Buying a shotgun online is legal across the United States, but the gun cannot ship to your house. Federal law requires the seller to ship it to a licensed firearms dealer near you, who then runs a background check and completes the transfer in person. You pay for the shotgun online, choose a local dealer to receive it, and pick it up at their counter after the paperwork clears.
Why the Shotgun Has to Go to a Dealer
The Gun Control Act of 1968 makes it illegal for any licensed dealer or manufacturer to ship a firearm to anyone who doesn’t hold a federal firearms license.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts That one rule shapes every online gun sale. The seller ships to a Federal Firearms Licensee, known as an FFL, and the FFL handles the face-to-face transfer to you.
The same principle applies to private sales on marketplaces like GunBroker. Federal law prohibits unlicensed people from transferring firearms across state lines without going through a licensed dealer, and online sales almost always cross state lines.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts So whether the seller is a large retailer, a small shop, or an individual, the shotgun still ends up at an FFL’s counter.
The Steps From Checkout to Pickup
Pick the Shotgun and Line Up an FFL
Find the shotgun, pay through the seller’s website, and provide the name, address, and FFL number of a licensed dealer near you who has agreed to receive it. Most online sellers offer a search tool for nearby FFLs, or you can call a local shop and confirm they accept transfers.
The FFL charges a separate fee for handling the transfer, usually between $25 and $50. Big-box retailers sometimes charge less, specialty shops sometimes more. Add that to the shotgun’s price and shipping when you compare online deals to what you’d pay locally.
Shipping
The seller ships the shotgun directly to your chosen FFL. Carriers like UPS accept firearm shipments only from licensed dealers and manufacturers, and require an adult signature on delivery.2UPS. How To Ship Firearms You won’t see or touch the gun until it reaches the shop. The FFL notifies you by phone, email, or text when it arrives.
The Transfer
You go to the FFL’s location with a valid government-issued photo ID and fill out ATF Form 4473, the Firearms Transaction Record.3Congressional Research Service. Gun Control: Juvenile Record Checks for 18- to 21-Year-Olds The form asks for your personal information and a series of yes-or-no questions about the disqualifying categories in federal law. You sign it under penalty of perjury.
The dealer then contacts the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). For most buyers, NICS responds within minutes with one of three answers: proceed, denied, or delayed.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts If the check clears, the shotgun is yours right there, assuming your state doesn’t require a waiting period.
What a Delay or Denial Means
A “delayed” response means the FBI has more research to do. Federal law gives the FBI three business days to finish. If those three days pass without a final answer, the dealer may legally transfer the shotgun, though some shops choose not to release a firearm on a delay.4Federal Bureau of Investigation. About NICS Ask your FFL what they do.
Buyers aged 18 to 20 get an extra layer of review. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 requires NICS examiners to contact the buyer’s state juvenile justice system, mental health records custodian, and local law enforcement to check for disqualifying juvenile records.5Federal Bureau of Investigation. NICS Enhanced Background Checks for Under-21 Gun Buyers Showing Results The three-day window still applies at first, but if those inquiries turn up something that needs further investigation, the review period extends to 10 business days.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Younger buyers should expect pickup could take up to two weeks rather than the same day.
A denial stops the transfer. The dealer keeps the Form 4473 on file and returns your transfer fee.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Questions and Answers Whether you get a refund on the shotgun itself depends on the seller’s return policy, and you may owe return shipping. That is a real financial risk of buying online rather than in a store where you’d know before paying. If you think the denial was wrong, you can appeal in writing to the FBI’s NICS Appeals Services Team, which will respond with the general reason for the denial within five business days of receiving the appeal.7Federal Bureau of Investigation. Requesting an Appeal
Who Can Legally Buy
You have to be at least 18 to buy a shotgun or any other long gun from a licensed dealer.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Minimum Age for Gun Sales and Transfers Some states raise that to 21.
Federal law also bars several categories of people from possessing any firearm. You cannot legally buy or own a shotgun if you:1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
- Have been convicted of any crime punishable by more than one year in prison, regardless of the sentence actually served
- Are a fugitive from justice
- Use or are addicted to a controlled substance
- Have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution or found mentally incompetent by a court
- Are in the country unlawfully or are present on a nonimmigrant visa, with narrow exceptions
- Received a dishonorable discharge from the military
- Have renounced U.S. citizenship
- Are subject to a qualifying domestic restraining order
- Have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
Lying about any of these on Form 4473 is itself a serious federal crime.
Buying From a Seller in a Different State
Shotguns have an advantage over handguns for online buyers. Federal law generally prohibits FFLs from selling firearms to residents of other states, but it carves out an exception for rifles and shotguns. A dealer can transfer a long gun to an out-of-state resident as long as the buyer appears in person and the sale complies with the laws of both the buyer’s home state and the dealer’s state.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
Because your shotgun is going to an FFL in your own state, this usually works in your favor: the online seller can be almost anywhere, and your local FFL simply verifies the transfer is legal where you live. If the specific shotgun you bought is banned or restricted in your state, the transfer can’t happen even if it was legal where the seller shipped from. Confirm with your receiving FFL before you buy, not after.
State Rules That Can Slow or Block the Sale
Federal law is the floor. Your state or city can add requirements that change what you can order and how long you’ll wait.
- Waiting periods. Roughly a dozen states and the District of Columbia require a delay between purchase and transfer, ranging from one day to 30 days. You won’t walk out with the shotgun the day you fill out the paperwork, even if NICS clears you instantly.9RAND Corporation. The Effects of Waiting Periods
- Purchase permits. Some states require a permit or firearms identification card before you can buy any long gun, which means a separate application and fee before you order.
- Magazine capacity limits. Several states cap how many rounds a shotgun’s magazine can hold, commonly at 10. Order one with an extended tube that exceeds your limit and the FFL cannot transfer it.
- Feature restrictions. A handful of states ban shotguns with pistol grips, folding stocks, or detachable magazines under their assault weapons laws.
- Higher minimum age. Some states set the purchasing age at 21 for all firearms.
Your receiving FFL deals with these rules daily and is usually your best local source for what’s legal to bring into your state.
Straw Purchases Are a Felony
The fastest way to turn an online shotgun order into a criminal case is to buy the gun for someone else. Straw purchasing, where you buy a firearm on behalf of a person who can’t pass a background check or doesn’t want to be on the paperwork, is a standalone federal felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If the firearm is used in a felony, an act of terrorism, or a drug trafficking crime, the maximum jumps to 25 years.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 932 – Straw Purchasing of Firearms
Form 4473 asks directly whether you are the actual buyer, and answering falsely is a federal crime whether or not the real recipient would have passed a background check.11Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Don’t Lie for the Other Guy Buying a shotgun as a genuine gift for someone legally eligible to own one is fine. Buying one at another person’s request, with their money, is not.