How to Sell Guns in Oregon and Washington

• • • No legal advice provided
    • Law can change due to gun control pressures

The state of Oregon is one of the most liberal jurisdictions for the transfer and sale of firearms and ammunition. For the Oregon firearms owner, California looks like a police state. Washington closely trails Oregon in gun ownership liberality. However, this does not mean that Oregon firearms owners can carelessly dispose of their firearms. Although this is not legal advice, here are the main pointers for those wishing to sell or otherwise dispose of firearms and ammunition. For more details, the seller should review the Oregon Revised Statutes.

As of this writing, ammunition sales in Oregon and Washington, between individuals, are unregulated. Anyone can sell ammo to anyone. Although unlikely, this can change.

As of this writing, in Oregon and Washington, properly transferring ownership of a gun has to be done through an FFL licensee.  FFL stands for “Federal Firearms License”.   There are no more legal “private sales”.  All gun shops and most pawn shops have an FFL in their staff.  It is not expensive to do the transfer through them.

An FFL is a type ATF license.  ATF is the short acronym for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE)

Stated regulations are separate from the ATF.  Regulations sometimes overlap, and sometimes contradict each other.  Inform your self well before acting.

There are only two instances when it the ATF will have influence on a firearm transfer.

Firearm Transactions Across State Line :  This is very common in the Portland area, since one third of the population here lives in Washington. For legally selling a firearm to someone across the state border, using an FFL dealer is mandatory.  Private sales across state lines are not legal. Nothing is illegal until you get caught, but the ATF is extremely severe if it happens.

Dealing with Regulated Firearms : These are items such as automatic weapons, short barrel rifles and shortened shot guns. A special permit is needed for this. The ATF is extremely severe about this.