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This XKCD comic strip has the following alt text:

I hear in some places, you need one form of ID to buy a gun, but two to pay for it by check. It's interesting who has what incentives to care about what mistakes.

Is there really any place like that?

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Not really notable: any other examples of this claim? – Sklivvz♦ Nov 1 '11 at 20:36
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XKCD? Not really notable? are you serious? – DavRob60 Nov 1 '11 at 21:49
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it's a punchline, not a claim. XKCD is notable, the claim is not. – Sklivvz♦ Nov 1 '11 at 21:55
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The way I read it, the author of the comic IS claiming this is true, and it will certainly be read by many people. I think it passes notability. – Oddthinking Nov 2 '11 at 2:55
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The thing is that the number of IDs needed to pay with a check is entirely in the gift of the vendor unless and until the state steps in (in the case of Oddthinking's California link to prevent the vender from asking for two). Indeed the fact that a state found that a reasonable thing to do suggests that a non-trivial number of retail outlets do want more than one form of ID for a check. Finding one that also sells guns is left as an exercise. – dmckee Nov 2 '11 at 22:50
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It may be laborious, but the only way to disprove this is to list the 50 states (I assumed this is limited in scope to the USA.) and show that in none of them is it true.

Help me out. Pick one, research and edit.

Of course, during this exercise, we may find that there is a place where it IS true. Either way, question answered.

States marked with a * are full participants in NICS, and require FBI approval for purchases. The official form Firearms Transaction Record Part I Over-the-Counter requires either "valid government-issued photo identification" (such as driver's licences) OR two forms of ID. If cheques require more than that in any of those states, we have a winner.

  • Alabama *
  • Alaska *
  • Arizona *
  • Arkansas *
  • California - No. Can only demand one id for check - via @DVK
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware *
  • Florida
  • Georgia *
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho *
  • Illinois - Requires a Firearm Owner's ID to purchase a firearm, and application for this apparently only requires a single ID (driver's license OR state-issued ID)
  • Indiana *
  • Iowa
  • Kansas * - Appears to have no specific requirements for ID for gun purchase. The only restriction is against selling guns to minors, so presumably a gun store clerk may check an ID to verify age, but there is no requirement to check 2 IDs.
  • Kentucky *
  • Louisiana *
  • Maine *
  • Maryland *
  • Massachusetts - No. Can only demand one id for check
  • Michigan - This might fit the criteria of the claim; additional research necessary
    • Requires at most a single state-issued ID to obtain a firearm license (p. 9 of PDF--28.422(3)(c)), and a firearm license isn't even necessary for certian types of firearms.
    • It is unclear whether a gun store clerk may request the firearm license in addition to another form of ID at time of purchase.
    • Seems to have no law limiting the number of IDs used for check acceptance, only which information can be recorded from the IDs.
  • Minnesota *
  • Mississippi *
  • Missouri *
  • Montana *
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico *
  • New York *
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota *
  • Ohio *
  • Oklahoma *
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island *
  • South Carolina *
  • South Dakota *
  • Tennessee
  • Texas *
  • Utah
  • Vermont *
  • Virginia - No. Two IDs required for gun
  • Washington
  • West Virginia *
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming *
  • Washington DC *
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Other than the CA reference... can anyone even point one in the right direction in terms of where to look? My google-fu is coming up empty handed for MN. Should we be looking in state legislature, some type of business regulation documents, or something else? – Hendy Nov 2 '11 at 3:35
as gun purchase procedures are seemingly identical or close to in most states, you should start looking at the differences between states in the requirements to issue personal checks in payment (and not necessarily for guns), which may differ between locale and even bank and acceptant. Of course those will need to require more different IDs than just the gun purchase, else the IDs needed for that can double to identify the buyer for the purpose of validating the check. – jwenting Nov 2 '11 at 8:01
@jwenting, Yes, for the states with a *, the focus is now on how much id is requested for a check. Some (possibly all? To be seen.) of the states, it seems, have privacy laws that protect people from being asked for too much ID. Asking for one id (e.g. gun license) for the purchase and another (e.g. driver's license) for the check counts, I think, as one each. – Oddthinking Nov 2 '11 at 8:06
yes, but then you'd have to find as well that law in those states requires that an ID used for one purpose in a transaction can not be also used for another purpose in the same transaction (iow it must be illegal to use the ID presented for the gun registration form for the purpose of validating the check, I highly doubt such laws are on the book anywhere). – jwenting Nov 2 '11 at 8:16
In researching, it is apparant that many states require a state-issued firearm permit/license of some sort. In such states, purchasing a firearm likely only requires showing said permit, regardless of whether additional forms of ID were required to obtain the permit. This may render the original claim technically true, but also rather misleading. – Flimzy Nov 2 '11 at 8:56
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