Hi all,
So I recently sold one of my handguns on gunbroker.com. It was my very first gun transfer/sale.
And what a first experience to work through!
The scenario was that a fellow in Ohio bought it. He designated an FFL in Cleveland to received the gun and do the final transfer to him. He paid shipping, and he elected to use shipmygun.com, which is a "dba" or "subsidiary" of Bud's Gun shop in Lexington, KY. He elected to pay me credit card, and I am set up with that through paypal. The shipmygun.com service, essentially uses an FFL's (Bud's) advantage of lower shipping rates/services options to fill a market need. So either party, buyer or seller, can get a better rate to ship a handgun, than they would otherwise be able to do on their own.
But the gun typically goes to another FFL (the buyer's choice). So 4 parties total are involved in this transaction: me, buyer, receiving FFL, and Bud's FFL as shipping facilitator. Tricky, huh?
Well, here's a bulleted-list (puns it up!) of what I learned that could help you:
So I recently sold one of my handguns on gunbroker.com. It was my very first gun transfer/sale.
And what a first experience to work through!
The scenario was that a fellow in Ohio bought it. He designated an FFL in Cleveland to received the gun and do the final transfer to him. He paid shipping, and he elected to use shipmygun.com, which is a "dba" or "subsidiary" of Bud's Gun shop in Lexington, KY. He elected to pay me credit card, and I am set up with that through paypal. The shipmygun.com service, essentially uses an FFL's (Bud's) advantage of lower shipping rates/services options to fill a market need. So either party, buyer or seller, can get a better rate to ship a handgun, than they would otherwise be able to do on their own.
But the gun typically goes to another FFL (the buyer's choice). So 4 parties total are involved in this transaction: me, buyer, receiving FFL, and Bud's FFL as shipping facilitator. Tricky, huh?
Well, here's a bulleted-list (puns it up!) of what I learned that could help you:
- Make sure you're completely legal: You have a current, valid MA LTC and the gun, however you got it, is registered to you in MA.
- Talk with your favorite gunshop and decide if you feel more comfortable having them ship to the out-of-state FFL on your behalf. By all means, give them the business if it's reasonable to you, and it gives you peace of mind.
- If you do decide to move forward and ship it yourself directly to the buyer's FFL, try to get the copy of the FFL from your buyer. But, this could be a rigmarole and like pulling teeth. I found myself bouncing between shipmygun.com, the buyer and the receiving FFL in Cleveland, who I didn't actually call as I was getting frustrated at this point. I did send an email request to a contact at shipmygun.com, and he eventually forwarded a copy of the FFL. But, prior to that, contacting their customer service by phone at shipmygun, indicated they are not-so-hot about doing this, and they'll refer you to the destination FFL, and of course, you won't know them and they won't know you.
- If you haven't given up by this point , and you don't have someone willingly forwarding a copy of the FFL, you can probably find a "redacted or partial" FFL # for the dealer in a google search. You may even find the complete number. In any case, it will be enough of the number that you can plug into the FFL eZ check application on the ATF's gov website. This will show you the expiration date of the license and the associated business name with shipping address. You'll get enough comfort to show that you're sending to a legitimate out-of-state FFL. Keep copies of what you find, license copy, etc.
- Take the money, make sure it clears, ship to the FFL address with signature required. Complete the sale. Consider the shipmygun.com option, if buyer isn't willing to pay or split overnight common carrier service option that you have to do with a handgun.
- Afterwards, contact the MA DCJ Firearms Record Bureau in Chelsea. Have them send you an older paper FA-10 form and listen to their instructions on filling it out. As has been discussed here, you cannot use MA DCJ online firearm transfer portal for out-of-state. You'll send back the completed FA-10, and MA FRB will update the records indicating you sold the gun to the out-of-state FFL.
Last edited:
