Question for FFL's (or others)

[AJMD429]

What regulations are there about purchasing several stripped AR lowers at a time...?

It seems like a sensible investment, and I wouldn't be selling them later other than through a dealer, but wouldn't mind making a reasonable profit - say $50/upper cost, and a person held onto them a year, and could sell them for $200 - if you bought six of them, you could sell five back (through the dealer) for $750 profit - enough to make the one you kept into a functioning firearm.

Any 'issues' doing that...? If not, would there be if a guy bought ten instead of six, or twenty, or ????????

My reasoning is that I was getting one for each kid, and the internet hiccupped, so I now have coming to my local FFL dealer TWO for each kid. (...44MagHunter - don't read this message... ). I could "send them back" or ask the dealer to sell and paper them to someone else now and that person just refund my expense, or I could just say what the heck and buy all eight now, hang on to them, and either sell them in a couple years, or if they haven't gotten more valuable in the meantime, just keep using them for Christmas tree ornaments.

I've known guys who bought four or five, and fixed them ALL up to completion, 'customizing' them for friends, then either gifting them or selling them, making a bit of money for the assembly of all the parts. I don't want to do that, because that seems to get into the realm of 'gunsmithing', and if one malfunctioned it could get unfriendly. I'd rather just sell the stripped lower just the same way I bought it, and let the other guy fix it up. In these times, I doubt I'd be selling any firearms other than through an FFL, even stripped lowers.

[Thunder50]

May all hinge on "intent".

If you are planning on buying them to re-sell and make a profit, then you might be considered to be "engaged in the business" and would be looked upon as needing an FFL

If you are buying them to use later, or as gifts later, and just happen to sell a couple for a profit later on, your intent might be construed differently as you weren't intending on selling , just the opportunity came along so you decided you didn't need as many as you first thought.

Kind of like if you buy a gun and sell it later as your tastes changes, or it doesn't shoot worth a hoot, vs buying guns just to re-sell and make money.

my 2 cents

[AJMD429]

May all hinge on "intent".

If you are planning on buying them to re-sell and make a profit, then you might be considered to be "engaged in the business" and would be looked upon as needing an FFL

If you are buying them to use later, or as gifts later, and just happen to sell a couple for a profit later on, your intent might be construed differently as you weren't intending on selling , just the opportunity came along so you decided you didn't need as many as you first thought.

Kind of like if you buy a gun and sell it later as your tastes changes, or it doesn't shoot worth a hoot, vs buying guns just to re-sell and make money.

my 2 cents

Then wouldn't that mean buying any firearm as an 'investment' a crime...? I thought "engaged in the business" would mean buying and selling firearms for profit without involving an FFL, thus bypassing the public-safety aspect of what they do by doing the background checks, registration paperwork and all that.

[6pt-sika]

You buy them and do the paper work and what you do with them later is your business .

But ....................................... I'm not sure I would wanna sell them to folks later unless they do paper work as well .

I would say if you kept it to ten or less you should be fine . If you got into multiples of ten you might be drawing a fair amount of attention to yourself .

[6pt-sika]

When I sell my stuff on GB I ship it out with a copy of my friends FFL and of course it goes to a dealer where ever . Once there the folks do the paper work period . I very rarely sell to anyone in my home state without making them do the paperwork as well . I do have a couple friends I occasionally sell to here in state that I don't make do the background check but that's it .

To be quite honest unless I've known you for a long time on good terms or are a pretty close friend you're gonna do the back ground check before you get any of my stuff

The way the s...h...I...t is going these days one cannot be to safe when it comes to selling to others .

[6pt-sika]

We had the ATF guy in the shop last week going over the books as they seem to do either every two years or every year now and I asked him a pile of shall we say hypothetical questions

My buddy has a regular license as well as a Class 3 sellers and manufacturers license so the guy visited us for about a week .

Think he checked the serial numbers on all the guns versus the books as well as all the fully auto junk and of course the tin cans that so many seem to like these days . I think we've got about 20-30 of those things in the shop for sale or waiting on someones stamp to get here !

[Thunder50]

I think buying as an investment, where you are going to hold onto it and probably sell it at a later date would not be construed as "engaged in the business". Buying the gun to turn it around right now, and doing this many, many times in the year, probably be different. You buy and sell a dozen guns in a year is one thing, doing that every month, is another, I would think.

ATF website might have a better example than I have given

[Rube Burrows]

I have bought several at one times on more than one occasion here in Louisiana. No issues at all on the buyers side.

[marlinman93]

If bought and sold through an FFL dealer, the whole thing is moot point. You are not "involved" in the business, as the dealer's FFL covers that. As long as you can involve a dealer, and still turn a profit, then it's your decision.
There are things that bring up red flags though, and you may have issues with passing a background check easily, anytime you purchase more than three FFL items in a month. They have these installed into the system to tell them to look closer into a person, to stop them from building an arsenal for criminal intent. Not that you wont eventually pass the check, but they may put a temporary hold on the purchase. I've had it happen on multiple purchases, and was once delayed for 30 days. On the 30th day it was approved, and I had to go that day to get them, or do it over again if I waited 31 days.