Wisconsin firearm bill of sale

A bill of sale is optional

A written bill of sale is a practical record. It is not a background check, and it does not replace the rules for who may receive a firearm.

Wis. Stat. § 175.35 is the dealer handgun rule. The dealer collects identification, a Department of Justice notification form, and an approval number before transferring a handgun. Section 175.35(2f) says only a firearms dealer may request that search. That form is not a private-party bill of sale.

Wis. Stat. § 175.37 requires a written child-access warning, in block letters, on a retail commercial sale or retail commercial transfer of a firearm. A sale between two private parties is not that retail commercial transfer.

ATF says an unlicensed person does not use ATF Form 4473 to transfer a firearm to another unlicensed person. See ATF’s page, “To whom may an unlicensed person transfer firearms under the GCA?”, which cites 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(5) and § 922(d).

None of those sources says a private Wisconsin sale is void without a bill of sale. The pages reviewed for this guide do not contain a statute that requires one. That is why this page calls the paper optional.

Why people still write one

Months later, someone may ask who had the firearm and when it changed hands. A paper with the date, the serial number, and both names is a plain record of what the two of you said at the meetup. Each person keeps a copy. It does not clear a prohibited buyer, and it does not make an out-of-state handoff legal.

What to include

These lines are a practical layout, not fields a statute lists for private sales.

• The date, and the Wisconsin city and county where you met.
• The seller’s name and city, and the buyer’s name and city.
• A note that the buyer states they are a Wisconsin resident.
• The firearm’s make, model, serial number, and caliber or gauge.
• The price, and whether it was paid in cash or another way you describe.
• A seller statement that the seller does not know, and does not have reasonable cause to believe, that the buyer is prohibited from receiving the firearm. That tracks the federal standard in § 922(d). It is not a Department of Justice approval number.
• Both signatures.

Fill-in example

Copy this onto paper if you want a starting point. It is an example. It is not a state form, and leaving a line blank does not by itself decide whether the sale was legal.

Wisconsin private firearm bill of sale
Example only. Not a required form.

Date:
City and county:

Seller name:
Seller city:

Buyer name:
Buyer city:
Buyer states they are a Wisconsin resident: yes / no

Firearm
Make:
Model:
Serial number:
Caliber or gauge:

Price:
Paid by: cash / other (describe)

Seller statement: I do not know, and I do not have reasonable cause to believe, that the buyer is prohibited from receiving this firearm.

Seller signature:
Buyer signature:

Sources

• How private gun sales work in Wisconsin
• Wis. Stat. § 175.35, Purchase of handguns
• Wis. Stat. § 175.37, Warning whenever transferring a firearm
• Wisconsin Department of Justice
• ATF: transfers by an unlicensed person
• 18 U.S.C. § 922

Wisconsin Gun Trader bans NFA items. Do not use this example to record one.