Lend a firearm

Is it legal in Florida to lend a hand gun or long gun to friend or family?

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Hey @John360… welcome to the community.

It maybe “legal”, but if they used it illegally (or even in self defense, or a Negligent Discharge, etc.) I wouldn’t want to be the one in criminal or civil court as being the owner. Not worth the chance given the amount of rampant litigation in this country.
Perhaps sell it to them and then buy it back (?)
Personally… I would never sell or lend out any of my firearms.

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This should give you a launching point to find the exact laws your looking for, @John360!
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/resources/ccw_reciprocity_map/fl-gun-laws/

Depending on the state, it could be legal or completely illegal for friends and completely different for family members.

Also, check out this topic, it may help:

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The issue that concerns me is how do you prove that it wasn’t a smurf (illegal transfer)?
Without a 4473 (ATF transfer form), how do you prove that?

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The advice i’m getting is to error on the side of caution and not lend the firearm to anybody. Now if the s**t hits the fan well everything changes.

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@John360 I concur, we will all need extra hands to man the guns. Perhaps you can give them some training so if the time comes(SHTF) you can give the guns without reservation. Just a thought. :wink:

John, I think prudence would be “not” to lend. If someone you were to lend a weapon to used it illegally, it will come back on you; if, unknown to you the person had a felony of some sort in the past, it would come back to you…long story short you’re responsible if you are someone. I’d encourage then to get a weapon of their own, maybe even help out with cash to them if a good friend who really needed one, but I’ll not be loaning any weapons out.

Ok, so I checked out the laws map and didn’t see where this would be problematic…but…what if an out of State resident wanted to loan a rifle (of the modern sporting variety) to a resident of the State of IL that has a FOID card…would that be permissible? I don’t see anything in the USCCA faqs that would restrict it. Asking for a friend.

I agree, Thanks for the help!