I once shipped a gun directly back to a guy in another State when a swap we were trying to put together didn't work out. He did the same with my gun. We took the position that no transfer was taking place because we were just mutually returning each other's own guns.
Even though we were and still are both lawyers we were never sure whether we were within the terms of the Gun Control Act. I expect that the authorities might have taken the position that since we had both originally shipped to one another through our respective FFL's, both transfers had in fact taken place and that when we returned each other's guns it constituted a "re-transfer" which should have likewise have been done through the FFL's.
My be-labored point is that you'd be better off to always take the conservative position and ship through FFL's. Thankfully, the applicable Statute of Limitations on our transaction has long expired...Geo
