Any difference in transfer of complete handgun or frame only

[dreadi]

So I spoke with a FFL today and they told me that I can't transfer a frame only if I bought the gun as whole pistol. They told me that if I sold it as a frame only after buying new as a pistol they have a record of that sale in Olympia and if the buyer ever gets checked and they find that frame with a slide on it they would come after me? Any truth to this seems so stupid but I don't pretend to know the laws and my understanding was Washington did not or could not keep a record of what guns I bought?

Ignorant FFL.


BLACK HAMMER ARMS
07/02 NFA Dealer

http://www.blackhammerarms.com
http://www.facebook.com/blackhammerarms
https://www.instagram.com/blackhammerarms

[oldkim]

Also speaks volumes of the perspective of this FFL to tell a customer this “white lie”

It’s fear.

Sell the frame and be done. Do the paperwork “legally” and it’s all legit.

The other parts are not controlled from a pistol so they are just scrap. No papers needed.

Back to OP
As you are maybe aware. A complete pistol goes through a waiting period before it can be released under current laws.

A frame goes through same paperwork but is checked by NICS and done and cleared. Typically within an hour depending on time of day and if you don’t mess up the paperwork and leave blanks etc.

I would strongly suggest you seek out Dreadi in Tacoma! He’s a good solid honest dealer (FFL) and one hell of a badass.

[Hunter757]

That is what I thought but figured I would ask. This FFL is in cowlitz county. I told they guy he was full of it and he kept insisting that was law.

[Arisaka]

Hey, most of you guys don’t know shit about a Model T.

[ViniVidivici]

Yeah that FFL is a fuckin' idiot. Pearl-clutcher too, sounds like.

You don't need to do a transfer for a frame anyway. Pretty sure we've covered that multiple times...

[Guns4Liberty]

So I spoke with a FFL today and they told me that I can't transfer a frame only if I bought the gun as whole pistol. They told me that if I sold it as a frame only after buying new as a pistol they have a record of that sale in Olympia and if the buyer ever gets checked and they find that frame with a slide on it they would come after me? Any truth to this seems so stupid but I don't pretend to know the laws and my understanding was Washington did not or could not keep a record of what guns I bought?

The first part (bolded) is simply not true. There is no law requiring you to keep a firearm complete in its original configuration when you sell it - that would be absurd, and it's equally absurd that a licensed dealer would advise you that way.

The second part is half-true. The true part is that a new-to-you pistol transferred through a FFL in WA will be registered in your name with WA DOL. This is a result if the state FTA (formerly PTA) form you filled out during the purchase/transfer process along with the federal 4473. The false part is that you would somehow be subject to criminal prosecution for having transferred the serialized frame of a pistol to someone else who later was found to have used it in the commission of a crime - provided you followed all applicable laws when you performed that transfer.