FFL Application

R

Racegun

New member
We will be applying for an FFL due to the nature of my husband's part time business as gunsmith which he wants to expand when he retires in a few short years. His plan is to build a home based machine shop ( he is a master class machinist by trade in spite of his "real" job with an international company ) and fix, play with and just enjoy beautiful firearms. We are even looking into local cop shops who could use his services for their armorer needs.

As this will be strictly a repair outfit and not a retail outlet we will not have a "store" as such. What advice can you give to us as we go about the application process?

Genie
www.knifeforums.com
www.mothersarms.org
 
From what I understand, you have almost no chance of obtaining an FFL these days without a store front. I was contemplating doing something similar (was gonna work gun shows on the weekends without opening a shop), and was told by a buddy of mine in the business that no store equals no license.
 
Maybe the fact that we are planning to build a shop in the backyard where the barn is now will make the difference. Wouldn't a 30x40ft building constitute a store? We live on county land so building whatever is no problem, we have lots of space/acreage and will need such a building for the lathe, milling machine, bead blaster and all his other toys. Another thing, the chief LEO has to sign off on the FFL which in our case is the sheriff who just happens to be my employer.

Genie
 
The approval of the facilities that are to be used is based largely on the individual agent that comes to inspect the site. In the old days they did not even bother sending an agent to look if over. Now they do. Talk to him/her, b/s with them and you should have no problem, especially since you plan to put it in a seperate building.

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Gunslinger
 
DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, merely the private opinion of one person who happens to have an MBA.

Step one: get a lawyer who understands small business matters. Step two: get an accountant ditto. Sometimes these can be the same person.

Incorporate the business, perhaps as an S-Corporation, and get the FFL in the company's name, not yours. It will cost a bit up front, and you will have to get the business insured, but it will build a legal wall between the business and your personal assets. If the business gets into debt, or is sued for anything, you won't lose your personal property (like your house).

You might even consider subdividing off that piece of land where you're building the shop, and selling or leasing it to the corporation. Another way to avoid mingling business and personal assets.

Be meticulous in your bookkeeping. Being able to pass an annual audit will help you keep that FFL once you get it.

Make sure you have enough cash reserve to operate the business for 12 months without makig a nickel on trade. Cash flow kills a lot of small businesses in the first 12 months.

This professional approach may also help convince the FFL people that you're serious and have thought it through, not just somebody with a shed and a box of old gun parts. I'm sure they get a few wide-eyed applicants who only want an FFL as a hobby enabler.
 
You can still get an FFL without a store front, BUT you must now be in full compliance with local zoning restrictions and have an area open to the public. Gunsmiths, holstermakers, consultants, and gun writers have special needs that require an FFL and the govt accomodates those needs.
 
Scott: Of course, there's absolutely no LEGITIMATE reason that somebody who passes the check SHOULDN'T be able to get an FFL as a "hobby enabler"; The idea that you should have to get a license at all to deal in a constitutionally protected item is what's mad!

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Sic semper tyrannis!
 
That is the purpose of the FFL, for strictly smithing and repair. Where we live there are no restrictions because we are in the county outside of city lines. In Texas you have very few if any restrictions on county land. We are on a dead end road so there is very little traffic and several LEO types live near. It is a small town, quiet and very independent.
 
That is the purpose of the FFL, for strictly smithing and repair. Where we live there are no restrictions because we are in the county outside of city lines. In Texas you have very few if any restrictions on county land. We are on a dead end road so there is very little traffic and several LEO types live near. It is a small town, quiet and very independent.
 
As i understand it, the Batmen can inspect your 'business' at any time, so if your 'business' is your house, i guess that means the Batmen can invite themselves over for tea and cookies whenever they want.



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~USP

"[Even if there would be] few tears shed if and when the Second Amendment is held to guarantee nothing more than the state National Guard, this would simply show that the Founders were right when they feared that some future generation might wish to abandon liberties that they considered essential, and so sought to protect those liberties in a Bill of Rights. We may tolerate the abridgement of property rights and the elimination of a right to bear arms; but we should not pretend that these are not reductions of rights." -- Justice Scalia 1998
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brett Bellmore:
Scott: Of course, there's absolutely no LEGITIMATE reason that somebody who passes the check SHOULDN'T be able to get an FFL as a "hobby enabler"; The idea that you should have to get a license at all to deal in a constitutionally protected item is what's mad![/quote]

That's the difference between what is and what should be. While we're all working toward what should be, Racegun still has to deal with what is.
 
A guy I know lives in Travis county, outside Austin, and is in your situation. The FFL is at his house, few land use restrictions and no zoning. His shop is part of his house, but he has a separate outside entrance and no way to enter main part of the house from the shop. ATF is fine with his set up and the audits are localized to the shop area.
 
That is exactly the plan, a separate building/shop from the house, no entrance to the house directly from the shop. Now all we have to do is go very deep in debt for the building and the machines. Luckily there will always be work for a master class machinist even jobs that do not include guns!
 
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