Export Of Lugers
 

After reading a post by Murray about seven artillery Lugers up for auction in New Zealand, I got to wondering about the problems involved in going the other way. I recently had an opportunity to sell an artillery to an individual in Europe. The deal fell throught the floor. But now I wonder what sort of problems and costs that would be incurred in such a transaction?

One problem, that I could think of, would have been if that individual wanted to return the gun. From the above mentioned discussion, the gun may not be permitted to be returned to me by the BATF since this is a military surplus weapon.

Another problem might be that some government, here or there, may want to apply import/export stampings on the gun. This gun currently has no such markings.

I worried about this at that time and now seems like a good time to bring this issue up. This is especially true since this forum has many members in foreign countries.
Big Norm :confused:

Hello Norm,

One suggestion I can give is to personally deliver the pistol to the buyer in Europe and obtain a US Customs Declaration form at the airport when you leave the US which would allow you to return to the US with the pistol without any additional paperwork if the buyer was dissatisfied with the item. Germany tends to be the easiest country in Europe to import firearms without the need for an import permit as long as the buyer/collector holds a license from the state and he is at the airport to meet you and clear the pistol via German Customs.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Cheers,
Albert

Hi Norm,

In the Netherlands, we work with a network of licensed dealers, who can import and export guns. Private buyers can use their local gunshops to take care of the business, usually at a handling fee.

We can import and/or export ourselves, but that involves a customs permit to export or import a fire arm with a limited timeframe in which to do the transaction.

I will consult one of our local members, who regularly purchases and exports fire arms from the US (although many of those fall into the 'antiques' category).

Here in Norway there is no problem..
We need a permit to buy every gun, in Norway or abroad..
On the permit there is a space for additional information. If we write "for import" here, everything is ok... Nothing else is needed...