When buying a gun from a member how do I check if the gun works before paying for it?

[HarleyLowRiderST]

There is NO WAY I'm inspecting a firearm in someone's car parked outside of the FFL or Gun Store. If seller asks, I politely say "I would be more comfortable doing my inspection inside the store. If he says the FFL won't let us or has heart ache, I find another seller or FFL. I nearly always make it a habit to buy something inside the FFL or Gun stork when doing a PPT to help offset the minimal they make on a PPT. Ammo is my usual buy, but sometimes parts, bags, mag, etc.

 

[HarleyLowRiderST]

The manager at Turner’s . . . told him why don’t you do us all a favor and go to your cars and make sure that you want this firearm (Saturday very crowded)

Glad is worked out for your buddy, but there is NO WAY I'm inspecting an M1A in some dude's car in the Turner's parking lot on a crowded Saturday.

"911 what is your emergency"
"Yeah this is Karen, and there are two dudes in a Subaru passing a big black evil looking assault rifle back and forth. Please send someone quick as I'm triggered"
"Thank you ma'am, we are sending SWAT there now"

 

[Wolkenflieger]

Glad is worked out for your buddy, but there is NO WAY I'm inspecting an M1A in some dude's car in the Turner's parking lot on a crowded Saturday.

"911 what is your emergency"
"Yeah this is Karen, and there are two dudes in a Subaru passing a big black evil looking assault rifle back and forth. Please send someone quick as I'm triggered"
"Thank you ma'am, we are sending SWAT there now"

Exactly. You'd get the worst description possible, lol!

 

[Boomhauer]

Glad is worked out for your buddy, but there is NO WAY I'm inspecting an M1A in some dude's car in the Turner's parking lot on a crowded Saturday.

"911 what is your emergency"
"Yeah this is Karen, and there are two dudes in a Subaru passing a big black evil looking assault rifle back and forth. Please send someone quick as I'm triggered"
"Thank you ma'am, we are sending SWAT there now"

Well when you say it like that….lol. I’m just relaying what we were told to do from the manager of the store. I definitely understand everyone’s concern and honestly I just went to buy an 1100 and again the seller and me met and he said I have it here in my trunk if you’d like to check it out and I went back and he picked it up and I thought maybe this isn’t the greatest idea to be having a shotgun just out in the parking lot lol. It’s worked out so far but I get what you’re saying is all it takes is one call mentioning a gun and I can see that they would take this very serious.

 

[BobGBA]

Common sense doesn't seem to be common, if you ask me.

 

[Tere_Hanges]

Glad is worked out for your buddy, but there is NO WAY I'm inspecting an M1A in some dude's car in the Turner's parking lot on a crowded Saturday.

"911 what is your emergency"
"Yeah this is Karen, and there are two dudes in a Subaru passing a big black evil looking assault rifle back and forth. Please send someone quick as I'm triggered"
"Thank you ma'am, we are sending SWAT there now"

Turners.... Case in point. That's why I go to FFLs that know what they are doing and don't have weird policies or tell you to do something odd.

But I kind of see where the Turner's guy was coming from since the situation was so spontaneous. Usually, the terms of a deal are discussed and agreed to before meeting up for the transfer. However, I still think it was silly for them to tell the two parties to go look at the gun outside.

 

[2muchsoysauce4allthisrice]

There is NO WAY I'm inspecting a firearm in someone's car parked outside of the FFL or Gun Store.

What if it’s a big van, and he offers free candy and ammo as treats?

 

[81W-Sig]

So most cases you meet in the parking lot before and you look it over and check the action. It’s not like you can shoot it or anything. You should ask the questions your wondering prior to the meet up and then verify in person.

Thats not safe.

1.Meet inside FFL
2.Inspect gun
3.Start DROS
4. Exchange money (some ffls ask to do this outside of the store)
5. Complete DROS by signing

Donate or Upgrade your account on CAguns if you found it here.

 

[BobGBA]

If someone sees you with a firearm in parking lot, it wouldn't surprise me if 911 gets a call of "there's a guy in the parking lot brandishing a weapon."
Even if it's just a report of a man with a gun, the rest of your day may not be a lot of fun.

Or are you betting on the fact that the person making the 911 call will give up before they actually get to speak to someone?

 

[ikeo1]

Thats not safe.

1.Meet inside FFL
2.Inspect gun
3.Start DROS
4. Exchange money (some ffls ask to do this outside of the store)
5. Complete DROS by signing

You are just missing one step...

Donate or Upgrade your account on CAguns if you found it here...

 

[ascarydrawing]

I want to thank everybody personally for the advice. Meet up with seller was stellar at local FFL for Glock. Looked it over following advice given here and then exchanged money and signed paperwork.

In and out in 25 minutes. Was a great experience. There was no rush or haste.

All advice given here was read and accounted for.

Thanks you community!

 

[ascarydrawing]

You are just missing one step...

Donate or Upgrade your account on CAguns if you found it here...

Will do!

 

[HarleyLowRiderST]

What if it’s a big van, and he offers free candy and ammo as treats?

Well that's different . . . I can be convinced for a Baby Ruth or Butterfinger!

 

[tik11]

For PPT:

• Seller presents gun case to FFL
• FFL opens and clears gun
• FFL asks for both Driver’s Licenses and buyer’s other documents.
• Buyer inspects gun
• (I exchange money right here)
• FFL completed paperwork for both parties
• Paperwork complete and both parties leave.

This seems like a good common sense approach.

 

[Miyoko’sButter]

Not sure if someone else said it already but…

Inside FFL

Take out magazine

Rack it (empty, my goodness)

Stick pen in hole

Point up

Pull trigger

If pen flies out you’re good.

I’ve only used this method on striker fired pistols. Purchased bolts and semi rifles on faith I guess lol