Buying a Gun Online and How the FFL Transfer Works

Ordering a firearm on the internet feels different from walking into a store, but the legal steps are the same ones a store buyer goes through. The difference is where the paperwork happens. We ship the firearm to a federally licensed dealer in your state, and that dealer handles the identity check, the background check and the hand-over. Nothing about the sale skips a step, and nothing arrives at your front door unless it is ammunition, an optic or a part.

General information, not legal advice. The rules below are current as of September 2026. Firearm law changes often, so read your own state's official page before you order.

What actually happens after you click buy

• You pick the item in our shop and pay by card.
• You tell us which licensed dealer near you will receive it.
• We confirm that dealer's licence before the box leaves.
• The dealer signs the firearm into their bound book when it arrives and calls you.
• You go in, show identification and fill out ATF Form 4473.
• The dealer runs the background check, collects a transfer fee, and releases the firearm once the answer comes back clear and any state waiting period has run.

Why a dealer has to be in the middle

Under the Gun Control Act, a person who is not licensed cannot take delivery of a firearm from someone in another state. Congress built the licensed dealer network to be the checkpoint, so the transfer is recorded in the dealer's books, tied to a photo identification, and screened against the same disqualifiers that apply everywhere. That structure is also what lets a small shop in one state sell to a buyer two time zones away without either side guessing at the other's local rules. The dealer who releases the gun is the one who must follow the law of the state where the buyer lives.

Choosing the dealer before you pay

Almost every gun store, and plenty of pawn shops, ranges and part-time home-based licensees, will accept a transfer. Call two or three and ask four things: what they charge per firearm, whether the fee changes for handguns, what hours they do transfers, and whether they want the shipment addressed a particular way. Transfer fees in most of the country sit in a modest range, but a shop that also sells the same model may charge more, and a few refuse transfers on items they stock. Ask before you order, not after the tracking number goes out.

You can confirm a dealer is currently licensed through the ATF's public licence verification tool. If a dealer is already in our system we ship on file. If not, they send us a signed copy of their licence, which takes a day or two the first time and nothing at all afterwards.

The paperwork at pickup

Form 4473 asks for your name, address, date of birth, place of birth and a set of yes-or-no eligibility questions. Answer them carefully. A false answer is a federal crime in its own right, and the most common honest mistake is the question about who the actual buyer is. If you are collecting a firearm to hand to somebody else who paid for it, that is a straw purchase and the dealer must stop the sale. Buying a firearm as a genuine gift for a person who can lawfully own one is different and is allowed, as long as the money and the choice were yours.

Bring a current government photo identification that shows your present address. If your licence still shows an old address, most dealers will accept a second government document, such as a vehicle registration or a hunting licence, to bridge the gap. Policies vary, so ask when you call.

The background check and the three answers

The dealer contacts the federal system, or the state agency that runs checks in point-of-contact states such as Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Maryland and others. Three answers come back: proceed, denied, or delayed. A delay means an examiner needs to look at a record by hand, often because a common name matched something. Federal law lets a dealer release the firearm after three business days if no final answer has arrived, but many dealers choose to wait, and several states require them to. If you are denied and believe it is wrong, you can appeal and ask for the reason.

What your state adds on top

Federal rules are the floor, not the ceiling. Some states want a permit or card in hand before a dealer may transfer anything. Some impose a waiting period counted in days rather than minutes. Some set the minimum age at twenty-one for every firearm rather than only handguns, and some restrict features, magazine capacity or specific models. Our guide to purchase permits and waiting periods walks through the main patterns, and the state pages linked from our store directory cover the city you are buying from.

Handguns, long guns and age

A licensed dealer may transfer a rifle or shotgun to an adult of eighteen and a handgun to an adult of twenty-one. That split comes from federal law and applies in every state. Several states raise the long-gun age to twenty-one, and a few add a training or licence requirement for younger adults. Because the dealer at your end applies your state's rule, ordering from out of state never lowers the bar.

Shipping, damage and returns

Firearms travel insured and signature-required. Ask the dealer to open the box while you are standing there and inspect the firearm before you sign the 4473. Once the transfer is complete the gun is legally yours, and a return has to travel back through a licensed dealer, which costs time and another fee. Finding a scratched stock or a missing magazine in the first five minutes is far easier to fix.

What ships straight to you

Ammunition, optics, magazines, grips, slings, cleaning gear and most spare parts are not firearms under federal law, so they normally go to your address. A handful of states treat ammunition differently and route it through a dealer instead. That is covered in our guide to ammunition shipping rules by state. Frames and receivers, on the other hand, are firearms and always go to a dealer even though they arrive as a single small part.

A realistic timeline

From order to pickup, most transfers take about a week: a day or two to confirm the receiving dealer, two to four days in transit, then a day for the shop to log the firearm and reach you. Add a state waiting period where one applies. Plan around hunting season openers and long weekends rather than hoping, because a shop that does transfers two afternoons a week can quietly add four days.

Start with the catalog when you know what you want, and read the deer rifle rules for your state first if the purchase is for hunting, since a legal cartridge in one state can be unusable one state over.

General information, not legal advice. Current as of September 2026. Laws change; check the official source before you act.