My family recently moved from MD to WV and I now carry a handgun that was registered in my dad’s name (in MD). We ask a gun shop clerk and a Sheriff’s Deputy if we could transfer it to my name but they both said a bill of sale is sufficient. The gun shop clerk also said firearm registration doesn’t even exist in WV. I called the Sheriff’s Office and they said call State Police. Then I called State Police and they said call the Sheriff’s Office .
So my main questions for that:
Is it true I don’t need to register the gun and the registration doesn’t exist?
Is it okay that I am carrying a gun that is registered in my dad’s name in MD?
Is a bill of sale enough or should I do an FFL on top of that?
Additional question:
Can I legally transport said handgun from WV into MD to shoot on his private property?
Thank you for any help, I wish the laws weren’t so vague and hard to find.
Contrary to what movie and television screenwriters either believe or want you to believe, the VAST majority of states have no gun registration. According to the fiercely ANTI-gun Giffords organization, only seven states and the District of Columbia have gun registration programs.
Enjoy life in your new freedom state!
Also, when you want to understand gun laws in any state, be sure to check out handgunlaw.us and the USCCA Reciprocity & Gun Laws pages before asking here. Booth sites are well maintained and complete.
Would you consider it a problem that it is still technically registered in my dad’s name out of state? We fear that if I have to use my firearm, it could somehow come back on him.
Uh, welcome to freedom. There’s no registration here, there’s no permit requirement, there’s no mag limits, there’s no paperwork or ffl required when selling a gun, only that you need to make sure the buyer is legally able to own a gun, I e. not a felon.
WV is a 2a sanctuary state. I am not a lawyer, but follow the news on 2a rights and restrictions near daily. WV is ranked #2 in the country for gun rights by a few groups. #1 is NH. I say WV is #1 as the surrounding states aren’t anti 2a… except for MD.
Help keep WV free and join this group https://wvcdl.org/
The t-shirts are awesome.
So to be clear, it doesn’t matter how I acquired the gun and it doesn’t matter that the state has no idea it is mine… just matters that I can legally possess it?
That is correct. I brought 30 plus down from CT, stuff that would have made headlines in NY and MD, and much of which was making me an outlaw in the Constitution state, and believe me I looked into this . Beauty of WV is everything to our West and South is constitutional carry as well. I’ve done a few transfers at the local gun shop, and 1) no tax on guns and ammo 2) no waiting on a background check if you have WV permit.
Excellent that you thought of thaat issue. Here you might need a MD lawyer, and you probably would need to pay a small fee. THe question is how do you safely notify the MD registration office that it is permanently changed hands and also is out of state.
I woud not just call that MD office and ask, lest that action cause them to pursue some kind of improper transfer or transport investigation.
Welcome to life outside of the anti self defense States!
As @Craig_AR pointed out, I would consult a lawyer with experience on these issues on the firearm registered to your father. You might be in a grey area that could possibly result in a charge of transferring ownership of a firearm across State lines without conducting the transfer through a FFL.
I’m not a lawyer but it sounds like perhaps you are just borrowing the firearm from your father at the moment? I’m not sure of the legalities of cross State firearm loans between family members. But if the firearm still belongs to your father he could simply transfer its ownership to you through a FFL in whatever way that is required to be done between a MD and WV resident.
I would also ask a lawyer for advice before taking a trip back to MD with any of your firearms. It is my understanding that MD is not very respectful of out of staters trying to practice their 2A rights. Or even MD residents for that matter. At the very least you should carefully read through all the laws involved with the transport and possession of firearms in MD by out of state residents.
Some lawyers offer free consultations and might answer a limited number of questions for free. But it could be worth some money to make sure you are following all the laws properly.
@Ryan203
In order to find a knowledgeable lawyer, I recommend contacting Maryland Shall Issue, the state-level 2A rights organization that models itself on VCDL.
Not all lawyers are gun-friendly, and sadly many are solidly anti-2A, so do not just look up lawyers online to find one.
But MD laws will still apply in what sounds to be the likely case of his traveling back to MD on occasion. As do all the applicable Federal laws.
Being involved in a self defense incident with a firearm that a prosecutor might be able to argue was not legally transferred across State lines could give that prosecutor some unnecessary extra leverage to apply against the self defense case. I wouldn’t want there to be any easily avoidable legal ambiguity surrounding a firearm I regularly carried for self defense.
I went to these sites. I went to a couple of other sites, and nobody has mentioned notifying the state you moved from about anything.
But if you can find me a requirement that requires me to go back to a former state, fill out some sort of paperwork because I moved let me know.
The only thing that they’re going to find from running the serial number on my gun is if
IF somebody reported it stolen.
(and I would have no idea how they would’ve gotten the serial number to be able to do so)
As a non-citizen of Maryland, what gun laws do I need to observe when I travel into the state with my firearm?
Involved in a shooting ? Are you legally able to own and possess the firearm?
Prosecution can ask almost anything to why you were caring hollow points did ? you carry a gun because you intend to kill someone ?they can bring up all sorts of things. The only thing that really matters is, was the shoot good.
Oh I see your gun wasregistered in Maryland at one point did you live there at one time ,did you ever go back and tell them that you had moved to another state I don’t see the bearing of that being relevant.
No, the state I live in does not require me to tell them
The problem is, in this case, this particular firearm that was brought from MD to WV may not have been considered to be legally owned by the person when they crossed the state line. It was registered to another person in a state that I believe requires an FFL to transfer ownership and registration of the firearm to its new owner.
You can legally take your own firearms to another State. But it is my understanding that a firearm that belongs to someone else must be transferred through an FFL if being sold or gifted to someone across State lines. There may be some exceptions such as in the case of inheritance depending on State and Federal law. But in my unqualified opinion this does not qualify for those exemptions and is in a questionable enough grey area that I would consult a lawyer.
.
. Beauty of WV is everything to our West and South is constitutional carry as well. I’ve done a few transfers at the local gun shop, and 1) no tax on guns and ammo 2) no waiting on a background check if you have WV permit.