Shipping a firearm to a FFL

[scrofcheck]

Hi everyone I know this has been covered before but I can't find what I'm looking for. I have a rifle for sale. I also have a buyer who has a dealer to do the transfer, The problem is the dealer won't accept the rifle from an individual. He insists that it come from a FFL. I believe he's wrong, but I can't find the info on the ATF website. I know I must ship to a FFL but I don't have to be a FFL dealer myself. Can anyone help me out on this ? Thanks Steve

 

[Legionnaire]

There is no regulation that a dealer ship the firearm. As you already know, you may only ship across state lines to an FFL holder. However, that dealer is completely in his rights to decide only to receive from another FFL. It's not a requirement; just his policy. I have two dealers locally, one who will receive from an individual, and another that will only receive from another dealer. I use either as necessary. Ask your buyer to find another FFL or pay for any FFL charges on your end. In the future, specify that you will only ship to a dealer who will receive from a private seller.

I've talked to the dealer I use who will only receive shipments from another FFL holder, and have told him he's losing business to the other dealer. He's aware of this, but sticks to his policy thinking it provides him more protection. Not the law, but nothing prevents him from instituting his own policy.

 

[hotpig]

Legionnaire is correct. It is the Dealers choice since they have the risk.

 

[SIOP]

As stated above, it is totally the prerogative of the receiving dealer whether or not he receives transfers from non-FFL's as there is no law requiring transfer FROM an FFL.

Of course, it could also be that this guy is another in a long line of FFL's who have absolutely no idea about the laws that govern firearms dealers.
If I had to bet, it would be that he falls into this category.

Regardless, you only have a few choices:

A. Have the buyer find another dealer.
B. Find another buyer.
C. Have the buyer cover the costs of shipping from an FFL on your end
seeing as how it's his FFL that is the cause of the problem
D. Suck it up and absorb the cost of using an FFL on your end yourself.

It all boils down to how badly you want to sell this particular guy the gun, and how hot the market is for the particular gun you are selling. If you've been sitting on it for awhile, it might be worth it to choose option D.

 

[scrofcheck]

Thanks everyone for all of your replys.I sent this link to the buyer and he's going to find another FFL.

 

[Jim K]

If you have a dealer who will be reasonable in his fee, it might cost less to use him. He can mail the gun at a lot less than most carriers will charge you, and can mail a handgun, which you can't do. You should be willing to do the boxing up work.

Jim

 

[Legionnaire]

Jim's right. At my former location I had a dealer who would happily mail a gun for me; charged me $10 plus actual cost via USPS. Unfortunately, where I live now, the closest dealer wants $25 plus shipping. Same guy who will only receive from another dealer. Once again, he loses my business on such transactions.