To legally gift a gun, you have to pay for it with your own money, make sure the recipient is legally allowed to own a firearm, and follow the transfer rules that apply based on where they live and what kind of firearm you’re giving. Get any of those wrong and a well-meaning present can turn into a federal felony. The rules aren’t complicated once you separate them out, but they do stack: federal law sets the floor, your state can add more, and certain firearms (suppressors, short-barreled rifles, machine guns) carry their own paperwork on top.
Make Sure It’s a Gift, Not a Straw Purchase
A real gift means you spent your own money, you expect nothing in return, and the recipient is legally eligible to own a firearm. A straw purchase is the opposite: someone hands you money (or promises you something of value) and asks you to buy a gun for them. Under 18 U.S.C. § 932, that’s a federal felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.1Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Don’t Lie for the Other Guy If the gun is later used in a violent crime, terrorism, or drug trafficking, the ceiling jumps to 25 years.2Congress.gov. Straw Purchasing and Trafficking of Firearms
The line is the money. If your brother gives you $600 and says “grab me that Glock,” that’s a straw purchase even if he could pass a background check on his own. If you spend your own $600 to surprise him for his birthday, that’s a gift. His ability to pass a check doesn’t change the analysis; whose wallet the money came from does.
Buying a Gun as a Gift From a Dealer
When you buy from a licensed dealer, you fill out ATF Form 4473. Question 21.a asks whether you are the actual buyer. A lot of people freeze here because they think answering “yes” while buying a gift is dishonest. It isn’t. The form itself says a person “is the actual transferee/buyer if he/she is legitimately purchasing the firearm as a bona fide gift for a third party.”3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Transaction Record – ATF Form 4473 You answer yes, you take the background check yourself, and later you hand the firearm to the recipient.
The form’s example makes it explicit. Mr. Brown buying a firearm with his own money to give to Mr. Black is the actual buyer and answers yes. Mr. Jones buying a firearm with cash Mr. Smith handed him is not the actual buyer and must answer no, at which point the dealer cannot complete the sale.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Transaction Record – ATF Form 4473 Answering yes while actually buying with someone else’s money is a federal crime.
Gifting to Someone in Your State
Federal law lets you hand a firearm directly to another resident of your state without going through a licensed dealer, and there’s no federal recordkeeping requirement.4Bureau of Atlanta, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Best Practices – Transfers of Firearms by Private Sellers Your federal obligation is just this: you must have no reason to believe the recipient is a prohibited person.
Federal law bars several categories from possessing firearms: anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison, anyone with a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction, anyone subject to a qualifying domestic violence restraining order, unlawful drug users, and anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Giving a firearm to someone you know or have reason to believe falls into any of these categories carries up to ten years in federal prison.
State law can override the simplicity of that federal rule. A growing number of states require all private transfers, including gifts, to go through a licensed dealer for a background check. In one of those states, handing a gun directly to your recipient is a state crime even though federal law would allow it. Some of those states carve out exceptions for immediate family gifts. Check your state’s rules before any private transfer.
Gifting to Someone in Another State
Interstate is where the rules get stricter. Federal law makes it illegal for a non-licensed person to transfer a firearm to anyone they know or have reason to believe lives in a different state.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Every interstate transfer between private individuals has to go through a Federal Firearms Licensee in the recipient’s state.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide
The mechanics: you ship the firearm to an FFL in the recipient’s home state. The recipient goes to that dealer, fills out Form 4473, and takes the background check. If it clears, the dealer hands over the gun. Transfer fees commonly run $25 to $75.
You cannot hand a firearm to an out-of-state friend during a visit and call it a gift. Standing in the same room doesn’t change the rule; the transfer still has to route through a dealer in their home state.
Shipping the Firearm
USPS allows non-licensed individuals to mail rifles and shotguns to FFLs, manufacturers, or importers using a mail class with tracking and signature confirmation.7USPS. Publication 52 – Mailability of Firearms8UPS. How to Ship Firearms9FedEx. How to Ship Firearms Practically, that means if you’re gifting a handgun across state lines, you’ll usually take it to a local FFL and pay them to ship it to the receiving FFL. Never label the outside of the package in any way that suggests it contains a firearm.
Gifting Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Other NFA Items
Firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act carry extra paperwork even for gifts. The category includes machine guns, suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, destructive devices, and “any other weapons.”
To gift one, you file ATF Form 4 (5320.4) with the ATF’s National Firearms Act Division and send a copy to the chief law enforcement officer where the recipient lives. The transfer isn’t legal until ATF approves the application and returns the approved form. Do not hand the item over before approval arrives.10Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm – Tax Paid
As of 2026, the federal transfer tax dropped to $0 for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and any other weapons. Machine guns and destructive devices still carry the $200 transfer tax.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5811 – Transfer Tax The paperwork and approval process are unchanged, and wait times often stretch into months.
Gifting a Firearm to a Minor
Federal law prohibits anyone under 18 from possessing a handgun and prohibits transferring a handgun to a juvenile, with narrow exceptions for supervised use with written parental permission.12Department of Justice. Quick Reference to Federal Firearms Laws Gifting a handgun to a minor is not legal.
Long guns are treated differently at the federal level. There’s no federal minimum age for possessing a rifle or shotgun, so a parent or grandparent can gift one to a child under 18 under federal law. States often add their own rules, whether a minimum age for possession or a requirement that a parent or guardian keep control of the firearm until the child reaches a set age. Confirm your state’s rules before putting a long gun under the tree for a teenager.
Inherited Firearms Follow Different Rules
If a firearm is passing through a will or by inheritance rather than as a gift during your lifetime, the analysis changes. The federal statute that normally blocks interstate transfers between non-licensed individuals carves out an exception for bequests and inheritance,5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts and NFA items have their own tax-exempt estate process. That’s a different track from gifting, and if that’s your situation, the FFL requirement above doesn’t apply.
Your Liability if the Recipient Is Prohibited
Gifting a firearm to a prohibited person is a federal crime whether or not you intended to break the law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(d), transferring a firearm to someone you know or have reasonable cause to believe is prohibited carries up to ten years in prison.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts “Reasonable cause to believe” is a lower bar than certainty. If your cousin mentions he just got out of prison, you have reasonable cause to believe he’s a felon; giving him a gun anyway is a crime.
Civil liability is a separate track. Under the doctrine of negligent entrustment, if you give a firearm to someone you knew or should have known was unfit and that person injures someone, the injured party can sue you. Courts look at what you knew about the recipient’s history of violence, substance abuse, or recklessness. Criminal law focuses on the formal prohibited categories; civil liability can attach based on what a reasonable person would have seen as dangerous.
Gift Tax on High-Value Firearms
The IRS treats a firearm gift like any other gift of property. For 2026, the annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.13Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 If the fair market value of the gun exceeds that, you file IRS Form 709, even if no tax is owed because the gift fits within your lifetime exemption.14Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709
Most everyday firearms are well below the threshold. Collectible and antique guns, engraved custom pieces, and high-end competition rifles can cross it. If you’re gifting a collection to one person, add up everything given to that recipient during the calendar year.
Document the Transfer
Federal law doesn’t require you to create a written record of a private transfer, but it’s one of the smartest things you can do. Note the date, the firearm’s make, model, caliber, and serial number, and the recipient’s full name and state of residence. A one-page bill of gift signed by both parties is enough. Some people also photograph the recipient’s driver’s license and keep a copy with the document.
Keep your copy indefinitely. If the gun is later used in a crime or recovered at a scene and law enforcement traces the serial number back to you, that piece of paper is your evidence that you transferred it lawfully.