Crossfire wrote:To sum up:
A person over the age of 17 can legally POSSESS a handgun. A person over the age of 21 can legally BUY a handgun from a licensed dealer. So, clearly, there is no law that prevents a 17 year old from having handgun in a vehicle that he or she owns, or is in control of.
One minor technical correction that may not be of too much concern in this specific case.
There is no law that restricts the possession of a firearm by a person of any age. A ten year old may legally possess a fully loaded and functioning firearm. If you put the car in the ten year old's name, he may legally carry it in the car (he would be the owner).
All of the laws on children and firearms make it illegal to give the child the firearm in specific cases. This affects the person giving the child the gun, not the child.
Anyone can sell an unloaded gun to a child of any age if the parent (or guardian) of the child gives written consent. They may give the gun as a gift if the parent gives effective consent (such as saying sure, I bet she would like that pistol).
If anyone gives a loaded gun to a child under 17, they have committed an offense that is a class C or class A misdemeanor, depending on the circumstances. There are a couple exceptions, such as the child is supervised while in a sporting event or the child is unsupervised but engaged in agriculture. Interestingly enough, there is a gray area on what would happen if I leave an unloaded pistol out and someone else leaves the ammo out that fits it.
So, yes, the teenager who is over 17 and under 21 may legally possess the loaded firearm in the car they are driving and no one can get in trouble IF the parents have given effective consent to the transfer of the firearm to the juvenile.