Living here in Texas, if one individual wants to trade with another individual you can do so with little to no paperwork involved. Though a bill of sale would be smart, so both individuals have a record of who has their old firearm, to the best of my recollection it is not required. Now in my home state of Maryland it was required that you and the other individual make an appointment with a state police officer who will record the firearms serial number and will then transfer the firearm from one person to the next. Maryland also had a cool off period of 7 days so even though we took the necessary steps, the state police still informed us that the transfer of the firearm would still have to wait a week. It is important to know your state’s laws regarding firearms transfers in general to avoid issues.
As a business with an FFL the “trading” of a firearm is as simple as having the individual fill out an acquisitions form with their information and taking a copy of their ID. Then the firearm is put on your FFL records as a firearm that is ready for disposition (sale). Then the individual who traded in their old firearm for a new one will then complete a 4473 to complete the process of acquiring their new firearm from the FFL. As the FFL a few things are important here. Have two records for this individual for the “Trade”. One is filed in the acquisitions book as the source of the firearm that is now for sale, and one is for the disposition of the firearm they traded for via 4473. Finally, it is good practice to check the worth of the firearm the individual is wanting to trade for before the paperwork and “trade” are complete. You would not want to check after just to find out that this was a deal that the FFL lost money on.
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