Opening a gun store is as easy as 1-2-3...
1. Get Approved
Before you can open a gun store, you have to ask the BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) if it's alright for you to become a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL). To ask the question, you first have to fill out the application in triplicate and send it, along with $200 (a level 3 gun dealer) to the Bureau for a extensive background check. This is a federal check for criminal or seditious history going back as far as they have records. And for the ladies and others whose names have changed along the way, it is even more convoluted and lengthy.
At the same time, the local sheriff conducts a similar check to determine if you have ever been charged /convicted of domestic violence. In other words, if somebody has called 911 on you because you were knocking down their front door, don't send in your license application, because you won't get the license and you won't get your $200 back.
While all this background checking is underway, you have to get acknowledgement from the county zoning department that the place where you think you'd like to open your store complies with the nearby zoning regulations and covenants. And, if you happen to be looking at a location like a strip mall, the existing tenants sometimes have restrictive clauses in their leases which forces the landlord to dismiss such evil businesses like tattoo parlors, adult bookstores, and gun stores.
So, if by chance, all of the inquiries by the BATFE come back positive
and the sheriff confirms you've never done anything bad to another person,
and there are no zoning issues, you are officially granted a FFL for the period of 3 years (revocable at any time).
2. Open the Store
What is the first thing you do when you open a store? You stock it with goods to sell. After all, people go shopping to buy things. So what items do you stock in a gun store?
A quick check of the available products on one of the distributors offering shows over 4,000 handguns and rifles, from a wide variety of manufacturers. Obviously, we can't stock one of everything. And then there are the accessories - holsters, magazines, scopes, slings, cases, grips, etc.
What about ammunition? There are a minimum of 8 "standard" handgun calibers; as many in the rifle calibers. Considering the bullet configuration - full metal jacket, jacketed hollow point, etc. - further enlarges the choices.
Shotgun shells are sized by gauge (.410, 20, 16, and 12), by length, 2 3/4 and 3, and by pellet load (buck shot all the way to bird shot).
I think it's safe to say that there's a pretty good chance that no matter what we put in the store, we aren't going to have what most people think they want. We'll have some guns and some ammo, and at least, we'll have pictures of the ones we don't have so the prospective buyer can see what we could have had.
Don't see what you want? We can order it.
3. Stay Approved. (Lose your license = out of business)
Now that we have the store open with items that people want to buy, we have to make sure that the "good graces" the BATFE has bestowed on us continues. A seamingly daunting, detail-oriented, mind-numbing series of tasks.
Think security, paperwork, safety, and background checks.
EVERY TIME a person buys a gun, they must be checked against the NCIS system to ensure they are qualified to purchase a firearm. This includes rifles, shotguns, and handguns. The buyer must have a state issued photo ID and be over the age of 18 to buy a rifle; over 21 to buy a handgun. To buy a handgun, the buyer must have either a purchase permit (one for each purchase) or a concealed carry license. Nobody can buy a weapon for somebody else.
EVERY TIME a handgun is purchased the dealer must complete a form, detailing the information about the buyer, the model, serial #, and specifications of the firearm purchased, the license # of the distributor that supplied the gun, and the license # of the dealer that actually sold the gun. Leaving out even the most seemingly inconsequential detail could be grounds for losing your license.
At the end of EVERY DAY, all firearms must be stored in a secure place to ensure they don't fall into the wrong hands. The agent at the BATFE said "it isn't a matter of
if your store will be broken into, it's a matter of
when". This requirement translates into the need to buy a "big ass safe", and shifting all of your stock into the safe before leaving the store for the night.
So how do you protect yourself from the bad guys who drive a van through the front of the store, or the crooks who use a chain saw to cut through the roof of the building to get in and grab whatever they can get in the 10 minutes before the cops come? With paperwork.
Every firearm acquired must be logged within hours of receipt, whether it's a new gun purchased from a distributor, or purchased used from an individual, or on consignment from a customer. Failure to do so is a violation of federal law. On the flip side, all transfers, whether to a customer, or another FFL holder must be logged to show it has now changed hands and is no longer in your possession. Federal law.
The BATFE agent has the authority to visit your shop during store hours and look at your paperwork to ensure you're in compliance. And you'd better be in compliance. Remember, lose your license = out of business.
So, by now, if you've read this far, you're probably wondering why anybody would want to open a gun store. Well, consider these statistics:
The FBI said it fielded nearly 16.5 million queries from firearms sellers last year, that was up 15 percent from 2010, when the FBI performed 14.4 million screenings.
The National Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF) is the firearms industry lobby group that keeps track of everything gun business related. As a reference, NSSF tracks firearms sales during the month of August. 2011 August firearms sales were up relative to any year over the last ten years. More specifically, “The August 2011 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 815,858 is an increase of 13.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 718,971 in August 2010.” Make the jump to see the 2008 “Obama surge” that set the pace for 2011. If Americans re-elect Obama in 2012, it’ll be chocks away for the U.S. gun and ammo biz. Again.
There are lots of other statistics, all pointing to a growing demand for guns in America. As for our store, we have decided the outlook for future gun sales far outweighs the 3 step process that got us there. We're "shooting" for a banner year!
