Obtaining an FFL

A person could make a nice amount of money on the side,,,

A person could make a nice amount of money on the side,,,
Just by doing transfers from on-line dealers,,,
And shipping of guns to warranty centers.

The Evil Pawn Shop Guy will ship a gun through the USPS,,,
And charges me a heck of a lot less than UPS or Fed-Ex priority.

You would have to be in a large enough city to get a practical customer base,,,
And then promote-advertise the heck out of your service,,,
But it could generate a nice side income.

I've considered doing this when I retire,,,
It really depends on where I live then.

Aarond

.
 
A whole separate consideration is whether or not suppliers will provide to you if you sell from a home based business. We're an 07/02 FFL, and most of our business is NFA items with suppressors being the majority of our sales. We operate from a shop and not a home, but we do not have a retail store front. As a result many suppliers including one large local supplier will not sell to us for resale, and we're limited then to what we can order from those who will supply us directly.

Point is that BATFE aside, we're limited by how other businesses are willing to work with a non-retail store based business as well. So we'd have to invest into a better retail front to access those suppliers, which would mean for us relocating to an area which would actually facilitate better retail sales, which would mean in turn we'd have to raise our costs considerably to make ends meet and maintain our same profit margin. So for us right now NFA sales are a better bet and transfer sales are little more than a way to build our customer base.
 
That leads me to think he's looking at guns for himself, but, would like to be able to deal direct with the sellers as a FFL holder.

"Kitchen table" is just the expression used to describe that type of action - just as "brick and morter" was/is a term to describe a store - whether it's made of brick and morter or glass and stone or wood.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. I thought you concurred above with Pfleuger that "kitchen table" was to describe a home based business... which is how I've heard the term used.

I see now you were concurring with the latter definition.
 
aarondhgraham said:
But it could generate a nice side income.
Click to expand...

If you charges $25/transfer, I suspect you'd be looking at 100 transfers a year just to cover advertising expenses and that's if you do CHEAP advertising, like a 2" square ad in your local "Penny Saver" type paper.

There's a good chance that your home owners policy wouldn't cover your business inventory. That's another 25-50 transfers a year, at least.

You need 3 a year just to cover the FFL fees for the first 6 years. ($200 first 3, $90 second 3).

I suspect you'd be looking at at least $2-300 in fees just to form your business, that's if you hunt down all the requirements yourself. That's 10-15 transfers to cover those costs and many (if not most) states will have annual expenses to renew licenses.

You're looking at 175 transfers a year, for the first couple years at least, just to cover expenses. You might be able to cut back your advertising after that and reduce costs.
 
Another question. When I buy a gun from my dealer, or go to him to pick up a internet purchased gun, he calls in my info on the phone, talks to a human at the other end, and gets an instant check on me to see if I can get the gun.

Does the dealer pay for that service or is it free? This is Texas. No waiting period if you pass the instant check.
 
Hal .......What you're proposing is the "kitchen table" dealer that the BATFE pretty much eliminated between 1993 - 2007.
In '93 there were 250,000 FFL's. By 2007, that mumber had dropped to 50,000.....
Click to expand...
Those numbers are misleading.
To say that 'ol evil ATF "eliminated" 200,000 dealers is flat wrong......the great majority of those dealers eliminated themselves. While ATF has plenty to be ashamed of, the reduction in FFL's was due more to VOLUNTARY action by those licensees and not revocation proceedings by ATF.

When notified by ATF that license renewals would require the licensee to be legal under state,city,county laws ans well as local zoning requirements many chose to not renew their FFL.

You can't blame ATF for this..........those licensees were either not operating legally as a business or chose to not obtain sales tax permits, business licenses or have their premises in a location zoned for home business.

When you complete an application for a Federal Fireams License you certify under penalty of law that you comply with State and local law applicable to the conduct of business......that includes zoning, paying sales tax and obtaining any business licenses or permits.

I would bet that many of those former dealers are thankful they were not prosecuted for lying on their FFL application.:rolleyes:



Brian Pfleuger ....You need proper storage (literally a locking gun cabinet is compliant)
Click to expand...
There is no ATF requirement to even have a lock on your front door, much less a safe or locking cabinet. There IS a "safe storage" requirement.....but it has to do with providing gun locks or other safe storage devices to customers when a gun is sold.


twobit Another question. When I buy a gun from my dealer, or go to him to pick up a internet purchased gun, he calls in my info on the phone, talks to a human at the other end, and gets an instant check on me to see if I can get the gun.

Does the dealer pay for that service or is it free? This is Texas. No waiting period if you pass the instant check.
Click to expand...
Texas uses FBI NICS which is a toll free call and costs nothing.
 
Those numbers are misleading.
To say that 'ol evil ATF "eliminated" 200,000 dealers is flat wrong
Click to expand...
I'm not "blaming" BATFE for anything & those numbers are correct.
Yes - you're also correct (IMHO) that most of the drop in numbers was voluntary - for whatever reason.

IMHO - it was simply a way ATF could reduce overhead on F so more resources could be allocated to A and T.
Eliminating 200,000 sites they no longer had to visit or "watch over" was a good way to accomplish that.
 
Last edited:
Hal .....IMHO - it was simply a way ATF could reduce overhead on F so more resources could be allocated to A and T.
Click to expand...
As my ATF IOI said "if there weren't dealers to inspect I wouldn't have a job".

I see ZERO evidence of an ATF plot to reduce the numbers of licensees to devote more resources to alcohol & tobacco.

If you meet the requirements on the application and can operate your business legally from your proposed premises....ATF is REQUIRED to issue the FFL. Doesn't sound like much of a plot or political subterfuge does it?:rolleyes:
 
I see ZERO evidence of an ATF plot to reduce the numbers of licensees to devote more resources to alcohol & tobacco.
Click to expand...
You reading far too much into this & why, I have no idea..

I never mentioned a plot or any other sinister motives.

You seem to be the one pushing some kind of plot agenda....not me...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top