Buying a deer rifle from a friend. He bought it a year ago and asked me to take him hunting this past season but he never had a chance to go. He never sighted it in. Being that we will be dealing face to face, is there anything I must do in order to buy? Maybe issue a bill of sale, jot down the serial number?

A bill of sale with make, model, and serial number and date of sale. Each of you sign it, each of you get a copy.....creates a viable paper trail.

Hand him the cash and he hands you the gun. That's all there is to it. You don't have to jot down anything.

^ This. Welcome to Texas :-)

All that is required is for your friend to assume that you can legally own a firearm.

Nothing needed. Not sure how many guns I have bought and sold but but I don't see the need for a bill of sale, especially if I am the buyer. FFl required paperwork on new or out of state transactions yes, bill of sale of local private transaction no.

the goal is to not create a paper trail

NO BILL OF SALE OR OTHER RECORDS REQUIRED. The info is on the ATF website. I don't know why people always get so bent out of shape about getting/supplying a bill of sale.

What happens when your out hunting and the Game Warden shows up and run's the serial number. Then gun comes back hot. Would a bill of sale help???????

That was my next question. I'm 98% sure its clean. Lol

do what you want.


ms. Clinton loves a mail trail

while 99.9999% of the transactions are probably fine, I would personally want one more as a buyer than as a seller. What if you roll a stop sign on the way home, cop pulls you over, sees the gun and it turns out the gun was used in a crime? 'Oh, I just bought it' is not gonna fly.

+1...BOS is NOT required!

Just pay him and move along. Nothing else necessary. The goal IS not to leave a paper trail.

I'd rather there be no paper trail myself. If someone wants to see ID, I'm more than happy to show it. A CHL should make anyone who's up on things comfortable. I ALWAYS talk to a guy during a transaction, mostly just because I like to yack. If I get uncomfortable I'll walk away---at least that's my policy, but I've never needed to do that. Never met anyone on THF yet who I thought was of questionable character and I've done a ton of deals.

No it will not, that's why it is a waste of time to get one. If it's hot they are confiscating it whether you have a bill of sale or not. You just keep the contact info of who you bought it from and try to buy it from a public forum like this one if you don't know the person your buying from.

No paper trail required. If you get stopped on the way home from hunting, all you have to do is explain that you bought it. Even if you have a BOS, it's unlikely you're going to travel with it. So you won't be able to show proof to the cop anyway.

I've been stopped with guns and never had a cop run serial numbers. That's a pretty far-fetched scenario anyway, and the BOS wouldn't even help unless you had it with you, which you won't.

There's just very little realistic need for a BOS honestly. Yes, you can think up a situation where it might be helpful. But the odds of that happening are .00000001%.

You should take a selfie with everyone you have any gun buying/selling transactions with..

If you are worried about a gun being hot, then just look up the serial number on one of numerous free websites before you buy it.
www.hotgunz.com/

Been checked by GW's more times than I can count. Been pulled over few times by police while in the obvious possession of firearms as well. NEVER have had them run a serial number and only once had one handle my firearm and that was to make sure it had a plug in it.

Beat him down on the price and give him the money.

Was thinking same thing jcb, I been hunting for over 40 yrs. never had a game warden run # s on a gun. I have signed bill of sales to put other persons mind at ease. But in Texas we don't have registration. On new guns at gunshow and Walmart you have to fill out paperwork.

Buying a firearm in Texas is no different than buying a plow, trailer, horse, herd of cattle, or tractor. Pay the man, shake hands, go about your business.

On a transaction like that, it is only successful if both of you walk away grinning, feeling kinda of bad about what you had just done to your buddy.