FFL refuses to handle transfers.

[CU74]

Time to start checking out pawn shops - if they have guns, they have the necessary FFL.

My local gun-pusher, (with whom I do a good bit of business) wants $30 to transfer, plus a ration of guff. I found a local mom-and-pop pawn shop that only charges a $15 transfer fee. Guess who gets my transfer business.

 

[mekender]

I don't really blame my local gun store for not wanting to enhance my ability to spend money with someone else. It's common sense. When I can, I buy from them, and the price is usually close. Supporting your local gun shop is not necessarily a bad thing.

if your FFL (local shop) is being a royal d**k about writing 2 lines on a bound book and filling out a 4473 for $20 or more... perhaps they dont really care about you as a customer... especially when that $20 is often more than they make on a new gun sale... unless of course they are gouging prices...

Here in Central Florida the overwhelming majority of gun dealers will NOT do ANY transfers anymore, or charge outragous fees ($100 typical) to deswade you. The one dealer I use will not transfer anything he can order, and loves to give you the third degree because he is doing you such a favor.

hmmm, sounds like you need to find some better shops... i never had a problem in orlando...

 

[TAB]

In Cali, the cheapest fees are about $50 FFL fee + $25 Cali DROS fee + Tax (if online out of state). So, you can't get a firearm without paying at least $75 in total fees. It's like all the FFL dealers are in some some sort of agreement to fix prices.

um by state law private party transfers are only allowed to charge 25 and a max of 25 fro the dros...

so if they are charging that 50 for just the transfer, talk to the CA DOJ...

 

[Kipling79]

I am going to check out the pawn shops... our town has many of those.

I did find one shade-tree FFL, who had a shop in his backyard. He seems like an honest guy (did a lot of cool things like showing me the prices he can get guns for). BUT he want 10% transfer fees for anything over $300, $25 otherwise. Ouch.

 

[Bad Voodoo]

...if they are charging that 50 for just the transfer, talk to the CA DOJ...

Illegal to charge $50 for a face-to-face transfer. They can charge whatever "handling fees" above the transfer DROS fee they want if you're having a firearm shipped in from out-of-state.

But you can talk to DOJ about the outright refusal to transfer. I believe having an FFL requires one to perform transfer, no? Illegal not to.

 

[jakemccoy]

TAB wrote,

um by state law private party transfers are only allowed to charge 25 and a max of 25 fro the dros...

so if they are charging that 50 for just the transfer, talk to the CA DOJ...

Thank you for the advice. However, I'm talking about purchases, not private party transfers. Bad_Voodoo and others are right.

I haven't heard of anything less than a $50 FFL fee around me in Northern California. I've called at least 15 dealers and shops around me. Shops are the worst. They're so arrogant. Most shops won't do the FFL and DROS for less than $100. I know it's because they want you to buy in their shop. That's fine, but lower the prices and play fair before somebody gets pissed and files a suit against a whole bunch of defendants.

 

[Bad Voodoo]

Actually, $50 is not a bad deal in the Bay Area. You're getting off cheap. Try calling around, though. Jackson Arms (SFO); Irvington Arms (Fremont); City Arms (Pacifica); Diablo Valley Gun Works (Pleasant Hill); Bullseye (San Rafael); to name a few.

 

[jakemccoy]

Actually, $50 is not a bad deal in the Bay Area. You're getting off cheap. Try calling around, though. Jackson Arms (SFO); Irvington Arms (Fremont); City Arms (Pacifica); Diablo Valley Gun Works (Pleasant Hill); Bullseye (San Rafael); to name a few.

Well, Irvington is at $100 for FFL and DROS. I'm done calling and researching to save a few bucks. I've already spent too much time calling around. If somebody knows of a sweet deal, please share, thanks.

 

[Javelin]

Found one guy $50, found another $15 but wanted to collect sales tax, even though he wasnt selling the gun and the receipt was made out to me

Wow the one that wanted to charge sales tax is commiting a Felony for misrepresentation and attempted criminal theft. He needs to be reported and his FFL pulled. Once again like I stated earlier there are alot of shady characters that have flooded the market since post ban. I think we have all seen them here and there but try to pay no attention (or at some time tried to put up with it). $20 FFL transfer for filling out 3 peices of paper and making a phone call is the absolute max that should ever be charged. If anyone needs FFL contacts in DFW please feel free to PM me.

I emplore everyone in the gun community to spend some time and seek out those who are upstanding and moral and NOT throw your hard earned cash at those who price gouge and steal.

 

[Dr.Who]

I will not darken Dick's doorway.... See my other post for the reason.....

 

[Kid A]

I work at a Dick's, in the 'lodge' (or as I call it, the Gun department, cause I don't know a thing about anything else in the department). When I went to the class on selling guns, they didn't say a thing about transfers. They did say we won't buy used guns, and that we won't do any sales to people who live out of state. According to my store's special order book, we don't have any way of getting any dreaded 'assault weapons'. Everything I saw was bolt action, lever action, pump action or semi-auto 12 gauge or .22. Haven't asked about transfers, though if the people in your state are like the ones here, I wouldn't count on it.

 

[damien]

It seems you have a shortage of dealers in your area, so they set the market. Up here in the northern area of the state, finding a dealer to transfer is no problem. There are a lot of dealers, and buyers set the market. Sorry to hear about your problem. G.A.T. Guns have Glock 17/19/22/23/26/27s for $499. I bought a stainless 92F at Bass Pro for $549. Illinois may have significant restrictions and Chicago may ban handguns, but Chicagoland (Chicago MSA) has 9.5 million people, so at least we have a competitive market up here.

 

[garymc]

I'd take another look at "guys with guns in a shed... who you can never get a hold of" and don't turn your nose up so quick.

 

[rugerfreak]

Seems like easy money for just filling out a piece of paper---they have no money in it and aren't stuck with inventory if you back out--since you've already paid for it.

Not sure why more dealers don't encourage transfers actually??

 

[Cannonball888]

Not sure why more dealers don't encourage transfers actually??

Because many of them hold the mistaken belief that if they do a transfer for you that they are cutting their own throats, specifically that they are helping you buy a gun from someone else instead of one from them. I've had arguments with these blind bullheaded types who can't see that making a small profit is better than making no profit at all. They fail to see that if they don't do transfers it will force customers to find someone else to do them and so will be even more inclined not to buy anything at their store.

 

[R.W.Dale]

I don't really blame my local gun store for not wanting to enhance my ability to spend money with someone else. It's common sense.

All he is doing is enhancing your ability to NOT spend ANY money at his establishment. Why would you not do a X-fer for a FREE 20 smackers. That's why pawnshops are the best bet for transfers.

A pawnbroker is always happy to do anything he can to make a quick buck.

 

[Javelin]

They fail to see that if they don't do transfers it will force customers to find someone else to do transfers, and they will not be more inclined to buy at their store.

EXACTLY! And the truth of the matter is that any sensible person can see FFL transfers actually brings in new qualified customers to their stores. AND they make a guaranteed paycheck for meeting a future customer!

I am done posting on this thread but as you can see this is a very hot topic me! There is no common sense with the new scum that is emerging in the FFL business. Too many good FFL dealers are out there to waste time and money on scammers.

 

[wuchak]

The last couple of hanguns I shipped with FedEx have been 2-day, not overnight. I took them in their plastic cases, boxed them at the counter, and informed the counter person they were handguns. When he gave me the option of the two day shipping I responded that I thought FedEx policy required overnight. He checked with other staff members and in their system and they all agreed that 2 day shipping was all that was required. Shipping 2 day was ~$35 each time. As a private party you can ship to any FFL, liscensed smith, or manufacturer.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

If a shop doesn't want to make $20 or $25 or even $35 (this is the absolute max I would be willing to pay) for a few minutes of paperwork ...

The shop/club/range of which I am a member charges $15 (for members; $25 for non-members), and other local shops actually advertise their willingness to do internet transfers, though I don't know the cost of those.

 

[Vaarok]

I gotta concur with the "guys with a shed you can never get ahold of" being your best bet. Those are the part-timers who do it for ammo money and won't try to rape you through your pants to get at your wallet.

I drive one hour one-way to get to my preferred gunshop. He's open most Mondays, and Tuesday-Thursday-Friday and midday most Saturdays. Transfers are $20, sometimes I get a bulk discount, shipping something out is a flat $20, and anything he thinks I might like gets squirreled away beneath the counter till the next time I show up.

And if my calculations are right, in exchange for great service and great prices, I've referred probably thirty people to his shop and probably spent five thousand dollars there in the past three years.

 

[herohog]

Nuckols Gun Works

$20 transfer fee, $20 shipping. I'm a customer and have no stake in this shop, they are just down the road from me and have always been more than fair with me.

Nuckols Gun Works
1801 W Beverley St
Staunton, VA 24401-2913

(540) 886-3061

 

[Soybomb]

Pawnworld used to be great in Carbondale, but they closed down. I've heard this guy is fair though but its been a while so he may not be in business anymore:

Yeah I been using Robert Pursell. His phone number is 684-2233. He charges $20 for the transfer. He is kind of hard to get a hold of so call ahead of time to be sure. I believe he is on Country Club road or Airport Road. Give him a call for better directions. If you take it you will see a small sign on the right hand side. He is going to be transfering a pistol to me sometime this week and I will get his contact info if you need it. He is a real pleasure to deal with and very helpful.

http://getffl.com/Pursells.htm still listed there though

 

[Kipling79]

I'd take another look at "guys with guns in a shed... who you can never get a hold of" and don't turn your nose up so quick.

I completely agree... some of my best purchases were through these type of dealers. But, when buying or selling online, I was hoping for reliability. I would hate to commit to a purchase from a private party, then have to scramble around looking for another option if Plan A was unavailable.

Pursells

Yeah, I have driven by this guys shop half a dozen times and called once in the last 4 years, and never got a hold of him. I assumed he went out of business, but I will check again just to be sure.

 

[Hokkmike]

Are you leaving anything out of this explanation?

 

[Kipling79]

Are you leaving anything out of this explanation?

I have no reason to bad mouth a gun shop online for no reason, doing so would gain me nothing... I don't want to bad mouth anyne at all actually.. that is why I intentionally left their name out of the post.

The final conclusion to the calm conversation I had with the worker was that he wouldn't transfer a firearm in production, and only "might" do a transfer if the firearm was not in production. That is not enough reliability for me to feel confident in my ability to make a smooth firearm purchase online.