Handing Over A Firearm
NRS 202.2547 — a sale or transfer between two unlicensed people goes through a licensed dealer's background check
Through a licensed dealer. An unlicensed person in Nevada may not sell or transfer a firearm to another unlicensed person unless a licensed dealer first conducts a background check on the buyer or transferee. The two appear together, with the firearm, and ask the dealer to run it.
The dealer runs the check as if selling from its own inventory, keeps the same records, and tells both parties the answer. If the buyer is ineligible, the firearm goes back to the seller and may not be sold or transferred to that buyer. The dealer may charge a reasonable fee.
- Transfers between immediate family members: spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, by blood, adoption or step-relation.
- Transfers to an executor, administrator, trustee or personal representative by operation of law on the owner's death.
- Antique firearms, and transfers to or by law enforcement agencies and others acting in the course of their duties.
- A temporary transfer needed to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, lasting only as long as needed.
- A temporary transfer at a shooting range, a competition, a performance, while lawfully hunting or trapping, or in the transferor's presence, with no reason to think the person is prohibited or intends a crime.
| Selling or transferring without the check | Grade |
|---|---|
| Selling or transferring without the checkFirst offense | GradeGross misdemeanor |
| Selling or transferring without the checkSecond or later offense | GradeCategory C felony |
Selling or transferring a firearm to a person known to be prohibited is a separate offense under another section, not reproduced here. Whether a particular handoff falls within an exception is for a court and a licensed Nevada attorney.
Sources for this section (3)
- NRS 202.2547 — Background check required for certain sales or transfers of firearms between unlicensed persons
- NRS 202.2548 — Exceptions to requirement of background check
- NRS 202.2549 — Penalties for violations
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Nevada attorney.