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‘Tis the season for planning those perfect holiday prezzies, and it’s hard to do better than giving the gift that keeps on giving, a shiny new firearm. With Black Friday only days away, our friends at the National Shooting Sports Foundation are out with a timely primer on what to consider when giving the gift of guns this holiday season. To answer the most important question, yes, it’s legal to buy a firearm for someone else…assuming they can legally own one. The NSSF dutifully passes on the ATF’s suggestion, though, that you consider giving that special person a gift certificate so as to ensure they get exactly what they want while avoiding any section 11.a awkwardness. But if you do that, you’ll miss out on Christmas morning memories like the one above. Will you be giving someone a gun this year?

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67 COMMENTS

  2. Yes. I built a lightweight AR15 to serve as my brother-in-law’s first rifle. It’s his Christmas present in exchange for all the time he donated working on my home.

    • Technically your buying it for yourself. A gift is something you buy for you to give to another. State laws may differ.

  4. My little boy is getting his first bb gun. It’s a daisy and he will love it. I think the antis proverbial cheese would slide off their biscuit if they read the packaging on it. Magazine capacity is listed at 750. Talk about high capacity.

  7. Wife wants her own AR. Fortunately I saw this coming, Stainless barreled PSA upper and an Armalite lower with a Geissele 2-stage will be coming out of their boxes. I have had them for a while, I was hoping for this day to come. I guess now I need to double my ammo stash.

    • And a thing that tells time?

      I picked up a RR for the kids as a back-to-school present, once I can get them to sit through Christmas Story, I may try to embed a cheap compass into the stock. Not sure how to integrate a sundial.

      • Eh, the sundial might lead to muzzle sweeps, mebbe not the best idea…

        (I can’t imagine any kid not enjoying that flick…)

        • EDIT-

          Should read – “Eh, the sundial might lead to muzzle sweeps, mebbe not the best idea when teaching the 4 rules…”

  12. How do you handle Section 11.a on a gift gun? For my wife it probably doesn’t matter a whole lot, but for someone who doesn’t live with me?

    • If you are using your own money to purchase the firearm the answer is yes..i read the instructions on the 4473

  13. Yes wife is buying me a sig sauer p320 compact for my back up carry piece and I’m building her an Ar15 from an 80% lower

  15. Yes ,most definitely. Both my teenage girls are wanting Glock’s this year , to add to their collection. They want them in 40 cal They are excited at the prospect.

  17. I might give my wife a gun this year, but it will probably be something that has very little power, maybe a BB gun, so it won’t hurt so much when she gets pissed off and shoots me with it.

  18. I’m getting my wife, uh, Mom, uh, lady next door, uh, my daughter~~yeah, my daughter; a crossed cannons Range Officer 9mm.

    Giving, uh, getting; is better than uh, not getting ~~ uh, giving to myself.

    • “What does Santa pack?”

      The A-10’s cannon to take out the anti-reindeer artillery batteries.

      🙂

  21. I am getting my 10-year old son a CZ 455 for Christmas. Of course, dad will have to test it for a few years first.

  22. Maybe, but me first. I’m bidding on an 1873 in .357 now for me, but may get a1911 .45 for my daughter. Since she lives in another state, what I have done in the past is simply buy it on the internet and have it shipped from the seller to an FFL near her, and then she does the 4473.

  25. Yeah, my Brother is getting my Mossberg 500, which my Uncle gifted my about two years ago when I said I was buying a shotgun. I’ll be getting a pretty Rem. 870 20-gauge from the 50s in the next week or two. I might package the Mossberg in a Red-Ryder box.

  26. No, but I did that for every birthday and Christmas while my sons were growing up—rifles, shotguns and handguns until they had a nice starter collection to include 1911s, Sig P220, Mini 14, bolt action rifles and etc. it was always a joy to see the expressions on their faces when the opened them and later when they would shoot them for the first time. As for me, I don’t need any more—way too many already.

      • Sorry, Geoff, we do not get snow much around here in Texas! But you are welcome to come down to the ranch and shoot them, including the M2 semi auto .50 BMG……..

          • Sorry,

            Can’t make it. I travel quite a bit working on US government facilities (some classified) and will be on the road most of the rest of this year. Hope to make it next year if possible.

    • Quick someone call Dr Smith and Nurse Wesson, Gary must be sick. Can never have too many. Just too little, space in the safe I mean.

      • Sorry, but when I realized that I could not keep them all clean or shoot them regularly, I began to think maybe I have too many. It all started a long time ago……… When my sons were born, I began buying extras just in case availability became an issue (the Clintons were in office at the time) so that I could insure my sons would have some. I got a little carried away! I also stocked up on ammo just a wee bit………

  28. Money is a little tight this year but last year I gave my son a Springfield XDM 4.5 in .45. One of the more difficult parts of that gift was installing his sights of choice before hand. Anyone with experience changing an XD front sight knows what I mean.

    I gave my wife a Sig 938 Blackwood last year as well. This year the focus will be more on ammo including my hand loads (also including .22 for both of their other guns) and possibly some accessories. They gave me a S&W Shield last year. 🙂

  29. Damn! I’ve already given two! What more do you want? My son got one for his 18th birthday and one for his high school graduation. Carbine and heavy-barreled long distance AR. He is officially tuned up on black rifles. The kicker: since apparently you can’t get a Heathkit Radio kit anymore and he loves to build things, he had to build both of them. I don’t really think he minded a bit.

      • How cool is that? Thanks, Geoff! I never thought to look for a secure site. Hmm…They don’t have the 10 band (or whatever) radio I made in the ninth grade. Note to Heathkit: A little 5.1 AV receiver would be a nice kit to make for the game room. Needs at least five HDMI inputs, one or two out. Couldn’t be much more complex than that radio I built. Just get rid of the analog outs. SPDIF, 3.5mm in, Bluetooth would all be nice. Thanks!

        • They are making noises they will offer a variety of product lines, but so far just that expensive TRF AM radio.

          Some folks suspect they won’t get fully back in the game, the company won’t answer questions on who owns it, what’s in the pipeline, etc. Oddly silent. Google Heathkit controversy.

          Here’s one. – http://ad8bc.com/bc/?p=334#more-334

          So, it could well be vaporware. I really hope not. Time will tell.

  30. I’m thinking of giving the GF a 20 gauge for busting clays, but I suspect her desire for something shiny may overrule my initial impulse.

    • She wants something shiny?

      What more could she want?

      She has *you*! 🙂

      (I highly recommend you *not* tell her that…)

  31. The goal would be multiple guns but if I can get just one (first handgun), i’ll still consider it a win.

  32. Probably my daughter’s last year believing in Santa. She asked for a turkey shotgun and a monster truck rc car. One is in the closet the other was shipped to my FFL yesterday! ?

  33. No, but there will be an extra pile of ammo and a nice wood birdshead grip to go with the .38 my girlfriend got for her birthday.
    However, I did ask Santa for a 20ga shotgun, and didn’t get laughed at…. much.

  34. Yes,

    My daughter-in-law gets a Browning B-80 (20 ga) and youngest granddaughter a Henry youth bolt action. I gave her older sister a Savage Rascal a couple of years ago.

  35. Yes, I will. Sort of. I hope. Planning to get a lower receiver for Christmas to start my first AR-15 build. Planning to buy it piece by piece over the next few months — hopefully before another buying panic kicks in (you know the Dimocrats are going to do their best to create one).

  36. I’d like to buy my daughter a little 22 pistol to go along with her 22 rifle. I’m thinking SR-22 or sig mosquito. I want her to get really good with it so she can shoot uspsa with me some day. Who knows, maybe she’ll go on to win nationals some day. 🙂

    • Nate, I have no experience with the p-, but the sig I shot had a lot of fte. It was very ammo sensitive and stove piped frequently with cci. I know some guys have had good luck with the mosquito but I did not. I have a browning buckmark that has been near flawless, and I have read a lot of great things about the m&p22c (the c is made in USA, the full size is not).
      Not sure how old she is, can she tolerate a steel frame 9mm, or .380? That new baby browning 1911 in .380 is getting good reviews as well.

    • Go with the Ruger—it is the best semi-auto .22 LR pistol I have ever shot or owned! I bought Beretta Neos pistols for my sons and they are nice, but not nearly as good or accurate as the Ruger. The Ruger is a bit heavier, but shoots really well.

    • So your answer is no. Your giving away pieces of material with some machine work partially started ;).

  38. Sort of:

    The oldest will be getting a stripped upper as a Christmas present. I expect we’ll take the next few months picking parts to build it out to a spec he likes (and i can afford, heh).

    And he’ll do the build. Great father-son project.

  39. I would love to get my wife a Glock 42. I think it would probably be the perfect gun for her ergonomically, but I can’t get her to stop by the gun shop to even handle one.

  40. Well, I really want to, but I’m A) on a student budget, and B) don’t know where to find the right one. It’s the only thing my Grandpa has ever asked for and his rotten kids (and lousy grandkids) have never delivered. :p Wish I could hand it to him someday.

    Ah well. We’ll see what the future brings.

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