No legal way to purchase a firearm in DC

SteYourGoals · Mar 16, 2020

Hi all. Newbie here. I have been doing research for the past month or so on buying my first firearm. Obviously you all know it's a huge pain in the ass here in DC, but I'd finally figured out the process (I think), which firearm I wanted to get, etc. Then of course the virus crisis hits and now everyone and their mother is trying to buy a gun I'm sure. But I decided to press on.

So today I emailed Charles Sykes the FFL, and he told me he is not processing any transfers at this time, and explicitly said there is no legal way to purchase a firearm in DC. Is that constitutional? Seems crazy to me that I live in a territory where I'm allowed to own a gun, and I'm not legally able to obtain one.

Just venting I guess. Thanks for all the help, this forum saved me a lot of time in my research.

Melnic · Mar 16, 2020

Pistol I presume? you said "firearm" which would include long guns & Shotguns which you can purchase in any state

SteYourGoals · Mar 16, 2020

Melnic said:
Pistol I presume? you said "firearm" which would include long guns & Shotguns which you can purchase in any state

Yes, sorry should have been more clear.

Do you not need to go through the FFL for a long gun or shotgun in DC?

SkiPatrolDude · Mar 16, 2020

SteYourGoals said:
Yes, sorry should have been more clear.

Do you not need to go through the FFL for a long gun or shotgun in DC?

No, you must go through an FFL for any firearm, excluding long gun transfers between two residents of the same state (at least in md).

Any new firearm needs to be purchased through an FFL, with appropriate background checks, paperwork, etc.

I think the advice you were given from your FFL was hyperbole. What he prob meant to say was that demand is so high at the moment that they are not processing transfers, and may be so low on supply that they don't have what you are looking for.

"no legal way to purchase a firearm in the state", is definitely not a matter of the legality of it, but rather the availability of firearms for purchase during this panic buy.

It's not "unconstitutional" to run out of merchandise.

If it is classified as a "long gun", you can purchase it out of state, but it will still need to be an FFL and you will have a background check and paperwork. Many FFL's are experiencing very low supply due to the sudden demand, though.

TheBert · Mar 16, 2020

SkiPatrolDude said:
No, you must go through an FFL for any firearm, excluding long gun transfers between two residents of the same state (at least in md).

Any new firearm needs to be purchased through an FFL, with appropriate background checks, paperwork, etc.

I think the advice you were given from your FFL was hyperbole. What he prob meant to say was that demand is so high at the moment that they are not processing transfers, and may be so low on supply that they don't have what you are looking for.

"no legal way to purchase a firearm in the state", is definitely not a matter of the legality of it, but rather the availability of firearms for purchase during this panic buy.

It's not "unconstitutional" to run out of merchandise.

If it is classified as a "long gun", you can purchase it out of state, but it will still need to be an FFL and you will have a background check and paperwork. Many FFL's are experiencing very low supply due to the sudden demand.

There is effectively only one FFL that non-government entities can use in DC.

SteYourGoals · Mar 16, 2020

SkiPatrolDude said:
No, you must go through an FFL for any firearm, excluding long gun transfers between two residents of the same state (at least in md).

Any new firearm needs to be purchased through an FFL, with appropriate background checks, paperwork, etc.

I think the advice you were given from your FFL was hyperbole. What he prob meant to say was that demand is so high at the moment that they are not processing transfers, and may be so low on supply that they don't have what you are looking for.

"no legal way to purchase a firearm in the state", is definitely not a matter of the legality of it, but rather the availability of firearms for purchase during this panic buy.

It's not "unconstitutional" to run out of merchandise.

If it is classified as a "long gun", you can purchase it out of state, but it will still need to be an FFL and you will have a background check and paperwork. Many FFL's are experiencing very low supply due to the sudden demand, though.

There is only one FFL in DC, there are no gun stores in DC.

The only way to purchase is buying out of state and transferring to this one guy.

I asked him point blank “there is no legal way to purchase a firearm in DC?” and he responded “correct.” And he’s the only person you can buy through.

rseymorejr · Mar 16, 2020

SteYourGoals said:
There is only one FFL in DC, there are no gun stores in DC.

The only way to purchase is buying out of state and transferring to this one guy.

I asked him point blank “there is no legal way to purchase a firearm in DC?” and he responded “correct.” And he’s the only person you can buy through.

So because this one guy is taking this social distance thing to the extreme nobody can buy anything. Did he say how long before he'd climb back out from under his covers? Sounds like you have no choice but to wait

SkiPatrolDude · Mar 16, 2020

SteYourGoals said:
There is only one FFL in DC, there are no gun stores in DC.

The only way to purchase is buying out of state and transferring to this one guy.

I asked him point blank “there is no legal way to purchase a firearm in DC?” and he responded “correct.” And he’s the only person you can buy through.

Wow, I was wrong then. That is crazy.

Go down to VA or up to MD and get yourself a 12ga Mossberg 500 or Remington 870 and as many buckshot shells as they have and head home and call it a day.

SteYourGoals · Mar 16, 2020

Unfortunately that would be a felony if I got pulled over on the way home. Even having a bullet casing is a crime here if you don’t have a registered firearm.

bigmanindc · Mar 16, 2020

SteYourGoals said:
Hi all. Newbie here. I have been doing research for the past month or so on buying my first firearm. Obviously you all know it's a huge pain in the ass here in DC, but I'd finally figured out the process (I think), which firearm I wanted to get, etc. Then of course the virus crisis hits and now everyone and their mother is trying to buy a gun I'm sure. But I decided to press on.

So today I emailed Charles Sykes the FFL, and he told me he is not processing any transfers at this time, and explicitly said there is no legal way to purchase a firearm in DC. Is that constitutional? Seems crazy to me that I live in a territory where I'm allowed to own a gun, and I'm not legally able to obtain one.

Just venting I guess. Thanks for all the help, this forum saved me a lot of time in my research.

Hopefully Mr. Sykes just don't want random people around him at this time infecting him.Handguns must be transferred to a FFL in the state you reside in but you can go to VA or MD to purchase a DC legal rifle or shotgun from a gun dealer without having to transfer to Mr. Sykes. You still have to register and go through the paperwork with DC and the waiting period. BassPro on the other hand will only deal with Mr. Sykes.

SkiPatrolDude · Mar 16, 2020

SteYourGoals said:
Unfortunately that would be a felony if I got pulled over on the way home. Even having a bullet casing is a crime here if you don’t have a registered firearm.

Just reading up on DC gun laws now. Crazy to me that a Shall Issue state has such rediculous ammo laws. I can't even give a box of ammunition to a friend for range-use.

I wonder if you can buy the shotgun out of state, register with DC police separately, then go purchase ammo for it after?

SteYourGoals · Mar 16, 2020

He didn’t even clarify if it was virus related.

This is our entire interaction:

https://i.imgur.com/7EdL46M.jpg

I’m curious what the legality of this is. But I don’t want to push it with this guy since he’s the only person I can buy through eventually.

SteYourGoals · Mar 16, 2020

Thanks, that’s great to know. I’ll look into rifles and shotguns. I only researched handguns so I will be starting at square one!

SkiPatrolDude · Mar 16, 2020

SteYourGoals said:
He didn’t even clarify if it was virus related.

This is our entire interaction:

https://i.imgur.com/7EdL46M.jpg

I’m curious what the legality of this is. But I don’t want to push it with this guy since he’s the only person I can buy through eventually.

Doesn't get much clearer than that. Man, that SUCKS

JerseyMike · Mar 16, 2020

The timing of that “ghost gun” bill too. Damn

SteYourGoals · Mar 16, 2020

Yeah, and you can’t even own a BB gun here on top of that. No way to even APPEAR armed.

I really wish I’d just quickly researched something and bought it last month. Now I’m probably getting lumped in with all the panic buyers. But I really was just trying to do my due diligence and be a responsible gun owner.

rseymorejr · Mar 16, 2020

SteYourGoals said:
He didn’t even clarify if it was virus related.

This is our entire interaction:

https://i.imgur.com/7EdL46M.jpg

I’m curious what the legality of this is. But I don’t want to push it with this guy since he’s the only person I can buy through eventually.

I think he owes you a little more detail than that

SteYourGoals · Mar 16, 2020

I’ve never dealt with him before but just from this forum I’ve gotten the impression that he’s not really the most...agreeable person. And if you get on his bad side he can make it impossible to get approved for a firearm purchase.

But they’re not possible to get approved right now anyway so...shit.

rseymorejr · Mar 16, 2020

jbrown50 · Mar 16, 2020

I'd call Firearms Registration first thing in the morning to see if they can tell what's going on. Mr. Sykes' office is there in the police HQ building. DC is likely restricting access to the building due to the COVID-19 scare. Due to DC zoning laws it's the only place he can operate from.

No legal way to purchase a firearm in DC

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