It is nearly Tax-Return Season and many of us are dreaming about what to spend that annual “love letter from Uncle Sam” on. That tax-return check, or Gun Money as many of us refer to it, is better than Christmas and our Birthday rolled into one. It always feels like “found-money”. Have you ever reached into your coat pocket and your fingers discover that $20 bill you had forgotten about? It’s like that…only with more zeroes.
Now that you have re-discovered it how do you make that Gun Money stretch the farthest? Enter the seemingly magical world of auctions, where the power sits with the buyer to determine how much he or she is willing to pay for each item! This is a match made in heaven, and I am going to help you understand some of the finer points of how to legally and safely purchase guns at both Live and On-Line Auction sites.
I own an auction house in Arizona, Pot Of Gold Estate Auctions, where bidders have the option to bid both locally in-person or nationwide on-line. There are many such auctions across the nation, including the nationally recognized on-line site GunBroker.com, and a quick Google search will help you locate a brick and mortar auction house in your area. There are advantages to each method of bidding, so decide which is best for you. The advantage of attending in-person is that you can oftentimes recognize when items have been overlooked by other bidder and those “sleepers” are about to sell far below their real-world value. The advantage to bidding on-line is the convenience and time-saving factors of bidding from your armchair. Whichever you choose, both are excellent ways to snap up some bargains. 
First, let me address the legalities of purchasing guns on-line. Politicians and news stories have presented a lot of mis-information and conflicting accounts of people buying guns illegally on-line, and via auction sites. You have likely become familiar with the term “On-line Gun Sale Loophole”, which would lead us to believe that people are somehow having guns shipped directly to their home from some on-line dealer or auction site, bypassing the Federal Forms (such as the Form 4473) and the accompanying background check. If this is happening, and people are skirting the laws, then they are in truth breaking existing Federal Law…there is no loophole that the law hasn’t accounted for whether on-line or in-person sales. Any firearm purchase on-line is subject to all the same laws as any firearm purchase in person. Transfers must be completed via a Transfer Agent / Federal Firearms License Dealer (FFL) and rather than the gun being shipped to the buyer’s home, the gun will be shipped to the local FFL of the buyer’s choosing. If a specific kind of firearm is illegal for you to own in your city or state it is still illegal for you to own no matter how you purchase the item. So, know the laws of your state and find a local Transfer Agent (usually your corner gun shop) to handle receiving the gun via shipment and completing the required paperwork.
Now, let’s get to the fun part. How do we safely and legally buy guns at auction?
Buying Guns Online and at Auction
#1) Check the reputation of the auction house, either via the Better Business Bureau rating, Yelp, or simply doing a Google search to see if any derogatory comments pop up…(READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE)
Article originally published on 2.13.17 and has been reposted on Gun Freedom Radio Blog with permission.
To learn more about the author of this article, Cheryl Todd.
