by 1911fan on Sat Nov 01, 2008 10:49 pm
if you are over 18 you can buy a long gun face to face without legal restrictions, but good faith requires both of you to be fairly secure that you are not breaking any laws by buying or selling. That means that the seller is legal, and does in fact own the gun, and that the buyer is legal, and has no restrictions legally from buying a gun.
Handguns are the same, but the law has a provision in it where if you are not duly diligent in making sure the buyer is legally able to purchase, you can be held to criminal charges IF the weapon is used in a crime.
While the law asks for you to see a permit, it does not require it per se, only that if you sell to someone who is not legal to buy and they use it in a crime, then you can be charged. Now lets say your cousin, whom has known you since childhood, who knows that you have no felonies, no Domestic assaults, no commissions to the Mental health Wing of the local state hospital, they can feel pretty confident that selling you a gun is not going to come back and get them in trouble. However, someone on the board here, who has a gun posted online, and who does not know you, would probably be a little hesitant to sell a handgun to you without a permit to purchase or a carry tag.