Legal Question in Business Law in California

I want to set up a community news and discussion website for the rural California town I live in and it will offer free classifieds. I am wondering if I can allow the sale of guns? CL and eBay do not allow this. I am aware that buying and selling guns is Federally regulated and that there is a process to transfer ownership. There are several gun classified websites out there that have legal disclaimers and provide information about the transfer, etc. I would do the same.

Are there problems going down this road - allowing the listings? I won't charge for listings. There are a few gun shops in the vicinity. I may be able to get 1, possibly 2 of them to pay 25/50 a year to be listed. I don't expect there to be many ads but guns are common in our rural farming and ranching area.

What kind of attorney would be best to write, look over and or amend the websites TOU or whatever we would need to do? A Google search turns up


Asked on 11/02/11, 6:23 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Your Zip Code is not for a rural town. There may be a lot of guns in 90011, but not many farms and ranches.

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Answered on 11/02/11, 7:02 pm
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

Listing guns for sale is not a problem. Complying with the registration requirements for handguns is the problem for buyers and sellers.

There are a lot of rules governing this in California. Once of the main rules is that unless you are a licensed gun dealer, you may only transfer guns infrequently. Infrequent means less than six handgun transactions in a calendar year. Rifles and shotguns can only be transferred occaionally and without regularity.

The second rule that is important is that the services of alicensed gun dealer are required to complete a gun transfer.

There are also rules governing who may purchase or receive guns. Convicted felons may not, and some misdemeanor charges also carry a partial ban. In addition, many people who are a restrained person under a restraining order may not possess or receive guns.

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Answered on 11/03/11, 5:03 pm


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