Pistol Registration

[NASCARon]

I sold a pistol in 1996 to a friend who said he had it registered in his name. How do I find out if he actually did transfer the weapon?

 

[bofh]

That's 20 years ago.

Today, the state of Pennsylvania explicitly prohibits the registration of firearms: 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 6111.4.

There is no federal registration of pistols.

Why would you want to know anyway?

 

[Independent Rebellion]

Find your friend and head to your local ffl and transfer it that way ( at least that's the way it legally has to be done out here in the communist state of Kalifornia )

 

[bofh]

Find your friend and head to your local ffl and transfer it that way ( at least that's the way it legally has to be done out here in the communist state of Kalifornia )

1. The firearm was sold 20 years ago. I am not sure if you got that. Any crime related to this sale would have been committed at the time of the transfer, i.e., 20 years ago. One can not undo a crime (if there actually was one). Also, the relevant statue of such crime may not exist today, i.e., the crime that potentially was may not be prosecutable today.

2. Transferring it now via an FFL would be illegal. Lying on ATF Form 4473 about the actual seller and buyer is a federal felony.

3. There is currently no state registration of firearms in Pennsylvania and there is no federal registration of pistols. This is the Pennsylvania subforum and not the Kalifornia subform. There is no need for the OP to do anything.

4. I am generally suspicious of people asking about registration of firearms in their very first post, especially if this information can be obtained with a 5 minute Google search.

 

[Rammer]

I sold a pistol in 1996 to a friend who said he had it registered in his name. How do I find out if he actually did transfer the weapon?

I agree with the other answers to this question. I know your question is fairly old, but here goes. Let me start by saying that I'm not a lawyer, but I did play one on TV once, so take my thoughts for what they're worth. To the best of my knowledge, private sales in PA do not require any paperwork. Also, since the transfer was 20 years ago, laws were a bit different at that time. I don't think he could have transferred the weapon, since there was/is no legal mechanism for doing that. If someone (police, etc.) were to come looking for you as the original buyer of that gun, you might want to have evidence that you sold it and to whom, such as a bill of sale or receipt, but that would be up to you. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but there is no gun registration, either in PA or nationwide. You might want to ask your friend what he REALLY did when he said he registered it.

Again, I may be totally off base with my answer, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.