22-rimfire
Member
Speculation aside I think it's pretty obvious that the FFL feels it's worth doing the transfers for a fee. They're not charities and if they weren't making money off it they wouldn't be doing it, period. The little pawn shop I use has raked in a couple hundred bucks from me in transfers for very little work on their part and very little time. I had never set foot in there before I found them on Bud's list of preferred FFLs, so that alone was probably worth it for them.
Actually speculation aside, I don't think its "pretty obvious". The market forces them to do the transfers. That's different from "They're not charities and if they weren't making money off it, they wouldn't do it." It's a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.
Transfers run $35-$50 per gun in my area. TN charges a $10 fee for Nics checks beyond what the FFL might charge.
I found a pawn shop in the same way and had never set foot in there before. I have since purchased a number of things there, but their prices on firearms are simply too high.
There also appears to be some sort of "pawn shop law" which forces pawn shops to hold used guns for a week or something like that prior to transferring from an outside party. That might matter to you or make no difference. But gun shops don't appear to operate under the same constraints.