I have a buddy who has a NJ FID.  His father has a few old Garand rifles but his father does not have a FID.  Can they just use a COE to do the transfer?  The reason I ask is because the COD form asks for the "Transferor’s Firearms I.D. Card Number"

yes - just put none in that box

You should have a photo copy of the sellers Nj drivers lic as well

attache to your copy of the COE for your records..........

You should have a photo copy of the sellers Nj drivers lic as well

attache to your copy of the COE for your records..........

1) It's not the law to require a DL copy for a long gun transfer

2) It's the guy's FATHER...

It is still highly recommended that you have proper ID for a transfer.

No - it is not the law, but still shows proper identification in case there 

is ever a question of ownership.

I realize it is his father, and it wasn't meant for the son to ID the father.

I make sure the DL and FID match, then have the person fill out the COE. Besides a driver's license number, what info is on the DL that's not on the FID? Seems redundant to me.

Bear in mind that the legal regime under which we transfer long guns was set in place in the 1960s, when they didn't even issue photo driver licenses back then.  A driver license with no picture and just your name and height and eye color and hair color was good enough until the 2000s in NJ.  It was not even until after 9/11 that NJ required photo driver licenses, you had to pay *extra* for that.

 

Moral of the story is don't get bent out of shape over photocopying driver licenses and FIDs.  Satisfy yourself that the person you are dealing with is who he says he is, and that his documents are authentic, and then execute a COE.  You don't need to do anything more than that.