How would you feel if your FFL...

[chmcnm]

Do you honestly feel that the govt. has a winning case against joe blow FFL for illegally trafficing in unregistered SBRs for not physically applying a wrench and a reasonable (by whos standard, btw) amount of force to every single allegedly pinned 14.5" bbl rifle that enters his shop?

Yes. Ignorance is not a valid excuse when dealing with ATF.

[GunLawyer001]

Like that would ever happen...

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...abiding-uncle/

[39flathead]

Maybe in the best interest of that particular FFL, he should refuse any shipment of any gun that could possibly be an NFA item.


What would he have done if the flashhider had spun off?
He'd now be in possession of an unregistered NFA firearm...

I think it'd be best if he just didn't accept any outside guns just to be safe...

[GunLawyer001]

Maybe in the best interest of that particular FFL, he should refuse any shipment of any gun that could possibly be an NFA item.


What would he have done if the flashhider had spun off?
He'd now be in possession of an unregistered NFA firearm...

I think it'd be best if he just didn't accept any outside guns just to be safe...

Actually, that's not a mystery. If he found out that he'd received an NFA firearm, he can call ATF and surrender it. He's legally bulletproof then. The buyer has recourse against the seller. The seller is on his own, for failing to do the due diligence that saved the receiving dealer's butt.

I'm sure the FFL is thankful for all the business advice from people who don't share his risks or even run a similar business.

[unclejumbo]

I'm foregoing the sale of my consecutive set of Colt M45A1s because the potential buyer said some things that made it clear it would be straw purchase territory. No prohibited people, but not actual buyer receiving both pistols. That's $7200 for the two pistols that I won't have in my pocket because I don't want to run afoul of the BATFE.

[Emptymag]

I would hope the FFL would be more thankful for the customer service advice and perhaps handle it differently in the future.

[GunLawyer001]

I would hope the FFL would be more thankful for the customer service advice and perhaps handle it differently in the future.

Honestly, you can't let customers dictate your compliance with Federal law.

The rifle comes in, he opens it up, he wonders "Is this barrel long enough? Is the muzzle device permanently attached?" He would like to find out BEFORE he enters the thing into his A&D book.

So he calls the buyer. Leaves a message. Time passes. No call back. He's legally required to enter it into his book.

If 100 customers out of 5,000 have hiccups in their transferred-in guns, some percentage of them are not going to cooperate in a timely manner to resolve the questions. As a business policy, you just can't let strangers control how you obey Federal law. ATF doesn't give you any free mistakes, they want perfection. Having "only one or two" unregistered NFA firearms on site is not OK. The FFL needs to resolve the question RFN.

That rifle is going out one of two ways: As a Title I gun to the buyer; or as contraband to the cops. It's not really a legal option to identify it as contraband and then ship it back to the sender (trust me on this, you don't want to take control of contraband that way; I received counterfeit DVD's once, and they wanted me to ship them back; nope. They got tossed. Phil don't ship contraband goods using the US mails. Got my refund another way.).

[cdi]

Gunlawyer's posts on the subject are spot on.
I have had similar circumstances crop up in my shop.

If I couldn't arrange to have you in the shop to inspect the rifle within the log in time frame, I'm putting a wrench on it and dealing with your butthurt later.
I don't hold unopened packages for customers, either. The firearms get logged in the evening of the day they were delivered.
Heavens to Murgatoyd, I unsealed your package so I could record the serial number and you weren't present.

[Emptymag]

Honestly, you can't let customers dictate your compliance with Federal law.

The rifle comes in, he opens it up, he wonders "Is this barrel long enough? Is the muzzle device permanently attached?" He would like to find out BEFORE he enters the thing into his A&D book.

So he calls the buyer. Leaves a message. Time passes. No call back. He's legally required to enter it into his book.

If 100 customers out of 5,000 have hiccups in their transferred-in guns, some percentage of them are not going to cooperate in a timely manner to resolve the questions. As a business policy, you just can't let strangers control how you obey Federal law. ATF doesn't give you any free mistakes, they want perfection. Having "only one or two" unregistered NFA firearms on site is not OK. The FFL needs to resolve the question RFN.

That rifle is going out one of two ways: As a Title I gun to the buyer; or as contraband to the cops. It's not really a legal option to identify it as contraband and then ship it back to the sender (trust me on this, you don't want to take control of contraband that way; I received counterfeit DVD's once, and they wanted me to ship them back; nope. They got tossed. Phil don't ship contraband goods using the US mails. Got my refund another way.).

Nobody is suggesting he give up all...

oh, nevermind. You're focused one thing and making it into some big mountain of doom, and I'm talking about basic courtesy.

[swack]

IMO, "reasonable" would involve looking for a weld or pin. *Possibly* hand-holding the rifle and trying a wrench if neither is found. Going to a vice is too far.
My 2¢

I honestly don't get everyone's issue here. Clearly the FFL was trying to be sure that they were following the law, nothing more. As others have pointed out, welds can be faked, and how does the FFL know that the dealer didn't just follow the legal advice of everyone here and visually inspect for a weld?

He used a reaction rod, a tool designed for torquing on a barrel without pressure on the index pin, put some torque on it to ensure that it was in compliance. And then delivered it damage free to the customer.

I'm far from a professional gunsmith and my muzzle devices aren't budging with hand pressure alone. Using the proper tools for the job seems like the right thing to do... but then again I'm not a lawyer. I wonder what a lawyer would say on the topic...