Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 120
prohibits the person from directly (not through a dealer) selling or
transferring the firearm to a resident of another state. Federal law
makes these transactions illegal from both the buyer/transferee and
seller/transferor perspective. It is illegal for a private individual to
transport into or receive within his own state a firearm that was
purchased in another state from a private seller. See 18 U.S.C.
§ 922(a)(3). Likewise, it is illegal for a private seller to sell or
deliver a firearm to an individual whom the private seller knows or
has reason to believe is not a resident of the seller’s state. See 18
U.S.C. § 922(a)(5).
EXAMPLE:
Bernie, a Texas resident, is visiting his brother-in-law Justin in
Louisiana. While visiting, Bernie and Justin decide to go hunting in
the swamps around Lafayette, and Bernie borrows one of Justin’s
handguns to shoot snakes. Bernie is impressed with Justin’s
handgun. Bernie asks Justin if he could buy it from him. Since
they’ve been in-laws for so many years, Justin agrees and gives
him a good price. Bernie happily pays Justin and brings his new
handgun back home to San Antonio.
Has Justin committed a crime in selling the handgun to Bernie?
Has Bernie committed a crime in purchasing the handgun from
Justin? The answer to both questions is yes! Under federal law,
Bernie is not allowed to privately purchase a handgun in another
state and transport it back to his home state. Likewise, Justin is
not allowed to sell a firearm legally to a person he knows lives in
another state. In this example, both Bernie and Justin know that
Bernie is not a Louisiana resident—the place where Justin has sold
his handgun. Bernie has committed the crime of willfully receiving
a firearm from an out-of-state unlicensed person while Justin has
Purchasing, Transferring, And Possessing Firearms | 109
