My Rant Against Firearm Auction Sellers

[JBP]

A few weeks ago I won an auction on Gunbroker.com for a French MAB Model D. The auction clearly stated that the seller would accept a C&R for it and in the initial email to me after I won the seller still said he would accept my C&R.

Well that changed when the seller (a licensed FFL located in New York) sends me another email saying that he had entered the pistol in his records in such a way that the transfer had to go through a 01 FFL. It wasn't worth the additional $35 and time it would cost me to go that route so we mutually agreed to cancel the sale and neither of us posted any negative feedback. He reposted the pistol still indicating that it could go to a C&R but changed it later to take that out. The pistol ended up selling this week (after being posted two more times) for $5 more than I bid for it.

I don't bid if the seller specifically states that they will not accept a C&R or ship it into the firearm unfriendly state of Maryland. If the firearm is posted in the modern firearms area and the seller doesn't specify if a C&R can be used I send an email to make sure.

Is it too much to expect that someone in the business of selling firearms knows how a transaction is supposed to be handled? Apparently so.

 

[deadin]

Did he ever tell you just how he "entered" a C&R elgible gun on his books in such a way that he couldn't sell it to a C&R license holder?
Sounds to me that he felt he might do better by relisting it and this was just an excuse to get you to cancel. (After several more tries at listing he finally gave up and took what he could. )

Dean

 

[gezzer]

He was in NY he can only ship to dealer FFL or recieve from dealer FFL if I remember right. NY law not Fed

 

[deadin]

I don't know about NY law, but I did a little research and it appears that a C&R license isn't worth the paper it's printed on in Maryland. (at least for handguns). It looks like all handguns coming into the State must go through a "State regulated" Dealer. It seems there is a "State" dealer license that is required, in addition to a FFL, to bring a handgun in from out of state.

So a NY dealer shipping to a Maryland C&R isn't likely to happen.

 

[CrazyIrishman]

Hey JPB,

Some time ago I went through something similar regarding a C&R rifle. The rifle was a '43 Remington 03A3 in VG to Ex cond. Its one of my favorites.

After I paid for it by USPS money order and sent a copy of my C&R it was ready to ship to me, then all of a sudden I'm told it had to go through a FFL! Before I even bought it I read in his ad that C&R's were OK plus I spoke to him by phone to verify this.

I'm still not sure of what prompted the change to this day. It could've been greed, or maybe even a misunderstanding of C&R regs. After a short wait I did get my rifle though! I guess asking for a refund got his attention!

OTOH, I had a completely different experience when I bought a C&R 1911 pistol. The seller sent me detailed pics,we agreed on a price, and I got the pistol two days later. Total time was about five days. In addition this guy also said I could have a "no hassle" seven day money back guarantee if it wasn't as described! The pics and description didn't do it justice. I wish all deals were like this. There wasn't a hint of any bait 'n switch or shell games!

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with this goof! I've NEVER heard about entering a firearm in such a way as to invalidate its C&R status or sale. Maybe its one of those "unusual" New York laws! IMO though it sounds more like GREED!

So, for 5 bucks more he may have alienated at least one customer plus the ones who are now leery of doing business with him! Very wise choice indeed! I hope your next deal works out alot better! BTW, the dealer with the rifle was from GunBroker.



CI

 

[JBP]

It looks like all handguns coming into the State must go through a "State regulated" Dealer. It seems there is a "State" dealer license that is required, in addition to a FFL, to bring a handgun in from out of state.

There is no problem, except for sellers who don't want to keep up with all of Maryland's ridiculous laws, regarding interstate transfer of C&R handguns into Maryland. Nineteen of my handguns, and I'm waiting for my 1917 Colt, are C&R and they all came directly to me. If you do a search you may find the post with a letter from the AG's office to that affect.

 

[deadin]

Glad to hear that the Maryland AG has clarified the regs.
I was reading from the regulations in the “State Laws and Published Ordinances- Firearms” that the ATF sent me when I got my C&R.
I’ve noticed that this publication seems to be incomplete and somewhat out of date (besides being hard to understand) and can see why someone from another state would have trouble figuring exactly what is and what isn’t legal in a different state. (Maryland's rules and regulations seem particularly complex. )