Good morning VGT crowd. A VA resident 19 years old replied to a FS/FT ad I posted for a handgun. Haven't met with said individual yet, but he claims he has a current, valid VA drivers license and is willing to undergo a background check for a P2P transfer of the handgun.

However, VA FFLs can't sell a handgun to anyone under 21 years of age. I've used FFLs in the past to transfer a firearm, but it's my understanding that they effectively take possession of the firearm subject to the transfer, so since the prospective buyer isn't 21 I don't know if the FFL could perform the service in this instance.

In researching the legality of this proposed transaction I found an article by John Pierce Esq (an active contributing member on this forum), and in his legal analysis a P2P sale of a handgun to someone older than 18 but not yet 21 is legal.

That article was written in 2014 though and I'm not a legal professional so I don't know if anything has changed since then. Guidance from the collective would be most welcome and appreciated ! I'd like to complete the transaction, but I also very much like not being a criminal. Thanks.

The private sale of handgun in VA to someone at least 18 years old but not yet 21 years of age is legal.

Presuming everything else is legal.

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While I wouldn’t encourage anyone to use this service or wish more government on anyone.

Private Sale Transactions

Upon request, the State Police provides background checks in private transactions at Firearms Shows in Virginia for the sale or transfer of handguns or long guns at the event. For a voluntary check in a private transaction, both the buyer and the seller must be a resident of Virginia. The prospective purchaser must provide written consent permitting the State Police to perform the records check by completion of a Virginia Firearms Transaction Consent Form.



Please don’t consider this an endorsement of the service are what it attempts to provide.

Unfortunately it is impossible for an FFL to transfer anything other than a long gun (Rifle or shotgun) to somebody under the age of 21 due to federal law. When the background check is sent through to NICS the FFL must specify what type of firearm is being transferred. So essentially an FFL can't send through a BC just to determine whether someone is a criminal or eligible to buy. There has to be a transaction taking place. It is perfectly legal however to sell a handgun to a Virginia resident privately. There is no federal or state law in Virginia that prohibits this. I'm 20 years old and have worked in a gun shop for just about two years now and it is a very strange legal grey area. The best you can do really is look at what ID's he can provide and determine whether you personally feel comfortable making the transaction. I can tell tell you though if it weren't VAGT I would never have been able to buy any of my AR lowers. Hope this helps.

No grey area to it - perfectly legal to sell a hangun to someone over 18 in Virginia via private sale (assuming they are otherwise not disqualified - ie: felon etc.).

You're right. What I mean is a lot of people don't want to sell to someone who can't even fill out a BC on what they are buying. Like I said though it is personal preference and you can't get in any legal trouble for it.