I've been using a local range/gun shop for FFL transfers for a little over a year now. Up until recently I've only used them to receive firearms. The one time I tried to ship anything with them, the owner sat on the packages for over a week because he "couldn't find a box" even though his shop is a two minute drive to UPS. I stopped going in as much after that, but recently had occasion to receive a few more guns through them.
Today when I went by to pick up the paperwork to mail to an out of state FFL, the clerk at the counter told me that they would no longer be doing transfers for guns that they already sold (or could order). He explained that they made $25 on a transfer but $50+ on a gun.
Now, this is the place that sells plain Century Romy AKs for $400 before tax. I've bought at least four guns from him, plus ammo, and I have a membership for his shooting range ($130). I'm not sure what he's trying to accomplish, but I don't know what his challeneges are for running a business. Maybe somebody can shed light on that.
There's nothing he can't order new that Sportsman's Warehouse can't get me for a better price. I usually don't buy milsurp unless I can see it first or it's something that just doesn't come around often. But under his policy I have to take whatever Mosin Nagant he has on the shelf and it doesn't matter that the $1000 collector's item I found on Gunbroker for $100. I don't feel like arguing the point with anybody behind the counter, either.
Maybe the clerk just didn't explain the policy very well, but it sounded like a "we don't want your business because we don't make enough off of it" policy to me. I can't believe they're losing money on a $25 transfer that costs them fiften minutes of time to check in the gun, do the background check, and then ring me out. What kind of charges are involved for an FFL to call the Federales for a 4473?
jm
Today when I went by to pick up the paperwork to mail to an out of state FFL, the clerk at the counter told me that they would no longer be doing transfers for guns that they already sold (or could order). He explained that they made $25 on a transfer but $50+ on a gun.
Now, this is the place that sells plain Century Romy AKs for $400 before tax. I've bought at least four guns from him, plus ammo, and I have a membership for his shooting range ($130). I'm not sure what he's trying to accomplish, but I don't know what his challeneges are for running a business. Maybe somebody can shed light on that.
There's nothing he can't order new that Sportsman's Warehouse can't get me for a better price. I usually don't buy milsurp unless I can see it first or it's something that just doesn't come around often. But under his policy I have to take whatever Mosin Nagant he has on the shelf and it doesn't matter that the $1000 collector's item I found on Gunbroker for $100. I don't feel like arguing the point with anybody behind the counter, either.
Maybe the clerk just didn't explain the policy very well, but it sounded like a "we don't want your business because we don't make enough off of it" policy to me. I can't believe they're losing money on a $25 transfer that costs them fiften minutes of time to check in the gun, do the background check, and then ring me out. What kind of charges are involved for an FFL to call the Federales for a 4473?
jm