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**Aguila Blanca** · July 4, 2011, 06:04 PM

I don't think any state or federal gun laws address layaways. They are contractual deals between buyer and seller. The seller agrees to remove the item from the market and to allow the buyer to make incremental payments until the full purchase price has been paid, at which time the actual change of ownership is completed.

While I understand that a gun seller would be unhappy to keep a gun off the market and then have a layaway deal fail to go forward because the buyer couldn't obtain some permission slip from the government, I also think asking the prospective buyer to forfeit the full amount he has paid is rather extreme. After all, the seller still has the gun, and can (and will) sell it to someone else. I have never bought a firearm on layaway, but I would expect there to be a percentage retained by the seller if the deal falls through, and the balance should be returned to the (non) buyer. IMHO the seller is offering you a horrible deal.

But ... to answer your question, I can't think of any legal issues other than those you already seem to know about.

July 4, 2011, 06:04 PM	#2
Aguila Blanca Staff Join Date: September 25, 2008 Location: CONUS Posts: 18,468	I don't think any state or federal gun laws address layaways. They are contractual deals between buyer and seller. The seller agrees to remove the item from the market and to allow the buyer to make incremental payments until the full purchase price has been paid, at which time the actual change of ownership is completed. While I understand that a gun seller would be unhappy to keep a gun off the market and then have a layaway deal fail to go forward because the buyer couldn't obtain some permission slip from the government, I also think asking the prospective buyer to forfeit the full amount he has paid is rather extreme. After all, the seller still has the gun, and can (and will) sell it to someone else. I have never bought a firearm on layaway, but I would expect there to be a percentage retained by the seller if the deal falls through, and the balance should be returned to the (non) buyer. IMHO the seller is offering you a horrible deal. But ... to answer your question, I can't think of any legal issues other than those you already seem to know about.