Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 121
committed the federal crime of willful sale of a firearm to an out-ofstate person. See 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(1)(D). The penalties for these
crimes include jail time up to 5 years and/or a fine of $250,000!
What if the situation is less obvious? Let’s take a look at an example
where “reasonable cause to believe” comes into play.
EXAMPLE:
Felicia, a Texas resident, recently posted her Kimber 1911 for
sale on an internet message board. Felicia receives an email from
a person named Thomas who would like to buy the handgun.
Felicia and Thomas agree, via email, on a purchase price and
arrange to meet at a place in Texas one week later to complete
the transfer. When Thomas pulls up in his 1999 Ford F-150,
Felicia notices the truck’s Oklahoma license plates. Nevertheless,
Felicia shrugs and sells Thomas the gun anyway without going
through any of the formalities of making a bill of sale, or asking
for Thomas’s identification. Two weeks later, Felicia finds herself
at an ATF field office in Houston answering questions about a
shooting that took place in Tulsa with her (former) Kimber 1911.
Is Felicia in trouble? It is highly likely. Although Felicia is
not the center of the shooting investigation, she is probably
under investigation for illegally selling the firearm to an out-ofstate resident under federal law. If Felicia admits to noticing
the Oklahoma license plate, the ATF will assert that she had
reasonable cause to believe that she was engaging in a prohibited
firearm transfer.
2. Private sales: don’t knowingly sell to the “wrong” people
A private individual may sell a firearm to a private buyer in the
same state so long as the seller does not know or have reasonable
110 | CHAPTER SIX
