both the purchaser and recipient of the gift comply with the requirements of this subtitle that relate to the possession, sale, rental, receipt, transfer, or purchase of a regulated firearm; or

2. if the gift is in the form of a gift certificate, only the recipient of the gift need comply with the requirements of this subtitle that relate to the possession, sale, rental, receipt, transfer, or purchase of a regulated firearm.

(2) If the regulated firearm is a gift to the purchaser's spouse, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or child, the recipient shall:

(i) complete an application to purchase or transfer a regulated firearm; and

(ii) forward the application to the Secretary within 5 days after receipt of the regulated firearm.

(3) The Secretary shall waive the $ 10 application fee required under § 5-118(a)(2) of this subtitle for a gift purchased in accordance with this subsection.

(b) Prohibited. -- A person may not knowingly or willfully participate in a straw purchase of a regulated firearm.

You just need to go through the Form 77R paperwork. Might be best to get an FFL to do the transfer paperwork for the gift. Will cost a couple dollars, but at least the $10 fee is waived by MSP.

Of course, you cannot be prohibited from owning the firearm. If that is the case, you will receive a "disapproved" from MSP.

 

[Biggfoot44]

I'm sure others will chime in , but IIRC that probably *isn't* currently a regulated weapon. Even if so , many Md based FFLs will wish to treat it so.

At the basic level , anytime two non-FFLs are in different states , the transfer must take place thru an FFL.

The question as to *bona fide Gift* and *illegal straw purchase* has been discussed much here recently. It is a thought crime , all depending on intentions and alleged conspiracies.

On one extreme if dad spontaniously surprises you with that particular firearm , absolute Gift.

Other extreme if you send the $ to Dad , and tell him to buy XYZ , and ship it to you because Md won't let you have it, Straw .

In real life it will often be somewhere inbetween.

A strong lne of reasoning here hold that if (whatever) goes thru a FFL at each step , and each transaction by itself is legal on its face , then by golly Common Sense says the whole situation has to be legal.

The dissent holds that even if 77R requirements are met , the Federal 4473 question about *True Purchaser* could be a problem in some scenarios.

Sorry for not giving a simple one word answer , but it's not a simple one size fits all question.

 

[fabsroman]

I'm sure others will chime in , but IIRC that probably *isn't* currently a regulated weapon. Even if so , many Md based FFLs will wish to treat it so.

At the basic level , anytime two non-FFLs are in different states , the transfer must take place thru an FFL.

The question as to *bona fide Gift* and *illegal straw purchase* has been discussed much here recently. It is a thought crime , all depending on intentions and alleged conspiracies.

On one extreme if dad spontaniously surprises you with that particular firearm , absolute Gift.

Other extreme if you send the $ to Dad , and tell him to buy XYZ , and ship it to you because Md won't let you have it, Straw .

In real life it will often be somewhere inbetween.

A strong lne of reasoning here hold that if (whatever) goes thru a FFL at each step , and each transaction by itself is legal on its face , then by golly Common Sense says the whole situation has to be legal.

The dissent holds that even if 77R requirements are met , the Federal 4473 question about *True Purchaser* could be a problem in some scenarios.

Sorry for not giving a simple one word answer , but it's not a simple one size fits all question.

The ATF website will not allow me to cut and paste, but I suggest that you go and read the instructions to question 11a of Form 4473. A person buying a firearm as a gift can actually answer question 11a with a "yes". As long as you are actually buying the firearm with your own money as a gift for somebody else, then you can answer question 11a as if you are the actual transferee.

Alright, here is the excerpt from the instructions:

Question 11a. Actual Transferee/Buyer. ... You are also the actual transferee if you are legitimately purchasing the firearm as a gift for a third party. ... if Mr. Brown goes to buy a firearm with his own money to give to Mr. Black as a present, Mr. Brown is the actual transferee/buyer of the firearms and should answer "YES" to question 11a. However, you may not transfer a firearm to any person you know or have reasonable cause to believe is prohibited under 18 USC section 922(g), (n), or (x).

Also, if his father purchased the firearm quite a while ago and has now decided to gift it to him, I don't think the straw purchase issue is an issue whatsoever as long as he is not prohibited from owning a firearm.

 

[Biggfoot44]

I know that , and have even on occasion made bona fide gifts.

Some of the scenarios recently discussed have been more of to the effect of : " Can I have Dad buy me so and so , and send it to me to get around certain Md foolishness ? "

Not only INAL , but we were not there to hear the actual conversations , only an aprox summary.

 

[fabsroman]

I know that , and have even on occasion made bona fide gifts.

Some of the scenarios recently discussed have been more of to the effect of : " Can I have Dad buy me so and so , and send it to me to get around certain Md foolishness ? "

Not only INAL , but we were not there to hear the actual conversations , only an aprox summary.

I have no idea how somebody can get around the Maryland "foolishness" via a gift since a Form 77R and MSP background check needs to be done for any regulated firearm, regardless of whether it is a gift or not.

Also, even if the firearm is not a regulated firearm the transferor of the gift would be getting himself/herself into trouble if he/she knew that the transferee was not qualified to own a firearm.

At the end of the day, I think a gift is fine as long as the person receiving the gift is able to own a firearm AND if the firearm is a regulated firearm the giftee completes Maryland Form 77R and submits it to MSP.

Simply put, there is NO way around the Maryland "foolishness" unless somebody wants to run the risk of going to prison.

 

[Silent Hunter]

Thanks guys. All good information here and I appreciate it. For the record, both parties in question (my father and I) are under no restrictions for owning firearms. In fact, I'm a bona fide collector in the state of Maryland.

So to be clear, it sounds like as long as I complete form 77R and submit it to MSP all legalities are covered since neither of us a prohibited from owning a firearm?

 

[Silent Hunter]

btw...is the HK MP5-A1 .22 regulated?