First time buying gun

SG09 · January 31, 2009, 04:37 PM

Hi, all. I just recently bought a shotgun from Dicks Sporting Goods in Fairfax, Virginia. This is the first time I ever bought a gun. I know in Virginia that guns don't have to be registered, but they need to do a background check on you first. When I think of not having to be registered I think that all that's required for the store to do is do a background check and then sell me the gun as if I was buying any other item. But they had all these forms and it took 2 people to do the whole sale. And they took down all kinds of numbers from the gun and put it on all these forms and stuff. And all this stuff was stored in a manilla folder indicating it was going to be filed away somewhere. Isn't this some form of registration? I've been trying to find information on what exactly a store has to do to sell a gun but haven't found anything that describes exactly that. Can anyone here shed some light on it please?

brickeyee · January 31, 2009, 04:56 PM

An FFL is required to keep the 4473 form for 20 years.
It stays with him unless he goes out of business.
Forms less than 20 years old then go to BATFE to be stored.
They are prohibited from computerizing the forms they have, so they just stay in file cabinets.

If you have the make and serial number of a gun it can be traced to the first point of retail sale.
After that the trail goes dead, unless the owner happens to sell it back to the same FFL.

There is no way to find out what guns you own short if asking every FFL in the country to look at their records.

In Virginia you are free to buy and sell guns between private parties that are both Virginia residents subject only to the 'resticted person' rules.

There is no record keeping required.

SG09 · January 31, 2009, 06:01 PM

Thanks for the info, brickeyee. Unfortunately that's what I was afraid of, the government knowing one way or another that I bought a gun. It should be none of their business.

brickeyee · February 1, 2009, 11:38 AM

Started with the Gun Control Act of 1968.

Very unlikely to go away in out lifetime.

January 31, 2009, 04:37 PM	#1
SG09 Junior Member Join Date: January 31, 2009 Posts: 2	First time buying gun Hi, all. I just recently bought a shotgun from Dicks Sporting Goods in Fairfax, Virginia. This is the first time I ever bought a gun. I know in Virginia that guns don't have to be registered, but they need to do a background check on you first. When I think of not having to be registered I think that all that's required for the store to do is do a background check and then sell me the gun as if I was buying any other item. But they had all these forms and it took 2 people to do the whole sale. And they took down all kinds of numbers from the gun and put it on all these forms and stuff. And all this stuff was stored in a manilla folder indicating it was going to be filed away somewhere. Isn't this some form of registration? I've been trying to find information on what exactly a store has to do to sell a gun but haven't found anything that describes exactly that. Can anyone here shed some light on it please?

January 31, 2009, 04:56 PM	#2
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	An FFL is required to keep the 4473 form for 20 years. It stays with him unless he goes out of business. Forms less than 20 years old then go to BATFE to be stored. They are prohibited from computerizing the forms they have, so they just stay in file cabinets. If you have the make and serial number of a gun it can be traced to the first point of retail sale. After that the trail goes dead, unless the owner happens to sell it back to the same FFL. There is no way to find out what guns you own short if asking every FFL in the country to look at their records. In Virginia you are free to buy and sell guns between private parties that are both Virginia residents subject only to the 'resticted person' rules. There is no record keeping required.

January 31, 2009, 06:01 PM	#3
SG09 Junior Member Join Date: January 31, 2009 Posts: 2	Thanks for the info, brickeyee. Unfortunately that's what I was afraid of, the government knowing one way or another that I bought a gun. It should be none of their business.

February 1, 2009, 11:38 AM	#4
brickeyee Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2004 Posts: 3,351	Started with the Gun Control Act of 1968. Very unlikely to go away in out lifetime.