Is this even legal?

[Mustafa]

So my local gun shop got 6 M&P Shields in yesterday and of course, sold out in about 3 hours. Now I see a brand new, in box, never fired or carried M&P Shield pop up for sale on a local classifieds board for $650. So my question is, is it legal for this guy to buy a gun with the intent of selling it for profit ($200 profit!) without an FFL? Seems to me he is treading in troubled waters...

 

[Force_Multiplier]

Re: Is this even legal?

he's walking a fine line...

law says if you sell firearms "as a regular course of business" you need an FFL... which 1 gun isn't

4473 asks if you are the actual purchaser, which he is...

but the ATF could try to say buying it w/ the intent to resell is business or a straw man purchase ( they've said both in the past) but they rarely prosecute for it (even on people that sell dozens a year)... which is part of the problem

 

[pawprint2]

Re: Is this even legal?

Unless the guy does this "often" I think he's okay. What if, after bringing it home, his wife "raised hell", so he sold it-or he suddenly needed cash for something etc. If it is a one time thing, I think it would very difficult to prove he was in violation.

 

[boltstop101]

Re: Is this even legal?

You can buy and sell and trade as many guns as you want to increase your collection so long as its not a primery source of income if you buy an AR15 from a guy walking around a gunshow for $400 and ten minutes later another guy comes up to you and offers you $1200 and you jump on it you will probably be hasseld by an atf agent looking for a promotion if you hang onto it for a while and realise you need to buy tires and sell it because of a hardship your ok here is another example. you buy an AR15 last november for $750 and now its worth $1750 and you want to fund another project so sell it for $1750 whats the diference its perfectly legal course ask ten agents and get ten diferent answers its all about semantics watch what you say to whome your speeking


I am not a dealer but the atf called me about ten years ago for a trace and. The first thing I said to them was
You do know im not a federaly licensed dealer and am not obligated to abide by the rules and conditions governing the sale and transfer of firearms by federally licensed dealers to witch they said yes sir we know that they wanted a gun trace on a gun I baught 20 years ago told them the dealer I traded it to and never heard from them again

 

[seanh]

Re: Is this even legal?

Nothing wrong with collecting firearms then selling them for their increased value.

Now if he is buying 10 at a time, then selling them the next month...it could be questioned. But, questioned is about it. As above mentions, if it's a primary source of income...you're screwed.

I've actually done this as a hobby. It was about 15-20 years ago but I probably went through 30 guns a year for a couple years...it was a joke "what gun does Sean have today/this week". I Spoke to an ATF agent at the time and his question was..."what's your day job?"...me- "gunsmith", "OK, Does that job pay your bills?"..."yes" "You're fine"

all depends on volume vs sustained income...and the interpretation of the ATF agent questioning you.

I know laws change over the years so things may be different now. If some agent wanted to make a sink, they probably could