With His Father’s Campaign in Chaos, Eric Trump Was Looking to Trade Guns on the Internet
With all this going on, at 1:48 a.m. on Monday, July 11, Eric Trump, 32, was apparently posting a message at Long Range Hunting, a popular hunting website where he has had an account since 2010. The post asked whether anyone was interested in trading guns: “Want to trade my Remington 40X in 22-250. The gun is a lazer (sic) and shoots small little groups using 50gr V-Max bullets and 37.0 gr H-380. Im looking for a new Ruger Precision Rifle, Accuracy International AE MIII Folder (ill add cash) …. ”
The post contained four photos of a Remington rifle — one of them close enough that the serial number of the firearm is clear. The photos may have been taken in a specialized gun room of a 230-acre Trump family estate in Westchester County, New York. (On another gun-enthusiast website, Trump lists his home residence as Mount Kisco, the official address of the estate.) A source with knowledge of the Trump brothers’ firearms collection said they keep most of their rifles there.
What’s missing from Trump’s post is any indication of how the trade or sale would take place. The state of New York has very strict gun laws and requires, with few exceptions, that any trade or sale of firearms take place through a federally licensed firearm dealer. This would require Trump to physically go to a firearms dealer and complete paperwork prior to relinquishing the Remington rifle and filling out an additional form before taking possession of the Ruger Precision Rifle. Background checks would be required for both Trump and the recipient of the Remington. These rules would apply to Trump even if he were trading the rifle with someone in a state with lax gun-safety laws, like Arizona or Texas.