Takeaways:
- Alabama’s preemption law means Montgomery gun sellers should concern themselves mainly with state laws.
- You can sell guns in Montgomery without a federal license.
- Private sellers’ buyers don’t have to undergo a background check.
- Cash for Arms is one of the most popular gun buyers in Mobile thanks to its easy process and high sale prices.
Gun Sale Laws in Montgomery, AL
Legal Private Gun Sales
Private gun sales are carried out by sellers who aren’t licensed dealers. They’re legal in Montgomery.
The only people who need to become licensed dealers (otherwise known as Federal Firearms Licensees or FFLs) are those who:
- Sell guns in significant volumes
- Sell guns often enough for it to be described as “regular”
- Buy guns specifically for the purpose of reselling them soon after
Background Checks
The state's law doesn’t demand background checks for gun sales. This means private sellers can sell to someone without running a background check on him first.
It’s a different story for FFLs, who need to follow federal law. Background checks are mandated on all gun sales by FFLs.
Firearm Registration
Guns being sold in Montgomery don’t need to be registered. Alabama lacks a gun registry, so registration wouldn’t be feasible even if you wanted to do it.
Minimum Age
It’s not legal to sell a gun to anyone under 18 in Montgomery if you’re a private seller. The exceptions for this are rare, e.g. National Guard members.
(Take note that the buyer age requirements change when dealing with FFLs. They follow federal law, which requires buyers to be at least 18 for long guns and 21 for handguns.)
Waiting Periods
Montgomery has no law mandating waiting periods on gun sales.
Gun Sale Purchase Limits
Sellers can sell multiple guns to one person in Montgomery. There are no limits for bulk purchases per person.
Prohibited Buyers
If a person can be described by one of these, he can’t buy guns in this city:
- Is a foreign national without official authorization to live in the US
- Is currently being indicted of a felony
- Has been convicted of a felony
- Has been convicted of some domestic violence misdemeanors
- Has been convicted of violent crimes or their attempt
- Is evading punishment for a crime by fleeing or hiding from law enforcement
- Has been officially adjudged mentally unsound
- Is addicted to or using controlled substances illegally
- Is habitually drugged or intoxicated
- Has renounced US citizenship
- Has certain domestic abuse protection or restraining orders against him
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Roll Tide and Grab Some Dough for That Gun!
Lookin’ to swap your old stuff for some green in the Capital of Dreams? Holler at Cash for Arms. We’ll rustle up a quote for you faster than you might think possible!
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Ways to Sell a Gun in Montgomery
1: Sell the Gun to Cash for Arms
Selling to Cash for Arms is advised for those who want great pricing, no hassle, legal safety, and a speedy process. As FFLs, we’ve established a reputation for those things with sellers all over the US.
We pay for the shipping, walk sellers through the process, and give updates at every turn. You can even reach out to us now if you want to learn more!
Steps
- Send the gun’s details to us online so we can send an offer.
- Take our offer and ship the gun our way with our prepaid shipping instructions.
- Get paid as soon as we verify the gun is the correct one.
2: Sell the Gun to Private Buyers
You can sell a gun in Montgomery to other residents of the city or the state. Try selling it to someone from out-of-state, though, and an FFL needs to take over. So, we’ll only talk about selling to locals here.
Private sales are often good if you can wait for a sale and want more control over the gun’s price. It may not be good if you hate lengthy negotiation, putting in work to find buyers, and the risk of meeting strangers.
Steps
- Find your gun's current market price or ask us to appraise it for free.
- Create a listing for your gun with its details, photos, and the price you want to sell it for (but prepare for haggling).
- Put this listing in places like the Alabama Gun Forum, bulletin boards at local shooting clubs, etc.
- Screen your offers to make sure buyers are legally allowed guns and local.
- Pick a buyer and meet him at a safe place for the sale, like a gun store or gun club.
3: Sell the Gun to Montgomery Gun Stores
Selling a gun to local gun shops is good if you want payment on the spot. You also get legal safety, expertise in appraisal, and in-person interaction.
What you don’t get are high sale prices, or not in most cases. It also takes time and work to bring the gun to more than one gun store to compare offers.
Steps
- Get your gun ready for the stores by unloading and cleaning it.
- Call the gun shops nearest you and ask if they’d like to see or buy your gun.
- Bring the gun to the interested stores to get an offer.
- Collect as many offers as you can, then compare them to find the best one and sell to that shop.
4: Sell the Gun to Montgomery Pawn Shops
People considering selling to local gun shops often consider selling to these too. They provide similar benefits, from up-front payment to in-person deals.
A caveat worth noting: they often pay less than even gun stores. So, we don’t recommend selling to pawnbrokers if you’re concerned about profit.
If you’ve already decided to sell to a pawn shop, just follow our instructions for selling to a gun store. As long as you replace the “gun store” with “pawn shop,” the steps will still apply.
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Cash in on Castoff Guns in Montgomery
Fixin’ to turn your guns into foldin’ money in the Gump? Shoot us a message and we’ll cook up a quote for you so you can start fattening up that wallet!
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An Excellent Choice for a Seller's Score
While we gave you a good number of choices for buyers, consider what you want when choosing which one to offer. It’ll save you a lot of trouble.
If you want a high-reward, low-risk, and super-low-effort sales option, for example, why not just sell to us?
At Cash for Arms, we’re all about easing the path for sellers. Check out what your fellow Montgomery resident, John Carlsen, had to say about us:
“The transaction was flawless and everything transpired quicker than their estimated timeline. It's nice to see a company really under promise and over deliver!”
We can give you the same experience. Interested? You can reach us online or call us directly at (904) 977-5477.