The buyer must be a current citizen of the United States or a permanent resident (green card holder). The buyer must not be under indictment for a crime punishable by a year in prison, or to have been previously convicted of a crime with a similar punishment. The buyer must not have a current restraining filed by an intimate partner or child, and the buyer must not have been convicted of domestic violence. The buyer must not be a fugitive, or a user of controlled substances. The buyer must not be committed currently to a mental institution.
In the US, no federal license is required to own a gun. Likewise, most states do not require licenses for gun ownership, but most states require a license to carry a weapon concealed on your person, or displayed prominently. Learn about the specific laws in place in each state by clicking here. Few states will require waiting periods, before which you must pay for the firearm fully and submit the necessary paperwork, then wait for a period of a few weeks before being permitted to take your new gun home with you. In some states, regulations are also in place to check up on safety precautions, ensuring that you also purchase gun locks, own safes, and practice gun safety before you’re allowed to purchase a gun legally. [2] X Research source
Much has been made of the “gun show loophole,” through which guns are supposedly sold without the necessary regulations at gun shows, under the table. While sometimes private sellers (meaning non-FFL licensed citizens) are sometimes allowed to sell guns and antiques at gun shows, make your purchase from a licensed FFL dealer and you won’t have anything to worry about. Ask about the retailer’s licensing status and make sure you fill out the proper paperwork and receive a bill of sale. However you choose to purchase a gun, make sure every gun you purchase has a registered serial number and a bill of sale.
In the United States, you’ll need to furnish a photo ID and fill out Form 4473. This is used to confirm your status as a citizen who is qualified to own a firearm in the United States. These forms are kept on file at gun stores, to make records easily available to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE), if necessary. If and when a gun store closes, these forms become the property of BATFE. From this information, licensed retailers perform background checks, in the event that you’re trying to purchase a handgun. Background checks are performed through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and are required any time you want to purchase a handgun. Background checks and waiting periods aren’t one in the same. In some places, the background check will come back immediately, while in others it may take up to three or four days if the system is bogged down. Eventually, the response should come back “approved,” “disapproved,” or will come back with a “delay,” which means that more investigation is required. This will all need to happen before a waiting period takes effect.
If you purchase a gun privately, you need to document the sale yourself by procuring a bill of sale from the county clerk’s office in your area, and it’s probably a good idea to register the firearm locally. This will ensure that there’s a traceable record of the purchase. If your locality does not require that your gun be registered, you are not required to do so by federal law. [citation needed] Be sure to check your local and state laws about private party gun sales prior to purchasing a gun from an individual. If you are purchasing via online sale, especially if the gun is from another state, you will probably need to get an FFL dealer involved in the transaction to ensure the sale is legal.
Most new guns should come with cases, especially handguns which will come with lock-boxes for easy storage. If not, though, you’ll need to purchase a case in addition to purchasing the gun. Hard-plastic cases and soft cloth cases are both good for protecting your firearm. If you’ve got a big collection of firearms, consider storing them in a gun safe. Some high-end models are temperature-controlled, helping to maintain the life of antiques and keep them safe.
. 22 is the most common caliber of rifle sold for beginners. It’s a relatively small caliber, with low recoil and high accuracy, but still powerful enough to use for hunting small game. If you want to hunt deer or larger game, a larger caliber (. 30) is more appropriate for the gun to be humane and effective.
Bolt-action rifles require you to retract a side-mounted bolt to eject each spent cartridge, and then advance a new cartridge into the chamber by racking it back forward. Semi-automatic rifles use the force of each shot to expel the spent shell and advance a fresh shell into the chamber without the need of doing anything manually. Each time you pull the trigger, the gun should fire until the magazine is empty. Hybrid models, repeating rifles, lever action rifles, and many other varieties are also available, if slightly less common than the standard bolt-action and semi-auto. Shop around and try out more obscure guns to suit your purposes.
12 gauge shotguns are the most common variety of shotgun, but are somewhat more powerful than what most people might need or want out of a gun. A 20 gauge might be considered a medium-gauge, while a 410 is a light gauge common for young hunters and beginners who’re more interesting in shooting for sport or varmint control. There are lots of other considerations when it comes to choosing shotgun shells, including the length of the shell and the “shot count” per shell. Shotguns offer a lot of versatility with each style of gun.
Pump-action shotguns are iconic on account of the barrel-mounted slide, which advances a shell into the chamber and expels the spent shell when racked by sliding it backward and then forward. Common in movies, these shotguns are reliable and extremely popular. Pump action shotguns can hold between two and twelve shells in the gun at once, depending on the model. Break-action shotguns are reloaded by releasing a spring-mounted hinge that allows the barrel to partially separate from the stock and eject the spent shells. To reload, the shooter simply places a new shell in manually. Most double-barrel shotguns will be break-action. Semi-automatic shotguns reload in the same way that a rifle does, automatically expelling the spent shell and chambering the new. The difference between a semi-auto and a straight-automatic is that the semi-auto requires you to pull the trigger every time you want to shoot, while an automatic would continually fire if you held it down.
. 40 caliber and 9mm pistols are extremely common in law enforcement and as conceal and carry weapons. For many gun-owners, guns with a lower caliber than this are ineffective for use in home defense. [3] X Research source . 38-. 44 caliber pistols and above are typically used for home defense purposes. The recoil and the power of these guns is quite large, making it somewhat excessive for those interested in guns for conceal and carry or sport purposes.
Semi-auto pistols are magazine-loaded, the chamber fed by pre-loaded magazines that hold between 9 and 12 shots. To fire semi-automatic pistols, the slide on top of the gun needs to be pulled back to advance a bullet into the chamber and depress the hammer. Revolvers hold between 5 and 9 shells and advance by rotating in a clockwise motion, advancing through the chambers. To remove the spent shells, the revolving chamber is rotated to the side and the shells are emptied manually. The hammer is likewise pulled back manually on a revolver.
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