Private Gun Sales: Background Check Laws in All 50 States

Private gun sales need a check or permit in 22 states and D.C. for some or all sales; the other 28 leave in-state sales to federal law.

Originally published: October 31, 2026

Private gun sales are sales between two people who are not licensed dealers, and in 28 states no state law requires a background check or permit when both live in the same state. The other 22 states and D.C. require one for some or all of those sales. Federal law still applies everywhere: you may not sell to someone you have reason to believe is barred, and a buyer from another state goes through a dealer.

Selling a deer rifle to a hunting buddy or a pistol to a brother-in-law at Thanksgiving feels like the most ordinary trade there is. Some states check every private sale, a few check only handguns or advertised sales, and the rest leave it to federal law. The right way to sell is the one your state’s row describes, done before money changes hands.

Private Gun Sales, State by State

Each row was read from the state’s own statute or a noted agency page; “Justia” marks a labeled copy used where the official site could not be read, and “Searched” rows name the code read. Rows cover a sale between two residents of the state.

“Yes” means a sale between two private residents needs a background check, a state permit or license, or a dealer before the buyer takes the gun. “No” means no state check; federal law in the next section still applies. Read your statute for the full list of exceptions.

What Federal Law Says

Federal law has no background-check requirement for a private sale inside one state. The check in 18 U.S.C. § 922(t) binds licensed importers, manufacturers and dealers. Three rules bind everybody, though.

• No sale to a barred buyer. Section 922(d) makes it a crime for any person to sell a gun to someone he knows or has reasonable cause to believe is prohibited: a felon, a fugitive, an unlawful drug user, a person under a qualifying protective order and others.
• No handgun to anyone under 18. Section 922(x) bars selling or giving a handgun, or handgun-only ammunition, to a juvenile, with narrow exceptions for temporary transfers for work, ranching, farming, target practice, hunting or a safety course.
• No direct sale across state lines. Section 922(a)(5) bars a private seller from transferring a gun to someone he believes lives in another state, and § 922(a)(3) bars the buyer from bringing it home that way.

Selling Across State Lines

A buyer from the next state over means a dealer, every time. The gun goes to a licensed dealer, and the dealer handles the transfer: under § 922(b)(3) a handgun can only be delivered by a dealer in the buyer’s home state, while a rifle or shotgun may be handed over in person by a dealer in another state if the sale is legal in both states. That is the same path an online purchase takes (our sister site Guns and Gadgets Daily walks through it in how to buy a gun online), and our breakdown of the ATF eZ Check rule covers the dealer-license lookup ATF proposed for those shipments, then withdrew on July 6, 2026 before it took effect.

Section 922(a)(5) exempts only inheritance and a temporary loan or rental for lawful sporting use.

Can I Sell a Gun to a Friend?

Having worked behind the counter for over 20 years, I get asked “can I sell a gun to a friend?” about as often as I get asked where the restroom is. Yes, if your friend lives in your state, is legally allowed to own it, and you follow your state’s row. In Nevada, Oregon or Vermont, both of you walk into a dealer with the gun.

Family lists vary. Pennsylvania exempts only spouses, parents and children, and grandparents and grandchildren; New York’s list stops at spouses, domestic partners, children and stepchildren; Colorado’s reaches first cousins, aunts and uncles. Virginia and New Mexico cover sales for value, so the check turns on whether money or goods change hands. And a carry permit pulls double duty in several states: Delaware, Michigan and Nebraska each accept their own carry license in place of the purchase step (see our concealed carry by state guide).

When a Private Seller Becomes a Dealer

Sell enough guns and the law stops calling you a private seller. Under 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(21)(C), a person is “engaged in the business” of dealing when he buys and resells guns as a regular course of trade “to predominantly earn a profit,” and the statute excludes occasional sales to improve a personal collection and the sale of all or part of one.

ATF’s April 2024 rule that spelled out when that line is crossed is no longer in force. On June 12, 2026, the federal court in Amarillo vacated it in Texas v. ATF, and on August 13, 2026 it refused to narrow that order, writing that the rule “remains VACATED in its entirety.” The government filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit on October 9, 2026, and ATF’s own page lists a proposed rule of May 6, 2026 to rescind the 2024 rule. The statute still stands.

What Happens If You Skip the Check

If an officer ever asks where a gun you sold ended up, your paperwork is the answer. In Minnesota, a seller and buyer who skipped the dealer must produce their record of transfer when an officer asks during a criminal investigation, and refusing is a misdemeanor.

The penalties are real. Knowingly selling to a prohibited person is a federal crime carrying up to 15 years under 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(8). Skipping a required check is a Class 1 misdemeanor for both seller and buyer in Virginia, up to a year in jail, a $500 fine or both in Vermont, and a Class C crime in Maine. Colorado adds a civil hook: a seller who skips the check can be held liable for damages the buyer later causes with the gun.

How to Sell a Gun Privately, the Right Way

How I would run any private sale:

• Find your row. If it says Yes, book the dealer or the permit before you list the gun.
• See ID. Confirm the buyer lives in your state. An out-of-state address means a dealer.
• Ask the questions. If anything suggests the buyer is barred, walk away.
• Write a bill of sale. Date, names, addresses, make, model, serial number, price, both signatures. Keep a copy.
• When in doubt, use a dealer.

Rather skip the buyer hunt? Our guide to where to sell your gun covers that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sell a gun to a friend?

Yes, if the friend lives in your state and may legally own the gun, and you follow your state’s rule. In 22 states and D.C. that means a dealer, a police check or a purchase permit for some or all sales.

Do private gun sales require a background check?

Only where state law says so. Federal law requires checks only from licensed dealers, so in 28 states a private in-state sale needs no check.

Can I sell a gun to someone in another state?

Not directly. Federal law sends the gun through a licensed dealer; a handgun must be delivered by a dealer in the buyer’s home state.

How old does a buyer have to be?

Eighteen for a handgun under federal law in a private sale. Some states set 21, including Rhode Island for any gun and Nebraska for its handgun certificate.

Is the 2024 ATF “engaged in the business” rule still in effect?

No. A federal court vacated it on June 12, 2026, and the government appealed on October 9, 2026. The statute’s profit test still applies.

Know your row, see the ID, and write it down. A rifle that leaves your safe the right way is one less knock on your door, and in this business that counts as a good day.

Sources: State statutes: see each table row. U.S. Code, “18 U.S.C. § 922”; U.S. Code, “18 U.S.C. § 921”; U.S. Code, “18 U.S.C. § 924”; N.D. Tex., “Texas v. ATF, order of August 13, 2026”; Oregon Legislature, “HB 4145 (2026)”; Washington Legislature, “HB 1163 (2025)”; D. Del., “Neuberger v. Delaware DSHS, March 27, 2026”; Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, “2026 Question 9”.

James Nicholas

NFA Firearms Manufacturer · Professional Gunsmith for over 20 years · Firearms Writer, Photographer and Firearms Expert. The XDMAN has a talent for taking complex firearms subject matter and breaking it down into an easy-to-understand format that all experience levels can relate to.

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