Question about sale to someone living in Texas, but no TX ID

[tms119]

Hey so I have a friend who just moved to Texas. He has not gotten his TX ID yet but does live in a home that's under his name. Can I sell him a handgun or must we wait until he has his Texas drivers license?

[mgood]

Probably easiest to wait on the DL.

But he can show residence by bringing in bills in his name sent to his Texas address. I think dealers typically require two months worth of bills, and two different bills. So last month and this month electric bill and cable bill, for example, in his name, all sent to the same Texas address. I'm not sure if the legal requirements are that strict, but that's what I've observed from dealers.

He can probably have the DL quicker.

[Oldgringo]

Hey so I have a friend who just moved to Texas. He has not gotten his TX ID yet but does live in a home that's under his name. Can I sell him a handgun or must we wait until he has his Texas drivers license?

No.

[mr1337]

Driver's license is not residency. It can be used to prove residency, yes, but it is not residency. You don't need to have a driver's license or a Texas ID card to be a resident. You just need an address where you reside.

So if you, in good faith, believe your friend to be a Texas resident, then you may sell him a handgun.

In TEX. ELEC. CODE ANN. § 11.002, residence is defined as follows:

§ 1.015. Residence
(a) In this code, “residence” means domicile, that is, one's home and fixed place
of habitation to which one intends to return after any temporary absence.
(b) Residence shall be determined in accordance with the common-law rules, as
enunciated by the courts of this state, except as otherwise provided by this code.
(c) A person does not lose the person’s residence by leaving the person's home to
go to another place for temporary purposes only.
(d) A person does not acquire a residence in a place to which the person has come
for temporary purposes only and without the intention of making that place the
person's home.
(e) A person who is an inmate in a penal institution or who is an involuntary
inmate in a hospital or eleemosynary institution does not, while an inmate, acquire
residence at the place where the institution is located.

[C-dub]

I'd have to go with Oldgringo on this one. If your friend could legally purchase and take possession of a handgun from an FFL here in Texas without a Texas ID then the answer would be yes.

[Jumping Frog]

Private individuals making a private sale do not have to meet FFL standards of proof nor do they have to maintain FFL standards of recordkeeping. You guys don't need a government to wrap you around an axle, you are doing fine all by yourself.

A private sale DOES NOT REQUIRE A DRIVER LICENSE or ANY OTHER PROOF OF IDENTITY. Do not overthink this!

What the law actually requires in a private sale is the following relevant excerpt from 18 USC § 922(a)(5):

: . . . .who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in .... the State in which the transferor resides . . .

From the OP description, he knows the guy lives here in a home that he owns. There is no worry here. Sell him the gun!

[tms119]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate all the advice and info.

[mreed911]

Hey so I have a friend who just moved to Texas. He has not gotten his TX ID yet but does live in a home that's under his name. Can I sell him a handgun or must we wait until he has his Texas drivers license?

No.

Wrong. Of course he can. The person has established a residence. That's enough.

[Oldgringo]

Hey so I have a friend who just moved to Texas. He has not gotten his TX ID yet but does live in a home that's under his name. Can I sell him a handgun or must we wait until he has his Texas drivers license?

No.

I don't know what, or if, I was thinking. Of course he can sell it to anyone he wishes UNLESS he is a dealer. If the seller does not know the buyer, a copy of the buyer's DL, Passport, Voter Registration, etc. might/could come in handy at a later date.

[twomillenium]

Hey so I have a friend who just moved to Texas. He has not gotten his TX ID yet but does live in a home that's under his name. Can I sell him a handgun or must we wait until he has his Texas drivers license?

No.

I don't know what, or if, I was thinking. Of course he can sell it to anyone he wishes UNLESS he is a dealer. If the seller does not know the buyer, a copy of the buyer's DL, Passport, Voter Registration, etc. might/could come in handy at a later date.

Been there, done that and have the T-shirt to prove it.