How many of you have an 001 license?....

El Mariachi · Feb 25, 2013

Is it/was it a pita? Or do you/did you find it beneficial, not only your own purchases, but as a $ideline or hobby that you can al$o make $ome buck$ with? I'm asking for a couple of reasons----the first being that my days of making money hand over fist in the residential construction field are never coming back, and my invention that I build and sell worldwide now is never gonna make me rich. I have found that in the last couple years however that I reeeeeeally enjoy firearms ('specially the older ones) and that I also enjoy buying them, playing around with them, sprucing them up, and on very rare occasion----selling them. So I'm thinking that it could be a nice & fun way to generate some extra income. I already have a C & R license which has more than paid for itself, but I think it's time to kick it up a notch and devote some cash to buying low, and selling high. Or something in the middle. Anyways I've been self employed since I was 15 (40+ years) and absolutely love working for myself. And despite the small factoid that I live in Hell-A (and probably can't do this from my home), I think this might just be right up my alley. Even if it allows me to only buy more toys while paying less fees to our lovely little state of Cally-4-Nya.

What say you Folks?.....

AlexanderA · Feb 25, 2013

I take it you mean an 01 FFL.

The biggest hurdle will be to find business premises that satisfy local zoning regulations.

mrvco · Feb 25, 2013

You could call it "Gun$-n-$tuff".

Telekinesis · Feb 25, 2013

Even if it allows me to only buy more toys while paying less fees to our lovely little state of Cally-4-Nya.

Make sure you don't tell that to the ATF during your interview... A FFL is a business license, not a fee to be able to help increase or enhance your collection.

It needs to be a business, complete with correct zoning and all of the local business licenses that you'd need if you were starting any other type of business (like a restaurant, only the health inspectors don't carry machine guns). And not to be negative, but margins on guns are not that great. You'll have to be able to sell other things if you want to make a profitable business.

Personally I would recommend skipping the 01 FFL and getting a 07 manufacturer's FFL and a 02 SOT so you can make and transfer NFA weapons, but that might be a little more difficult being in California. My understanding is that there is more money to be made in manufacturing ammo and weapons than there is in retail, but manufacturing is a much different business than retail.

kcgunesq · Feb 25, 2013

AlexanderA said:
I take it you mean an 01 FFL.

The biggest hurdle will be to find business premises that satisfy local zoning regulations.

Given that he's in California, you may be (probably are??) correct. But I see this thrown out a lot as an answer, when in at least a few states, cities are not allowed to regulate FFL's in terms of zoning and sometime, at least arguably, otherwise.

El Mariachi · Feb 25, 2013

Make sure you don't tell that to the ATF during your interview... A FFL is a business license, not a fee to be able to help increase or enhance your collection.

Click to expand...

I was referring to all of the transfer fees that Cali imposes on us when we buy guns---particularly hand guns. Ferinstance, I just bought a neat olde AJ Aubrey in 32 S&W for $65.00 the other day. Not including the $15.00 Priority Mail cost to ship it to my FFL guy, I'll also be paying an additional twenty dollar DROS to my guy, plus another twenty five more bucks to the state. And that is assuming my triennial Cali issued Hand Gun Cert is still valid by the time I pick her up. If not? Break out another thirty bucks. It really has gotten ridiculuous around here. And;

It Never Ends®....

Telekinesis · Feb 25, 2013

I was referring to all of the transfer fees that Cali imposes on us when we buy guns---

It doesn't matter which government's screwed up tax structure you're evading, it just matters that you're using the license for your personal collection. It sucks that you have to pay all those extra fees, but the ATF doesn't allow you to use the FFL to grow your collection.
You'll be fine if you run a real business and just occasionally transfer a gun out to yourself. But if you bring in 20 guns and 15 of them go to you, the ATF will likely have a few questions for you.

Also, if you use a corporation for the business (highly recommended by the way) you will probably still have to pay the fees when you transfer a gun from the company to yourself.

Bubbles · Feb 26, 2013

I'd suggest going to the calguns.net FFL forum and read what other California dealers have gone through in getting an FFL. It's not nearly as easy or as inexpensive as in the rest of the country.

gym · Feb 26, 2013

And unless you have the proper zoning, you can't do it out of your house. You have a half dozen calls to make before even getting your forms filled out. The city and county zoning, business licensing and tax people would be a good place to start.

VegasAR15 · Feb 26, 2013

gym said:
And unless you have the proper zoning, you can't do it out of your house. You have a half dozen calls to make before even getting your forms filled out. The city and county zoning, business licensing and tax people would be a good place to start.

California may have one state law for that but I know not all states do. Here in Nevada all cities are different. I live in Las Vegas and I can not have a home FFL, I have to have a storefront. In Henderson, Nevada, which is so close to Las Vegas there is not even a one foot gap in between the two, home FFLs have no issues.

mgkdrgn · Feb 27, 2013

It's not a "hobby", it's a business, and needs to be treated as such.

You are going to have to keep accurate accounting records, have business licenses, insurance, collect sales taxes, yadda yadda yadda.

Put the dream of buying guns cheap for yourself away, that ain't gonna happen. Unless you turn into a multi-million dollar business, you'll be able to buy most things cheaper on BUDS than you will wholesale. (yes, really)

Oh .. and on that records keeping ... you gotta keep those records for 20 years, and if you screw them up you can end up in jail.

And yes, I am a home based 01 FFL. The paperwork is endless.

How many of you have an 001 license?....

El Mariachi

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AlexanderA

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mrvco

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Telekinesis

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kcgunesq

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El Mariachi

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Telekinesis

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Bubbles

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gym

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VegasAR15

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mgkdrgn

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