Anybody got their FFL for home business?

B

black_hog_down

New member
I am thinking about getting my FFL to start a small hobby where I buy used guns, clean them up, and then sell them for a little profit.
Anybody got their FFL for similar endeavors?
Easy to get? Pitfall? Gotchas?
Thanks.
 
Pitfalls??
You must have all local, state permits and zoning etc for a FFL

You have to maintained the required bound book(s)

You can be inspected during your posted hours.

Depends on your actvities you may have to pay ITAR and it must be a business.

Easy to get ? Sure pay your money and summit the required paperwork.
 
It is according to what you mean by "clean them up". The BATFE might consider some of that that gunsmithing, (by what you intend to do), which leads to worse, the new rules coming from the State Department about the ITAR, (mounting new sights or scopes by drilling and tapping holes, or any machine work). If it is just standard cleaning and oiling, you would only be considered a dealer or dealer/limited gunsmith-armorer I would think. There is a mess going on right now, over a new executive order about the ITAR.
 
We have a bunch of older retired people doing the online ordering for people also the back round checks .

I live in the country 5 miles to a small town we have 8 or 9 people in a 10 mile area with just the FFL no real shop . They do a bunch of transfers zero sales .

Transfers cost between 10 to 20 bucks and most are evening hours only .
The closest one is about a mile and he dose about 12 or more a week mostly from Buds Guns . He dose the transfer for $10 .
 
Zoning, zoning, zoning.

Depends on whether you're selling online with transfers to FFL's- or selling from your home and doing transfers as you mentioned with others.

Are you zoned commercial, or otherwise permitted for this business activity (having the public regularly access your home)?

The IOI that will receive your paperwork and conduct your inspection will verify with the local authority that whatever your business model, it is permissible.
 
"They do a bunch of transfers zero sales."

That is not the way BATFE sees it. As far as they are concerned, that licensee is selling the guns. BATFE doesn't care where they get the gun (as long as it is legal), once a licensee has it and sells it he becomes the seller.

Jim
 
Thanks guys. Zoning will be a problem for me. Glad I asked.
What about the smithing thing? It makes a difference if I am repairing them?
 
"...Zoning will be a problem..." Local ordinances are usually the best and easiest place to start when contemplating a business. Usually the most grief if they're bent/broken too.
The ATF not insisting on a 'store front' these days?
 
ATF has never insisted on a store front.
You simply have to follow local ordinances. If a home business is legal, they will issue the FFL.
 
once a licensee has it and sells it he becomes the seller.

The FFL does not buy the firearm nor sell it his name is not on it .
Until he does the transfer to the owner and he collect no tax so no . One word makes all the Difference that word is SELLS
 
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I held a FFL and ran a home based business for 28 years. In 2009, BATFE hounded and intimidated me out of business. A local couple went into business in the area but were forced to rent a store front in town and weren't able to make enough profit to continue business.
Just my 2 cents: the cost of building and maintaining a diverse inventory is daunting unless you recently won the 9 figure lottery. With the mania that may follow the next election, you may not even be able to HAVE an inventory. The folks who went into business in my wake were so desperate they were trying to buy ammo from ME to resell(I wasn't parting with anything until I knew I could replace it BTW).
 
What about the smithing thing? It makes a difference if I am repairing them?
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if memory serves me, if you are going to "gun smith" you should have a FFL-01. Zoning comes into play again.
The huge monkey wrench is liability if you should do something to a firearm that results in personal injury or damage to the firearm.
 
Hey guys, I would like to perhaps bring some clairity to the new ITAR regulations. My wife works for a large Defense Contractor and is in the International Export Compliance Dept. there and she is very familiar with the ITAR and ATF regulations. She and I discussed this the other night and she explained it to me a little better than I was able to understand via the internet.

The Article linked just below from "The Truth About Guns" speaks to the fact that this new ITAR regulation about gunsmiths having to register is a new thing. In all actuality, this regulation was set to roll out prior to the Sandy Hook Shooting and because of that shooting it was postponed. The Article says:
"The AECA/ITAR require anybody who engages in the business of “manufacturing” a defense article to register with DDTC and pay a registration fee that for new applicants is currently $2,250 per year. These requirements apply, even if the business does not, and does not intend to, export any defense article."
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What it doesn't say is that this only applies to Gunsmiths that are going to export internationally their product.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/20...executive-order-may-drive-gunsmiths-business/

This is the link to the actual "Applicability of the ITAR Registration Requirement to Firearms Manufacturers and Gunsmiths". Please read over it carefully and you will see that this new regulation doesn't affect the majority of gun smiths and virtually none of the mom and pop gunsmiths.

http://pmddtc.state.gov/compliance/...ement to Firearms Manufacturers (Publish).pdf
 
I look at it the same way I look at finding tax advice, everyone has a different opinion, ESPECIALLY those in charge who should know exactly what the truth is.

Bottom line, if hillary gets elected, very few if any people will be selling their arms and retail prices on all related products will go higher than we could ever imagine.

Where are you located now, it would be helpful for us to know? Anyway, check local laws and regs and go from there.
 
nomad636, What it means is, that by Obama's order, they redefined what the word manufacturer means, even though they don't have the word listed under their definitions, so that they can claim that it means anything they want. They are saying that if one even drills and taps a hole, to mount a scope or a sight, that you are then considered a manufacturer. Thus, they are requiring most gunsmiths to register as a manufacturer. The ones that wont be are armorers, those who only replace parts, and do nothing considered machining. Most gunsmiths do accurizing, which will also be considered manufacturing, because it upgrades the ability of a guns capabilities in accuracy.

DDTC has found that many traditional gunsmithing activities do not constitute manufacturing for ITAR purposes and, therefore, do not require registration under the ITAR, particularly where such activities do not require cutting, drilling, or machining and do not improve the accuracy, caliber, or operation of the ITAR-controlled firearm beyond its original capabilities.
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The above is the DDTC redefining and stretching the definition of manufacturing until it breaks, because it was not defined in the law. According to another gunsmith, congress is working to get rid of this errant nonsense already. It is purposely being aimed at small gunsmiths/dealers that do more work than a basic armorer. Gunsmithing and being an armorer are two totally different things, as gunsmiths have always accurized guns, made alterations, performed machining, etc. It is a basic function of the trade.
 
^^
And now, so is a simple, old-school stockmaker that carves a wood blank a "manufacturer" under DDTC.

Absurd.
 
tobnpr, you are spot on. Any part that must be made, even a spring or a pin, would fall under their definition of manufacturing a gun part. Under the definition, one would only be allowed to replace those parts with pre-made parts from a manufacturer, thus they are staying away from armorers. Of course they will stay away from them, because local law enforcement agencies hire them, and they would have to purchase a license if not for that. I'm sure they would love to stretch the definition even farther if they could, if not for that.

Since they purposely single out stock making, because machining is required, that will also single out bedding, because inletting of the wood is required, and it also makes the gun more accurate. To get out of the license requirement, one is reduced from a gunsmith to an armorer.

What is needed, is for congress to add the definition of a manufacturer to the law, via a bill. That definition would need to state that the word, manufacturer, within this law, is defined as a business who builds complete, and operating firearm(s) from raw materials, and that any other work, machining, or repair operation of firearms is to be considered non-manufacturing. That would equal the BATFE definition.
 
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