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FA-10s
- Thread starter EC1
- Start date
When was the last time you swung by your local pd's? I haven't heard of any shortages lately. I don't have a sure answer to your question, but I'd give a call to the surrounding departments and see what you get.
Mine just told me to download them instead of coming in if it was easier for me....
![[wink]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/002.gif "Wink [wink]")
btnh6668
NES Member
My local PD also told me the same thing. I tried 2 other stations with the same result. I was confused on how filling out 3 sheets of paper rather than one was easier for me.
If you use this fill-able PDF, info entered on the first sheet automatically transfers to the other two sheets...
http://www.northeastshooters.com/FA10.pdf
I just used that nice fillable FA-10 a couple weeks ago in my last FTF buy from a friend. No problems.
btnh6668
NES Member
Thanks for that, ive never seen it before. If your meeting someone for a FTF transfer, your not exactly going to be able to walk around with a pc and printer though.
just print it out out...that's what i did. you can print out as many as you want, no longer need to hoard them
True, but you can fill in your info and any gun description info, print the set and then only manually fill in the missing info. 1/2 a loaf is better than nothing.
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Exactly, or if you get with the seller via email, or phone, you can just get all of his info beforehand, fill in the required fields, and you are gtg...
I used old technology by using carbon paper, but I now prefer the fillable FA10.
On another FA10 note
Can you call the state to verify that submitted FA10s were processed? I have done a few over the past two years (one buy from a total stranger) and would like to verify that all is in order. Is it possible to do this?
Can you call the state to verify that submitted FA10s were processed? I have done a few over the past two years (one buy from a total stranger) and would like to verify that all is in order. Is it possible to do this?
WHY?
You have your copy, you've done your duty. Neither you nor seller are responsible for the USPO or if they spill coffee on it at CJIS!
Just keep your copy in the almost impossible to believe chance that someone would ever question it.
I have my copies going back to my first gun in the 1970s . . . info that CJIS no longer has since they trashed all the old records. Not my job to update their files or check on their file accuracy and I'm not about to take on that responsibility.
Doesn't that make you the slightest bit nervous? I have friends who take the same approach. "so long as I have it on an FA10, everything is fine."
My question would be, what if you were carrying and had said gun on your person. Now some situation occurs, and your gun is exposed to a police officer. Wouldnt you want to be sure the gun is licensed to you in their database rather than be forced to prove it with some piece of paper you have stashed away?
What of I were to suffer a fire and the docs were lost? Then I could be potentially screwed.
Bottom line, I don't want to have to defend myself legally for any reason if something went wrong with their records.
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No gun is "licensed to you". The only reason you would ever need to prove a gun is yours is if it was reported stolen.
Elmer, I hope you never move to a free state!! It would drive you nuts, but ~40 states do NOT register firearms in any fashion at all. What would you do then? ![[rolleyes]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/042.gif "Roll Eyes [rolleyes]")
If you have an insured loss of any sort, you need to prove that you own the item. FA-10s may not help as I still have them for guns that I sold . . . so that isn't proof that you own them now, is it.
If you have an insured loss of any sort, you need to prove that you own the item. FA-10s may not help as I still have them for guns that I sold . . . so that isn't proof that you own them now, is it.
Firearms are not "licensed to people" in MA. The FA-10 database is merely a record of transfers, not a registration system. It is perfectly legal for a licensed individual to possess another individuals legally owned firearm.
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Best thing you can do is keep a log with serial numbers and date of purchase. I use an iPhone app called "Gun Toolbox" that let's you build a database and also have photos for each firearm you own. It still needs some improvements but the developer has taken some ideas from me and others and expects an update to roll out this month. I like it because I can bring up all my info if I'm somewhere and have a question for someone about one of my guns.
No, actually.
If they bring it up as an issue, I produce the FA-10. End of discussion.
So make a copy and keep that at home. Stuff the original in your safety deposit box.
News Flash! Even Massachusetts doesn't register guns. They register transfers of guns. Now some people say that's a distinction without a difference, but they've got an absurdly narrow view. The majority of my guns have absolutely no paperwork in other than the dealers' 4473s in another state; a good portion of them don't even have that (unless the person from whom I bought them kept some personal record). Even for guns purchased in Massachusetts, as Len noted, the state threw out all the transfer records from before 1998. So what exactly is the risk you face if your FA-10 copies were lost? Precisely essentially none, zero, nada, zip, gar nichts, никто, không ai. How exactly do you think that a prosecutor could convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that (1) you originally obtained a particular gun while a Mass resident and (2) that you didn't fill out and mail a form to them? With some hard work he might be able to accomplish (1), but (2) is impossible. Every single person on the jury has personally experienced mail getting lost, both mail sent to them and mail they've sent to somebody else. Every prosecutor knows that, and if there's one thing prosecutors hate, it's losing a case. Besides, knowing the inherent limitations on the FRB database, nobody is even going to check, unless you've already been arrested for some serious felony involving the gun, in which case I'd venture that FA-10s are by far the least of your worries.
Take a deep breath and relax.
Ken
Take a deep breath and relax.
Ken
Please forgive me, as i didnt mean to ruffle any feathers. I must not actually understand how the MA registration process truly works. I figured that since the state essentially maintains a transfer database that they would have the ability and could/would query it as needed by the state/law enforcement/fed/etc.
I do hope that life takes me to a free state one day, so there's no complexity around the laws. MA is downright difficult.
I do hope that life takes me to a free state one day, so there's no complexity around the laws. MA is downright difficult.
Any LEO worth his salt in MA knows just how useless the FRB database really is, and is not surprised if a gun is not found in the database or is found with multiple owners.
Listen to Len.... STOP THE MADNESS.
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
As long as you checked the other guy's license, you sent in the paperwork (if you were the seller) and you have your copy of the FA-10, who the hell cares?
Further, "the state having the records" is no guarantee that they won't lose them (somehow) in the future. The whole FA-10 system is a joke on the back end. Like a "slap chop informercial" kind of a joke. The only person you can trust is yourself. For the truly paranoid, scan
your FA-10s and store them offsite digitally or something. Put them on a USB stick that's always on your person, etc. (although I would
suggest encrypting them somehow, for obvious reasons).
BTW there is no compulsory legal requirement for any gun you own to "show up" in the database. If it doesn't that doesn't mean you are breaking the law in any way shape or form. There are thousands of people in MA with thousands of guns that are not in this database. None of these people are breaking the law. The regulated activity is "reporting the transfer" not compulsory registration. There is a big difference between the two. The gun not being in the database is not necessarily, in and of itself, prima facie evidence of a failure to report a transfer.
Fun Examples:
-Any gun owner whose gun transfer records were not digitized and/or were lost during the bird poop/rat poop CHSB record destruction disaster
-Any gun owner who moved into the state with a ton of guns (reporting not required in this instance, at all).
-Records not put into CHSBs database due to bad dealers or CHSB dropping the ball somewhere. (happens more often than you think.) Even in this case, none of it is your fault and you are not responsible for any errors in either one of these scenarios.
-Mike
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Kicker96FS
NES Member
I just dropped the link onto my desktop so it will always be handy.
speedy
NES Member
Point me to the thread or educate me. What can and cannot be sold/transfered FTF (private) with an FA-10 form within the same state (hand guns/long guns). I believe you need an FFL to do an out of state transfer correct?
By MA law, you can sell handguns or long guns FTF. Both buyer and seller must be residents of MA, and both must be appropriately licensed.
Please note that the form FA-10 is unique to MA. Other states have other laws about FTF purchases.
Any legally owned firearm can be transferred via FA-10 to any other appropriately licensed MA resident.
Sales are limited to four firearms per calendar year. Purchases are unlimited.
As M1911 said, the FA-10 is a purely MA construct, and laws in other states vary.
Transfers between residents of different states must be effected by a FFL.
For handguns, the transfer must be effected by a FFL in the transferee's state of residence.
For long-guns, the FFL can be in either state (subject to state law).
Semi back on topic, I have dozens of FA-10s printed and in my manpurse (work bag). My stuff is filled out. The gun info and seller needs to be hand written in (in triplicate). They’ve come in really handy for that impromptu buy.
speedy
NES Member
My other guess is that if out of state they must fall within "the list" of apporved guns, How about C&R guns? Do they also follow the same rules?
Thanks for the great info. Appreciate it
Thanks for the great info. Appreciate it
