Frequently Asked Questions

It's the law! Certain firearms are excluded from this category, such as antique firarms and muzzleloaders. To be safe, be sure to obtain a copy of the ATF regulations or call your local ATF office before making an arrangement to make a shipment.

For the legal requirements for obtaining an FFL, obtain the "Federal Firearms Regulation Reference Guide" ATF P 5300.4(10-95) under licensing. There are multiple classes of FFLs.

In summary, an application must be completed, including fingerprints, with a copy filed with the chief law enforcement officer in the jurisdiction where the business will be operated. You must comply with the requirements of city, state and local laws. There is detailed record keeping that is required, which must be obtained from the referenced document. For a dealer who does not deal in destructive devices, the fee is $200 for 3 years and a renewal is $90 for 3 years.

All the FFLs that I have come across don't like losing money. The initial cost of a license is $200 for 3 years, and $90 for a 3 year renewal. Strict record keeping is required, along with protecting their inventory, so most FFLs would like to be compensated for their time, investment, and effort.

As with any transaction, there must be a buyer who will pay the price for the item the seller is trying to sell. In the case of guns, there are multiple sources for determining a price. The three that I use are

1. The Blue Book of Gun Values by Fjeastad which I can provide. Suggested retail price for the current edition is $27.95.
2. The publication Gunlist
3. The Shotgun News.

The Blue Book is a valuable source of gun prices. The problem I have with the paper subscriptions is they repeat a lot of advertisements issue after issue. If you could obtain about one per month, that would be about all you would need to get a pricing of a gun. There are other sources, but these are three of the most popular. Regardless of what all the publications may state, you must find someone who will pay the amount that you are asking to have a sale.

Most dealers buy from the same distributors, therefore the base cost is very similar, unless the dealer buys in quantity. The cost of shipping is the same so there are two factors that may affect the price that a dealer quotes.

• what type of overhead the dealer incurs
• what percentage profit they are trying to make

My quotes are usually around 8% above cost, and if I ship out of state, there is no state sales tax. However, the buyer has to arrange for an FFL to receive and do the transfer for which there is a charge. These charges vary among FFL holders with some trying to make the same profit as if they had sold the gun to begin with.

Many of the items are advertised at dealer prices. They require an FFL and in most cases a state tax certificate. Many others have minimiums that must be satisfied to fulfill an order. In some cases, you can buy at the quoted prices. Just read the fine print before you try to order.

Buying a silencer legally is about as difficult as purchasing a machine gun. They both require the same type of permits from the government. If you desire details, the best approach is to obtain a copy of the ATF regulations and proceed from there...if you think it's worth the trouble.

When I get this type of question, I start asking questions. What are you going to do with it? Hunting or target practice vs. home defense? How much money do you have to spend for the gun? How much will you be shooting? Can you afford the ammunition required to shoot that much? What type of climate are you going to be in? If hunting, what type of terrain are you going to be in? Have you checked a ballistics table available in a Shooter's Bible or other source? Is the gun for use or show? Is it an investment, or do you care about resale? Do you ever plan on going big game hunting with the purchase?

When you answer these questions, and have examined a ballistics table, it's then time to determine how much money you want to spend. What I'm contantly amazed at is how many people put cheap scopes, bases, and mounts on an expensive rifle. The overall accuracy is usually no better than the optics that you have obtained on the gun. So, buyer, are you buying a gun or a system?

The Gun Control Act(GCA) does not provide an export license. Firearms and ammo must be exported in accordance with the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, and a license must be obtained from the Office of Defense Trade Controls, PM/DTC, SA-6, Rm 228, US Dept of State, Washington, DC 20522 (703-875-6644). In case of National Firearms Act regulated firearms (machine guns, silencers, sawed-off shotguns, etc), a permit ATF Form 9, must be obtained from the ATF.

Exporting of sporting shotguns is regulated by the US Department of Commerce. For information, contact the nearest office of the Exporter Counseling Division, US Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230, (202-482-4811).

A licensee may make an occasional importation of a firearm for a nonlicensee or for the licensee's own personal use (not for sale). The FFL holder must first submit an ATF Form 6 Part 1 to the Imports Branch for approval. The FFL holder must then present the approved Form 6A to the U.S. Customs Service. The ATF Imports Branch, Washington, DC 20226, 202-927-8320 has the forms. Good Luck!!

It depends. At the current time, only long guns can be sold to out of state residents, and then only if they don't violate the buyer's state's law. There is another set of rules for visitors who do not permanently reside in the USA.

Again, the best source is the ATF P 5300.4(10-95) or your local ATF office.

Firearms are allowed in checked luggage if declared, shipped unloaded, and packed in an FAA approved case. To be sure what your airline requires, check with the airline before you leave for the airport.

The internet is NOT free. The cost of hosting a site, to the best of my knowledge, exceeds a big $600 per year, plus the time to build pages, and manage the site. The people benefiting from the site should help pay the cost of the site.

We are no longer accepting credit cards, since they increased cost, and were some trouble to use.

I receive a lot of messages that say "I have xxx guns for sale". I'm not sure what to do with these messages. They are sent like some God in the sky will magically buy the lot at a premium price. If you wish to send a message like that, please let me know what you want me to do with or about it.

The 148 page knife catalog costs me $1 for the catalog. Shipping of the catalog in the US costs between $1.70 and $2, therefore the charge of $3.

I receive requests for all types of catalogs. First of all, I don't carry catalogs to give away. The ones I have are for personal ordering and reference. I do not have an unlimited source of free material.

There may be one or more reasons why it takes a long time to get another page. Your system is connected to the internet with a modem of a limited speed. Your request is routed from your computer over the telphone line through a series of computers until the one where the page that you are requesting is located.

The page, and all the referenced graphics that the page requires, is shipped from the computer where the page resides across communication lines to the system to which you are connected. The file is then moved onto your computer for displaying.

Depending on how you have your system set up, you may not have to move all the files across the network. In some cases, the files are kept on your computer in what is called cache. When a page is requested, the page's identity is compared to that on the hosting system. If the page has not changed, the local file is used and is usually much faster than re-loading the file from a distant computer.

Another factor to consider is that many graphics (pictures) require a large file to contain the picture. If graphics are desired, be prepared for slower response.

Other factors may also be involved. These include

• the speed of your computer's modem: how fast can your system send and receive data into and out of your system
• The size of your systems cache: how much space does your system have allocated to keep pages on your local system
• Your system's speed: decoding and formatting pages can take time
• The number and loading of the various systems between you and the system where the requested page resides (these systems may be servicing other requests)
• The loading of the computing system where the page is being requested.

It looks like I'm seeing old pages when running my browser. That may well be the case if you have your browser options set to do just that. In Netscape, you would want to check Options under Preferences and then to Cache. You should most likely check the pages at least once per session. If you have never set, you'll only get an updated page when you exceed the amount of cache you have set and are forced to retrieve from the host. This has happened to more than one user of the Internet.

Gunshows/FFLs/Gunsmiths pages aren't updated overnight because they aren't paying for the service yet. I usually wait a couple of days and update these over a weekend, or in the middle of the week.

When a customer pays, the response is within 24 hours.

YES YES YES !!!! Please be our guest. Permission is granted.