Getting a C & R FFL?

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I am becoming more and more interested in WWI and WII era weapons and a friend prompted me about getting a Curio and Relics FFL. The price seems to be right ($20 if I remember correctly) but I was wondering if getting the C7R FFL subjected you the the same annoyances by the ATF as a normal FFL does. I don't have a criminal history or anything else of the like, but I don't want to have the ATF requesting to snoop around my apartment or anything to make sure I'm not doing anything illegal with my evil bolt action rifles ( a full auto Nagant seems like a rarity...).


Simple as this: is it worth getting a C & R?
 
It does not give ATF any rights to come into your house and search it at will. They can inspect your records once per year. That inspection may take place at your home or their office, at your choice. If they suspect you are doing anything illegal, they must get a search warrant just like any other LEO before searching your house.
 
Brownell's sells an "official" records book. I'm sure others also sell them. You could also just get a blank ledger and title the columns according to what the ATF specifies.

I'm running out of room in the safe since I got my C&R. It's a heck of a deal. How else can you get M44's for less than 50 bucks and SKS's for less than 100 bucks & have them shipped to your door? :)
 
Is it worth getting? For $30 you get to have guns delivered - at wholesale prices - to your doorstep. You get discounts at Midway and at Brownell's, and probably at a few other places as well. You get to own pieces of history for a song - was that Enfield rifle used to shoot a German general?; did that Mosin M91/30 fight in Stalingrad?; what role did that K-31 play in holding off the Germans from invading Switzerland (along with a few hundred thousand of its friends)?; was this Garand in Patton's Third Army at The Bulge, or did it contribute to victory at Iwo Jima, Okinawa or Inchon, etc., etc. (and, yes, you can see my anti-Axis bias)?

On the downside, you have to record all purchases and sales, make sure that you're not conducting a "business" according to a never well-defined set of rules, and be subject to a possible visit to an ATF office once a year (they're NOT invited to my home, thank you very much). Personally, I record all of my purchases anyway, and I think that the odds of getting audited are very slim if you only buy a few guns a year and don't engage in much selling. I wouldn't be worried about the audit anyway, as the most I plan on ever doing is selling the worst 1 of 2 or 2 of 3 of a particular firearm that I buy - and then only if I don't like them, and not for a profit (after shipping and advertising costs, if any).

Summary-lots of upside, not much downside.
 
Just the discounts from Midway USA and Brownells pay for the fees. Big problem, I'm not looking at lots of guns I had never considered before. I was thinking I'd be happy with just a CZ-52, now I'm looking at SKSes, Garands, and other pistols and rifles I hadn't really given a second glance before.

So the slight cost of the liscence is more than offset by a big increase in desire ;)
 
Just don't forget to check on state and local laws which might impact on the holder of a Collector's FFL. For example, in MD, a collector can order and receive a C&R handgun (a WWI Luger, say) but cannot legally transfer it in the state since it was not "imported" by a state-licensed regulated firearms dealer. To sell the gun within the state, even to a dealer or another C&R licensee, the gun must be taken or sent out of state, then shipped back in to a state-licensed dealer.

Other states ban receipt of some or all guns by other than holders of dealers licenses. Some require registration or paperwork which can only be done by a licensed dealer. So check; don't depend on an out of state dealer or wholesaler to keep you out of trouble.

Jim
 
Are there any CA C&R holders on this board? I'm just curious, because I've been thinking about getting one, but I was wondering whether or not any silly California laws make it more of a hassle than in the free states...
Thanks,
Nic
 
Are there any CA C&R holders on this board? I'm just curious, because I've been thinking about getting one, but I was wondering whether or not any silly California laws make it more of a hassle than in the free states...

I have a C&R and I live in CA. Hassle? None at all. The only hassle is that I don't have enough money to order all the stuff I want to get.

$30 for 3 years to have the ability to order a milsurps and have the sent to your door and get dealer discounts with Midway and Brownells. Definitely worth $30.
 
Be prepared for a long wait ...

my C&R application was submitted over six weeks ago with no word yet.
 
The wait seems to be erratic in all cases. Most people get it in 30 days. Mine was in my mailbox in less than a month after it was received by the ATF (I sent it via Certified Mail).
 
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