You can buy a gun as a gift under federal law as long as you use your own money, you are not being reimbursed, and the person receiving it is legally allowed to own a firearm. The trap to avoid is the straw purchase, which is a separate federal crime carrying up to 15 years in prison. Everything else is detail: which form to sign, how the gun gets to the recipient, and which state rules apply on either end.
Answering the “Actual Buyer” Question on Form 4473
Every purchase from a licensed dealer runs through ATF Form 4473. Question 21.a asks whether you are the “actual transferee/buyer” of the firearm. The form’s own instructions answer this for gift-givers: you are the actual buyer “if he/she is legitimately purchasing the firearm as a bona fide gift for a third party.”1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record
So if you walk into a gun store with your own money and buy a shotgun for your father’s birthday, you answer “yes” truthfully. You pass the background check, you take the firearm home, and the gift is lawful.
The form draws the boundary in plain terms: it is not a bona fide gift if another person gave you money, services, or anything of value to buy the firearm for them, or if the intended recipient is legally prohibited from having a gun.1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record
Why Straw Purchases Are Different
If a friend hands you cash and asks you to buy a gun for him because he does not want to appear at the store, you are not the actual buyer. Checking “yes” on Question 21.a in that situation is a false statement, and it is a federal crime whether or not your friend could have legally bought the gun himself. The Supreme Court settled that point in Abramski v. United States (2014), holding that a straw purchase is illegal even when the ultimate recipient could have passed a background check on his own.2Justia. Abramski v United States, 573 US 169 (2014)
Two federal statutes create the criminal exposure. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(6), it is a crime to make a false statement to a licensed dealer about any fact relevant to the sale’s legality, including the identity of the actual buyer.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts Under 18 U.S.C. § 932, added by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022, straw purchasing carries up to 15 years in prison, rising to 25 years if the firearm was intended for use in a felony, federal terrorism offense, or drug trafficking crime.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 932 – Straw Purchasing of Firearms
Practically, keep the transaction clean. Your money pays for the gun. No one reimburses you, before or after. No one hands you a “thank you” envelope of cash the following week. A prosecutor looking at the whole picture is going to notice a reimbursement that turns a “gift” into something else.
Confirming the Recipient Can Legally Own a Firearm
Federal law bars several categories of people from possessing any firearm. Handing one to a person who falls into any of these categories exposes both of you to federal charges. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), the prohibited categories include anyone who:5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons
- Has a felony conviction, meaning any crime punishable by more than one year in prison, regardless of the sentence actually served
- Is a fugitive from justice
- Uses or is addicted to controlled substances
- Has been adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution
- Is unlawfully in the United States, or with limited exceptions is present on a nonimmigrant visa
- Was dishonorably discharged from the military
- Has renounced U.S. citizenship
- Is subject to a qualifying domestic violence restraining order
- Has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
You are not expected to conduct a formal investigation, but you should not ignore obvious signals. An old felony conviction or a domestic violence misdemeanor may not come up in normal conversation, which is one reason routing a gift through a licensed dealer is often the safest move: the NICS background check catches most disqualifications before the recipient walks out with the firearm.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide States may add further categories of prohibited persons on top of the federal list.
Gifting Within the Same State
Buy the firearm from a licensed dealer with your own money, pass the background check, and complete Form 4473 answering “yes” to the actual buyer question. At that point you own the firearm. Passing it to the recipient is a private transfer, and your state’s rules take over from there.
Roughly 20 states require private transfers to run through a licensed dealer who performs a background check on the recipient, though many of these states exempt transfers between immediate family members. Other states allow direct private transfers between residents with no paperwork, provided the recipient is not prohibited from possessing firearms. If you already own the firearm and want to give it away, the same state framework governs the handoff.
When you are not sure what your state requires, or when you do not know the recipient well, run the transfer through a local FFL voluntarily. The dealer runs a background check and creates a record. Transfer fees generally fall in the $25 to $75 range. The ATF itself encourages dealers to assist with voluntary private transfers.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide
Gifting Across State Lines
Federal law prohibits an unlicensed person from transferring a firearm to anyone they know or have reason to believe lives in a different state.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts – Section 922(a)(5) Handing a rifle to your out-of-state nephew at a family dinner is illegal even if both of you are otherwise eligible to own firearms.
The gift has to move through a licensed dealer in the recipient’s state. The dealer receives the firearm, has the recipient complete Form 4473, and runs the NICS background check before releasing it.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide The simplest way to arrange this is to buy the firearm from an online retailer or a dealer in the recipient’s state and have it shipped directly to a receiving FFL there. The recipient goes in, completes the paperwork, passes the check, and takes the gun home.
If you are shipping a firearm you already own, federal regulations require written notice to the carrier that the package contains a firearm, and the carrier is prohibited from marking the outside of the package.8eCFR. 27 CFR 478.31 – Delivery by Common or Contract Carrier A non-licensed individual can mail unloaded rifles and shotguns to a licensed dealer through USPS using a tracked, signature-required class. USPS restricts handgun mailings to licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers, so a private individual generally cannot mail a handgun through the post office and will need a private carrier such as UPS or FedEx.9Postal Explorer (USPS). Publication 52 – Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail Call the carrier before you pack anything; their internal policies add requirements beyond the federal rules.
Gifting a Firearm to a Minor
Federal law treats handguns and long guns very differently for anyone under 18. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(x), it is illegal to transfer a handgun or handgun ammunition to a minor, and illegal for the minor to possess one.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts – Section 922(x) You cannot give a handgun to a 16-year-old as a permanent gift, even your own child.
Narrow exceptions allow temporary handgun possession by minors for employment, ranching and farming, target practice, hunting, and formal firearms safety instruction. Each requires prior written consent from a parent or guardian who is not themselves prohibited from possessing firearms, and the minor must carry that written consent while in possession of the handgun.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts – Section 922(x)(3) These are temporary allowances, not a route to a permanent gift.
Federal law does not set a minimum age for possessing rifles or shotguns, which is why parents commonly gift a .22 rifle to a teenager for hunting. State law often does set a minimum age for long gun possession and may require parental involvement, so check your state’s rules before proceeding.
State Rules That Can Change the Answer
Federal law is the floor. State and local laws can add requirements that make a transfer illegal even when federal law would allow it. The main areas where states diverge:
- Universal background checks on all or most private transfers, with family exemptions in many states
- Permits to purchase, requiring a state-issued permit before acquiring a firearm
- Waiting periods between transfer and delivery
- Registration of firearms after transfer
- Bans on specific firearm types or magazine capacity limits
The last point catches gift-givers off guard on interstate transfers. A firearm that is legal to buy where you live may be illegal in the recipient’s state, and the receiving FFL will refuse the transfer. Before you buy anything intended as an interstate gift, call the receiving dealer and confirm the specific firearm is legal on their end.
NFA Items Follow a Separate Process
Suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine guns, and destructive devices are regulated under the National Firearms Act. Gifting one is a “transfer” under the NFA and must be approved by ATF on Form 4 before the recipient takes possession.12Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 4 – Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Paid) Each item requires a separate application.
A transfer tax applies to machine guns and destructive devices at $200; other NFA firearm categories currently carry a $0 transfer tax.12Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. ATF Form 4 – Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Paid) The application includes photographs, fingerprints, and a background check for the recipient, and approvals commonly take several months. Do not hand the item over before ATF approval arrives. Possessing an unregistered NFA firearm is its own federal offense.
Gift Tax on High-Value Firearms
Most firearm gifts fall well below the federal gift tax threshold, but collectibles and custom builds can cross it. For 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.13Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Gift more than that to a single person in a year and you must file IRS Form 709.
Filing does not necessarily mean you owe tax; it reports the gift and reduces your lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. The value is fair market value on the date of the gift, meaning what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller with both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts.14Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 For ordinary firearms, the retail price works as a proxy. For antiques, collectibles, or custom builds, a professional appraisal supports your valuation if the IRS ever asks.
Two Ways to Sidestep the Risk
If you are unsure about the recipient’s preferences, their legal eligibility, or the rules in their state, buy a gift card to a firearms retailer instead. The recipient chooses the gun, fills out Form 4473 themselves, and passes their own background check. No straw purchase question ever arises.
If you want to give an actual firearm and want the extra certainty, run it through a licensed dealer even when your state does not require it. The background check confirms the recipient’s eligibility on the spot, and the dealer creates a record. A transfer fee in the $25 to $75 range is cheap protection, particularly when the recipient is someone you do not know well.
Keep a simple written record of any private transfer: date, make, model, serial number, both parties’ names, and a note that the firearm was a gift. Federal law does not require it of a private individual, but if the firearm later surfaces in an investigation, that record answers questions quickly.