FFL

[adams77331]

Would anyone like to give me sound advice on applying for a FFL?

My reasons are as follows:

1. Purchasing weapos wholesale for myself
2. Providing my Guard unit with new weapons at cost
3. Accurizing military weapons
4. Specialty weapon finishes

I am looking at a low volume, out of my home, business.

I love firearms, work at the CATM unit at my base, and want to have the freedom to purchase and transfer arms.

Thanks in advance for your wisdom and experience.

BTW, I live in a small Texas county and have rediculously limited resources for firearms.

[hetfield]

First thing is to check w/ zoning in your county. If you have no zoning issues, then getting an FFL isn't too difficult.

[C4IGrant]

First thing is to check w/ zoning in your county. If you have no zoning issues, then getting an FFL isn't too difficult.

This is very good advice.

Check your local zoning laws before doing anything else!

One of the things that you will find is that your really not going to be saving yourself and friends much money as there is only about 10% profit in guns. You will also run into a hard time getting some guns as a lot of whole sale companies only sell to folks with storefronts.


Good Luck!


C4

[300magnum]

I would have to agree with Grant, I had an FFL for about 5 years. It was used to make a little extra money but was really more trouble than it was worth.

When the Clinton Admin. came along...well that just changed things.

[olds442tyguy]

Wholesale is all about supply. If you want good prices, you are probably going to have to buy in bulk. That will be rather hard as most higher profit (IE; cheaper) wholesalers require 5 figure initial purchase buy ins. I base that off my ecperience in automotive parts too, so firearms will probably be a bit more.

You could find a little distributor, but after all of the tax and legal BS, you'll probably end up spending more money just to get a 0-10% discount.

[adams77331]

I assume a FFL is required to receive guns in the mail for gunsmithing purposes, unless I want to pay another FFL holder a fee to receive them? Is a FFL required for a gunsmith in general? I was looking into the AGI program.

[xringshooter]

Adams,

I have an FFL (and have had for 21 years). Here are some things to think about.

1. The BATFE WILL NOT issue a FFL if your purpose is to buy firearms for yourself wholesale.

2. The BATFE wants you to have a store front business and they will stress this, however, if your community ordinances will authorize a home based business, they will defer to the community's ok. I run a gunsmithing business out of my home, I am licensed by the township (I'm in PA) and the state. You will have to prove to the BATFE that you are allowed to operate a business from your home.

3. A gunsmith must have a FFL, due to the work that is required. A gunsmith must keep all the same books as a firearms retailer, plus some (logging in firearms for repair, disposition of unrepairable firearms, etc.). Also be aware that if you are selling a lot of firearms and doing little gunsmithing they may question why you are classifying yourself as a gunsmith (gunsmiths do not have to show regular store hours on the FFL application like a firearms dealer does.)

4. Business firearms must be marked and kept separate from personal firearms.

5. Don't forget about business taxes, business insurance (your homeowners typically will not cover a business in your home. Also, how are you going to set up your business, Corp., LLC, Sole Proprietorship? This has a big impact on liability issues.

6. Just selling firearms will not net you a lot of money unless you sell many. many, many. Most gun stores make their money on the accessories, ammo, etc. that they sell. If your not worried about making money then both the BATFE and IRS will ask why you are in business (you must show a profit 3 out of every 5 years). DO NOT answer "to be able to buy guns for myself cheaply"

7. Shipping/receiving firearms. With an FFL you can do the following:
a. Ship any firearm (handgun, rifle, shotgun)using the USPS, or any commercial carrier (UPS, FedEx, DHL, a trucking co., etc) to any other FFL in the US.
b. Ship a long arm (rifle or shotgun) back to an individual after repairing said firearm using USPS or commercial carrier.
c. Ship a handgun after repair to the FFL of the handgun owners choice (cannot ship a handgun interstate to an individual, must go through an FFL). I am not sure of intrastate shipping of handguns in Texas.
d. Receive a firearm from any FFL or individual.

These are some of things that you have to consider. Do not forget about any state laws you must follow.

With all that said, good luck. I don't make a lot of money and basically I turned a hobby into a business (I do this part time, I have a full time "other " job). But I like working on firearms so I did what was required to get everything going.

Hopefully this will help.

[TOrrock]

Excellent post xringshooter, welcome to the forum!

I was in the retail end of the firearms business for 18 years, I got out of it two years ago...best thing I ever did.

[DRich]

c. Ship a handgun after repair to the FFL of the handgun owners choice (cannot ship a handgun interstate to an individual, must go through an FFL).

I'm not sure this is correct. I've shipped over a dozen to various gunsmiths around the country (Yost, Tripp, Rogers, Novak, etc) and all of them were able to ship it directly back to my home. No FFL was required on my end. In fact, I just received a revolver from S&W yesterday that I had sent in for some custom work.

An FFL transfer is required when buying a new/used handgun from an out-of-state seller, but not when receiving a handgun that you shipped to a gunsmith for repair...unless you receive a new frame/serial number, of course.

[xringshooter]

DRich,

You are correct, I was thinking along the lines of sending it back through USPS. I reread the section and it does state that if sending a firearm back to the original owner after repair it does not have to go through an FFL, but you can't ship a handgun to an individual using USPS as per their regs. I stated going through USPS because I have found that in many instances that it is the cheapest way to ship a handgun (even after adding insurance and any other stuff you want to add), using the one price priority mail package. If you want it to get there quickly, then UPS or FedEx (handguns must go overnight per their regs). I don't do much long distance handgun repair, I mainly do refurbishment of old long arms. I'm working on a 105 yr old SxS shotgun right now.