I'm looking for a specific citation that says it is illegal for two people in two different states to meet face-to-face and sell a rifle between parties.
Not a website with guidelines or someone's interpretation of the law... the actual US Code or pertinent ATF regulation.
I have a friend being stubborn in his persistence that this "might" be legal, since no one can show him how it is not legal via a specific citation rather than a webpage full of lay speculation and guidelines.
So far, the closest I can find to a prohibition on us lay folk (non-FFL's) is 18 USC 922(a)(3).
Quote:
(a) It shall be unlawful -
...
(3) for any person, other than a licensed importer, licensed
manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to transport
into or receive in the State where he resides (or if the person
is a corporation or other business entity, the State where it
maintains a place of business) any firearm purchased or otherwise
obtained by such person outside that State, except that this
paragraph (A) shall not preclude any person who lawfully acquires
a firearm by bequest or intestate succession in a State other
than his State of residence from transporting the firearm into or
receiving it in that State, if it is lawful for such person to
purchase or possess such firearm in that State, (B) shall not
apply to the transportation or receipt of a firearm obtained in
conformity with subsection (b)(3) of this section, and (C) shall
not apply to the transportation of any firearm acquired in any
State prior to the effective date of this chapter;
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Imagine this for context (and ignore state law... federal law only please):
1. A seller with a rifle in Arizona.
2. A buyer that might or might not exist in Iowa.
3. A leisurely road trip or hunting expedition to Iowa for the Arizonan. Once in Iowa, he makes a determination that he wants to sell his rifle. He makes a FTF transfer with our fictitious Iowa buyer.
From how I am reading 922(a)(3), it seems to me that:
1. this law only acts as prohibition on the actions of the buyer and has no weight on the seller at all;
2. the buyer did not transport or import the rifle into the state of his residence;
3. the buyer did not obtain the rifle outside of his state of residence.
No law broken.
Is this too naive a reading of this law? Is there established precedent in favor of Uncle Sam on this one? Or is there a different tome of law pertaining to the seller regarding interstate sales that I'm not aware of?