If I can add to your post, a caller on talk radio’s John Gibson show yesterday said someone could easily go on the internet and buy guns. Is this true?
Yes, as long as you have the gun delivered to an FFL dealer, who will charge $15-$35 for the service.
Pretty certain that you must have the firearm delivered to a local gun dealer and pick up there. The seller can’t deliver it directly to your home.
If it is a person-to-person transfer, it's not any different than answering an ad in the paper, or buying from a friend/neighbor.
But, if you are shipping across state lines, it must be shipped to an FFL holder, who performs the same steps as a retail sale.
Not really. If you go to any of the major sites, they require an FFL.
If you go to craigslist (assuming they allow gun sales; I don’t know) and arrange a person-to-person purchase, depending on your state there is no FFL required.
Yes, you can go on the Internet and purchase a firearm. If the firearm is in another state you MUST ship it through a FFL dealer where you will go through a background check.
My last gun purchase:
Bid on the gun on Gunbroker (Ebay for guns) and won it.
Called the seller. Told him the name of the establishment (pawn shop) I would be using to transfer the gun (required).
Went to the post office and got a money order and mailed it to the seller.
Called the pawn shop with the sellers fax number and asked them to fax a copy of their FFL to the seller with my name and the name of the gun on it.
Several days passed. Called the seller for confirmation of receipt of payment and the pawn shop’s fax.
Seller shipped the gun to the pawn shop.
Several more days passed. The pawn shop called me to tell me that the gun had arrived.
I went to the pawn shop, where I had to present ID, fill out a form 4473 declaring that I wasn’t a felon and was eligible to receive a firearm. Waited while the pawn shop rep called NICs (National Criminal Instant Check System) and read them the info on the form. Once the check came back with “proceed”, I paid the pawn shop the fee that they charge me to transfer the gun ($15.00) and took possession of the gun.
It is not trivial to buy a gun on the internet.
All of this is the minimum required by law.
>>someone could easily go on the internet and buy guns. Is this true?<<
Yes. Take a look at http://www.armslist.com/classifieds/north-carolina Only buy from or sell to someone who can present identification showing that they are current residents of (in your case) North Carolina. You don’t need to copy any info from their license but make them prove to you that they are current state residents.