doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Restocker who doesn't have FFL; is this legal?

Unless a serial numbered component is involved, nothing matters.
far as I know (from 28 years in the biz) if i get sent a gun to work on I have to log it if it stays overnight. if someone sends anything but a serial numbered component, nothing matters.
for the shipper; no you dont get a copy of my license. hell, my distributors dont give me a copy of theirs.
You cannot ship a serial numbered component interstate to an unlicensed individual. You can ship as an unlicensed individual, to a dealer in your state or another state for repair, refinish. This applies to serial numbered components.

Why, why, why do folks persist in asking these questions, over and over, instead of looking up the CORRECT answers on the ATF site. The section is called, oddly enough, FAQ(Frequently Asked Questions). There you can find the correct answers to all this stuff, minus the "I was always told", "my brother-in-law's 3rd cousin said", "my mamma done tol' me" and all the other garbage that always turns up. Most of what was said here is correct but not all of it. Deja vu, all over again, for the hundredth time.

According to BATF:

Q: May a nonlicensee ship a firearm through the U.S. Postal Service?
A nonlicensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensed resident of another State. A nonlicensee may mail a shotgun or rifle to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. The Postal Service recommends that long guns be sent by registered mail and that no marking of any kind which would indicate the nature of the contents be placed on the outside of any parcel containing firearms. Handguns are not mailable. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun.

[18 U.S.C. 1715, 922(a)(3), 922(a)(5) and 922 (a)(2)(A)]

Q: May a nonlicensee ship a firearm by common or contract carrier?
A nonlicensee may ship a firearm by a common or contract carrier to a resident of his or her own State or to a licensee in any State. A common or contract carrier must be used to ship a handgun. In addition, Federal law requires that the carrier be notified that the shipment contains a firearm and prohibits common or contract carriers from requiring or causing any label to be placed on any package indicating that it contains a firearm.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(2)(A), 922(a) (3), 922(a)(5) and 922(e), 27 CFR 478.31 and 478.30]

And now for my personal spin.

If you send your gun (receiver) out of state to anyone for any reason get a copy of that person's FFL first and check with BATF ez-check that it is current. If they will not send you the FFL piece of paper, or if it is not current, you have no business sending them your gun. Period.

The FFL can return your gun directly back to you.


Do not send a handgun through the U.S. Mail.
Do not send a handgun through the U.S. Mail.
Do not send a handgun through the U.S. Mail.

You must tell the U.S. Mail clerk you are shipping an unloaded long gun. I take a copy of the FFL with me to the Post Office as I have on occasion been asked to show it.

Insure your shipment and with U.S. Mail pay the extra 2.00 for Signature Confirmation. This will enable you to belatedly track the shipment by the Internet.

I like to use Priority Mail.

Shipping a shotgun Priority Mail packed really well with $800 insurance and signature confirmation cost me $26.00

Let me ask a simple question with hopefully a yes or no answer. Can an individual work part time browning or bluing barrels or refinish a stock for customers across state lines without having an FFL if he never is sent a receiver?

I agree bundling refinishing and rechequering with gunsmithing was not well said.Let us say refinisher and rechequerer is asked by someone that wants gun restocked which requires receiver to be held for a period of time.It seems that man doing the work for money is in business and needs a Ffl. Correct? The reason I ask is I dont' want trouble if some one blows the whissle on the man doing the restock work and me. Nitro

Oddly enough I did look there, and my questions were NOT answered...so I resorted to reading the text of the entire law, and I'm still not sure. Every time I find something that seems to be an answer I find something that seems to contradict it or at least leave a very wide open loophole, and the few examples given in the FAQ section are all different situations than I would find myself in--they seem to either apply to sales or to professional gunsmiths...is there no in-between, i.e. the hobbyist who might help out a friend with a broken stock? For instance, it says a nonlicensee may not transfer a gun to another nonlicensee in another state...yet it says they can loan it (with no definition of what "lawful sporting purposes" are, and with no limit to duration), and then there's the "in the business" clause. I, and I suspect others, ask the questions over and over because the information is NOT on that site in a manner that seems at all clear to me. Maybe I'm missing something, which is the reason for my questions. Any lawyers in the house?

Edit: In the meantime, I have called the local ATF office and will post the reply here--the person I spoke with was stumped and said they "hope to get back to me within the week".

Yes. Having no receiver requires no FFL.

Gentleman:

With all of this banter you are leaving out or ignoring the REALLY big brother, the IRS.

You are paying your taxes on all of this "non-gun work" right?

Which has nothing to do with the question.

Not to drive this even further,but;

A) There is NO requiment that you must have the FFL of the person you are sending the gun to,only that they have one.

B) You can not check a 01 FFL (C&R) on the BATF ez check site (you can call them to be sure thou)-only 03's (dealer)

C)You can ship handguns through the USPS but bothe sended and reciver must have a FFL and a seperate form (very easy)

Priority is faster,registered is much safer thou and the only way I ship guns USPS.

D) A unlicensed person may ship a gun to himself in another state (say for hunting),however for all other shipping intrastate the reviever must have a FFL.

and once again,someone who does stockwork who is NOT in the business,does not need a FFL to work on your gun !
Example, I go hunting with "my brother in law" who is NOT in the business (he is in "Waste Management")but is very hand and has put a nice leather covered pad on his Parker DHE.I ask him if he will do it for me and he agrees,I leave the whole gun with him and pick in up when I see him two weeks later.No licence is required on his end,or mine (if I am unlicenced).