Highlights:
- Private gun sales are legal in Tucson.
- You generally can’t sell guns to anyone under 18 in the city.
- Arizona doesn’t have a waiting period on gun sales, so Tucson doesn’t either.
- There are no buyer background check requirements for private gun sales here.
- Cash for Arms provides one of the fastest and safest ways to sell guns in Tucson for private sellers.
The Basics of Selling Guns Privately in Tucson
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State Preemption - APPLICABLE
Arizona has state preemption of local gun laws. So, local authorities (like Tucson’s) can’t enact or implement rules about guns beyond what the state legislature provides.
There are exceptions to this, but they’re limited. For gun sellers like you, most of the laws to consider are still the state or Arizona ones.
For a bit of trivia, though, Tucson’s actually seen several preemption cases! If you want to look up some relevant ones for fun, try State ex rel. Brnovich v. City of Tucson (2017) or McMann vs. City of Tucson (2002).
Private Gun Sales - ALLOWED
Private gun sales are allowed in Tucson. That means you can sell guns here even if you’re not an FFL or Federal Firearms Licensee.
Just don’t start selling large numbers of guns or too regularly. Buying guns and selling them soon after also isn’t ideal. That gives the appearance of someone running a gun trading business.
If the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) thinks you’re trading guns as a business, you’ll have no choice but to become an FFL. Federal law mandates it.
Background Checks - NONE
Private gun sales don’t have to get buyer background checks in Tucson. There’s no law requiring it of private sellers in Arizona, even if federal law demands it of FFLs.
Waiting Periods on Gun Sales - NONE
Tucson has no waiting periods on gun sales. Sell a gun to a person and deliver it to him the same day if you like.
Gun Buyer Minimum Age - 18
The minimum age for gun buyers in Tucson is 18 – if they’re buying guns from private sellers like you. The minimum age becomes 18 for long guns and 21 for handguns if buying from FFLs.
Anyway, there are a few exceptions to the at-least-18 rule you have to follow. Generally, they’re for under-18 buyers who tick both of these boxes:
- Members of the Armed Forces or National Guard
- Need the gun for their duties
Gun Sale Record-Keeping - UNNECESSARY
There’s no law requiring private gun sellers to keep records of their sales in Tucson. You can make and keep records for your own peace of mind (like bills of sale), however.
Registration of Guns for Sale - UNNECESSARY
You don’t need to register a gun to sell it in Tucson. Arizona also doesn’t have a gun registry and has laws preventing authorities from requiring one.
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Turn Your Old Desert Treasures into Cash Today!
Don’t just let that dusty old gun lay around collecting more sand than a cactus. Mosey on over to our contact form and let Cash for Arms rustle up the best dang offer you can get!
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The Options for Selling Guns in Tucson
Option 1: Sell Your Gun to Cash for Arms
This is one of your top options if you want to expend as little effort as possible while still getting good money for your gun. Cash for Arms pairs a simple sale process you can do from home with some of the market's best prices.
- Use our website to send us details of the gun with photos.
- Accept the offer we usually send back within an hour.
- Use our prepaid shipping labels to ship the gun to our headquarters.
- Wait for the gun to reach us so we can confirm it matches your description.
- Get your payment from us within 24 hours.
Tip: We pay gun sellers the way they prefer to be paid. This means we always have to wait for them to tell us how they want us to send them their money.
To make sure you get your payment ASAP, tell us your preference in advance. That way, there’s no delay. We can send the payment as soon as the gun is in our hands.
Just choose from these options and let us know which one you like: direct deposit, Zelle transfer, and mailed check.
Option 2: Sell Your Gun to a Local Private Buyer
Private buyers are sometimes willing to pay top dollar compared to businesses because they don’t plan to resell the gun.
But it depends on the individual and they don’t always pay more than FFLs. At Cash for Arms, for example, we often pay more than private buyers do. Plus, we’re easy to contact compared to good private buyers, who can be a trial to find.
- Advertise the gun in a local listing, whether in a local paper, flyer at the local gun clubs, or through friends.
- Wait for offers to come in.
- Exclude all offers except those from fellow Arizonans 18 and above.
- How to check if they’re Arizonans. Ask them if they’ll be able to provide an Arizona-issued ID with their birthdate.
- Why sell only to Arizonans? Because selling guns to residents of other states is more complicated. It even requires having an FFL process the sale for you.
- Exclude offers from anyone on this list of people prohibited guns in Arizona:
- Illegal aliens
- Felony convicts
- People on parole
- Fugitives from justice
- People on home arrest
- People on community supervision
- Adjudicated delinquents for felony crimes
- People serving a term in a correctional/detention facility
- People serving probation for a domestic violence conviction
- People convicted of certain domestic violence misdemeanors
- People found “guilty except insane”
- People found to be a danger to themselves or others
- People illegally using or addicted to controlled substances
- People found incompetent and not found subsequently competent
- People prohibited by a protective order from buying or owning a firearm
- People found persistently, acutely, or gravely disabled under a court order
- Consider the offers from the remaining eligible buyers and choose the best one.
- Haggle on the price and sale terms with your buyer until you reach an agreement.
- Meet your buyer at a safe and public location like a gun store or police station.
- Carry out the sale.
Tip: If you’re not sure how to price your gun, check its market value first. One of the simplest ways to do this for a private sale is to go to GunBroker. Look for past sales of guns like yours and check their prices.
Option 3: Sell Your Gun to a Gun Shop or Pawn Shop
A decent number of gun shops and pawn shops buy used guns in Tucson. You can opt for these if you prefer to sell your gun to a business in an in-person transaction. It’s generally faster and safer than doing a private sale to individuals too.
- Reach out to the gun stores and pawn shops nearby to see which ones may be interested in your gun.
- Prepare your gun for the shops’ appraisal by unloading and cleaning it.
- Drive with the unloaded and clean gun to each shop that expressed interest.
- Take down the offers from the shops but accept nothing until you’ve visited every shop in your list.
- Sell your gun to the shop with the best offer.
Tip: Be warned that while you can try to haggle with gun or pawn shops, they usually won’t budge. Neither pay a lot for guns too compared to the two previous options we gave you for buyers.
However, if you want the best prices among these, it’s usually better to focus on gun stores. They’ll pay slightly more than pawn shops in the majority of cases.
Option 4: Sell at a Gun Show
You can also sell to both gun dealers and private parties at gun shows. The problem with gun shows is that they’re not always available. The Tucson Expo Gun Show is probably your best bet here, as it happens several times in the city each year.
- Bring the unloaded and cleaned gun in a secure container to the gun show.
- Approach both vendors with tables and gun show attendees to ask if they’re interested in your gun.
- Get their best offers and take them down along with their contact details so you can find them again.
- Keep looking for other buyers until you’re satisfied.
- Go back to the buyer with the best offer and sell your gun to him.
Tip: If selling to a private party at the gun show, follow the steps we gave earlier for excluding all but Arizonans and legal buyers. You may also want to create a bill of sale for added protection, although it’s optional.
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Turn Your Tucson Gun into Cash Today!
Want to get started on making money from your gun? Just contact us at Cash for Arms and we’ll provide the best quote we can offer.
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A Trusted Gun Buyer in Tucson, AZ
There you have it! With this guide, selling guns in Tucson should be a piece of cake. We’ve even given you multiple ways of selling the gun, complete with steps.
Of course, those seeking a fast and profitable sale may want to choose Cash for Arms out of those options. The simplicity of our sale process makes us one of the lowest-hassle choices for gun sellers. Plus, we’re happy to provide support with our team at every step.
To get an offer for your gun, contact us now! You can also call us at (904) 977-5477.