Asking this question for a buddy......


Buddy’s father bought a burnt down house. During the demolition they found a revolver in a box buried beneath the debris. His father said he could have it.

What needs to be done to make that happen? Both parties are PA residents so I’m under the assumption the father to son transfer can be done as a private transfer with no ffl needed, but not sure if something needs to be done on the fathers end first.

Any advice is appreciated

I was in my local gun shop a few years ago when a guy brought a couple of guns in that he found doing "clean outs". They were able to do the transfer with his ID. I bought one of the guns and the shop bought the other.

Just my experience.

Technically, OP, you might be correct.  Father to son, no FFL required.  That is under the assumption that the father bought the house and "all of its contents".  However, if your friend carries the gun and is ever pulled over, for any reason, and the officer runs that serial number, a couple things could happen:

- the gun was stolen and your friend can't prove when he took ownership.  at the very least, bye, bye gun.
- although PA has no gun registry, the gun won't appear as being transferred to your friend and for some officers that's enough to "hold" the weapon.  Not saying that's legal and you can't challenge it, but good luck getting it back.

So, if it's really just a range gun, then maybe no big deal.  But it it's to be used as a CCW, then I would transfer it.

When a pistol purchased in PA'a serial is run by PASP does it display who the last person that had that serial transferred to them is, or just display as "not reported stolen"

I have no firsthand knowledge, this is just my understanding: Yes, it will show who the “owner” of the firearm is. It is not a “registry” just a “record of sale database” and therefore incomplete, which is how they have gotten away with keeping it.