Question

Private sale to a buddy in another state - I'm confused about the FFL part

Rangium Community TeamStarter contentApr 4, 2026

A friend who lives one state over wants to buy a shotgun from me. I always thought private sales were just handshake deals but someone told me crossing state lines changes everything. Do we really need to route this through a dealer even though we know each other? Trying to do this by the book.

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Starter content written by the Rangium team to seed the community.

Even when it's a buddy, paper trail protects YOU. If that gun ever turns up somewhere bad, you want a record it left your hands legally.
Long guns used to have an exception but the practical and safe answer today is just use an FFL. Transfer fees are usually cheap, like 25-50 bucks.
In-state private sale would be different and depends on your state's rules, but interstate is settled: FFL required.
Yes. Interstate transfer of a firearm to a non-licensee has to go through an FFL in the buyer's state. That's federal, no way around it.
Your friend goes to an FFL in his state, you ship it to that FFL (or hand it off if you happen to be there), he does the 4473 and background check there. Clean and simple.