Washington WA/ID sales FTF

arakboss · Aug 23, 2025

Alexx1401 said:
Do you even read the stuff you post?
you posted this :This means that firearm transactions (gift, loan, sale, etc.) that happen within the same state don't require an FFL.":

Read the entire answer from @bpyycpyy

Tinman357 · Aug 24, 2025

I got my answer. I'll be transferring through a FFL to keep things legit. All the doubts, confusion, and questions disappeared when someone pointed out the interstate aspect. I dug into it and it all cleared up nicely.

Thanks everybody!

gmerkt · Aug 24, 2025

ilikegunspdx said:
I don't see anything about being required to go through an ffl in Idaho.

If a non licensed resident of WA wants to sell a handgun legally in another state, he would have to do it through a licensed dealer in that state.

gmerkt · Aug 24, 2025

Alexx1401 said:
You have to ask a couple of things. Are the guns you wish to sell papered to you? As in if they trace them back are they going to end up on your step? If so are they hand guns? If so Fed law says you can't take them across state lines to sell like that. Now if you do anyway chances are no one will know or care but, if buyer later sells them or they somehow end up at some crime, Police may show up on your step to ask where the gun you bought is. At that point what are you going to say? The "risk" here is not high but how much risk vs making a little more money do you really want to take? If it was me? I would run the sale through an FFL for just this reason. I have no doubt a LOT of people still sell face to face all the time. I would not.

This ^^. Due to changing laws in many states, as time goes by, more and more guns have paper trails attached to them. When you buy or sell one "off paper" it's like a walking in a minefield. You don't know where the danger lies until it blows up.

In Washington, illegal transfer penalty is a gross misdemeanor for first offense. Which can result in jail time. I don't think illegal transfer first offense is on the list of crimes that result in loss of right to own a firearm. But you could get a judge who might throw that in for laughs to make it more costly for you in legal fees to fight it. Second offense is a felony.

Due to the minefield effect, if you were unlucky, you could get more than one of these illegal transfers to come back and bite you in the butt. Then you would be in felony territory for sure.

What are you going to tell those guys standing on your front porch when they ask, "How did this firearm get from your hands into those of (fill in the blank)." Right about then, having sold the gun through an FFL dealer will have sounded like a very good idea.

In Wash. we've had the requirement for FFL involvement in private transfers since 2014, I think it was. Before that, guns "on paper" could be transferred legally outside of FFL involvement. The more time that passes, the more guns wind up on paper. The pool of pre-2014 off paper guns is shrinking. Under the current system in Wash., every transfer involves a serial number, not just handguns.