On my attempt to obtain a Federal Firearms License

[Tdarcos]

A few weeks/months ago I decided to file an application with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the new name for the ATF, for a Federal Firearms License. This allows the holder of an FFL to buy, sell, and transfer firearms to persons who are not otherwise restricted, subject to state law requirements.

If you purchase a firearm at a store outside of your state of residence the dealer cannot give it to you, and if you buy it over the Internet from a seller outside of your state you can't have it shipped to you nor can you go get it from them, they must ship it - firearms can't be mailed, either - to a FFL holder located in your state of residence.

One of the reasons I decided to get this is that while a gun store will do these, a lot of times they don't want to bother with the paperwork, they would rather sell you something. Since I'm not going to carry inventory, I don't care what they've bought, as long as it's legal in Maryland.

The second reason being that I'm already keeping paperwork as a notary public, handling whatever needs to be done for gun transfers shouldn't be a problem. (An FFL holder has to keep the customer's forms for 20 years. So? As a notary, I have to keep my Fair Register forever.)

Third, generally I could charge about $50 to do so, which is a nicer fee than the $4 I get for notarizing something (and is about the same amount of work). My corporation already has a sales tax permit so I can handle collecting the sales tax, as well. If I do enough business to justify it I'll reinstate my corporate merchant account with Citibank to take credit cards, otherwise I can stand using PayPal if necessary.

Well, anyway, Ms. Thomas of the ATF (err I mean BATFE), called me yesterday and scheduled an appointment for an interview next Friday (the 22nd). In the meantime I need clearances from my landlord and the zoning people.

My landlord has no problem and signed off on a letter. Called the planning board. Since I'm simply doing administrative work and not selling anything, it's permitted for this area in my home. (Probably wouldn't matter anyway, the State of Maryland has completely taken over the regulation of guns and ammo, and counties, cities and towns have no power to regulate them except for a couple of minor issues not relevant here.)

But I need a site plan - the landlord should have one - and I find out that the use permit will cost me $135.57 or some weird amount like that. Everyone's got their hands out, I guess.

So I call the landlord, and yes, he has a site survey and can mail me a copy. (Otherwise I'd have to have one done. Yet more money.) So once I get that I can go over to the permit office ang get whatever wastepaper they want from me.

The other thing is I might not need everything I applied for. I applied for a type 1 license (Dealer other than a pawnbroker) and a type 7 license (Manufacturer of guns and ammo) because also - as I explained to Ms. Thomas - I want to do some research into the development of weapons which can be used by people with problems with their hands.

After I got my Handgun Qualification License from the Maryland State Police - which is not a carry permit, just a license to buy, rent or transfer a handgun - and my State of Utah non-resident concealed carry permit - which, while it is valid in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio, it is not valid in Maryland - I went to a local gun store and discovered when checking out handguns that I no longer have the strength to move the slide on a semi-automatic like a 9mm, about the only thing I can even pull the trigger on is a snub-nosed .38.

Since I'm not going to sell guns, just handle transfers I might only need a manufacturer's license, at least that is what Ms. Thomas seems to be saying.

At least I don't have to have a county license, the State Police licenses firearms dealers. Exclusively.

While I was writing this, the landlord came by with the survey, and loaned it to me until I can get a copy made, because while I (theoretically) can copy it with my all-in-one printer/scanner/fax machine, I need 8 1/2x 14" paper as the page is about 12" long. I think I have some, other wise I'll run over to Kinkos (err, I mean Fedex Office) or Staples and have a couple copies made.

I have since discovered will have to go get it copied; the paper is too thick for my sheet feeding scanner to grasp it.

[AArdvark]

That sees like an excessive amount of paperwork just to simply handle gun transfers. I understand now why people resort to black market sales for things like guns. Why do they need a site survey? Have to check the curb distance to the gun safe or something?


THE
ODD SET OF
CIRCUMSTANCES
AARDVARK

[Tdarcos]

That sees like an excessive amount of paperwork just to simply handle gun transfers.

That's why most people won't bother. There is one reason to do so for those interested in such a thing, an FFL is the only private person (not a member of the military or law enforcement) allowed to legally be in possession of an automatic weapon (e.g. a machine gun) manufactured after 1986, because they can legally sell them to law enforcement, or if they had won a bid, the military.

The interesting thing is, presuming I get the license, while the license is issued to my corporation in its name, I personally am the responsible party for the license.

Why do they need a site survey? Have to check the curb distance to the gun safe or something?

It's for any business operated out of a home. Baltimore Ave. in this part of P.G. County is such a busy street in this area it's a continuous no parking zone from a considerable distance south of East-West Highway which is some four or five blocks south of me to at least another 1/2 mile north of me (except for a 2 block long service road on the west side of the street three blocks north of me) so they probably want to make sure there's enough parking for visitors. (There is, there's room for about 5 cars and only about 3 people park here.)

-----
"Futue te ipsum et caballum tuum. "

[Flack]

Well, I, for one, fully support this venture. I can't tell you how many times late at night when I can't sleep, the thought of Tdarcos being responsible for automatic weapons cradles me to sleep, like the nurturing arms of a cactus.

[Tdarcos]

Well, I, for one, fully support this venture. I can't tell you how many times late at night when I can't sleep, the thought of Tdarcos being responsible for automatic weapons cradles me to sleep, like the nurturing arms of a cactus.

No, No, No. Automatic weapons have been illegal since Reagan signed the ban on new machine guns in 1986. Private persons cannot possess an automatic weapon unless (1) the state they are in has not banned them; (2) you're not prohibited from owning a firearm; (3) the gun was manufactured before April 1986; and (4) the new purchaser pays a $200 tax stamp to transfer the weapon. Chump change since legal machine guns sell for about $15,000.

All other automatic weapons are illegal except for law enforcement and military except for one class of security personnel: if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission gets approval of the Attorney General it can establish regulations to allow security personnel at nuclear power plants to carry full auto machine guns. The NRC has not done so.

[Flack]

When silly people like Seth MacFarlane and Susan Sarandon say they want to ban “automatic weapons,” what they mean is that they want to ban guns that look scary. They don’t understand that you can’t walk into a gun store and walk out with a military-style assault weapon (one that can fire multiple rounds with a single trigger pull). That’s because 1) most gun dealers don’t carry the military version of the scary looking gun, 2) you have to jump through an obscene number of hoops with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to even obtain a tax stamp that says you may purchase such a weapon (a process that takes months, if not years), and 3) the actual versions of rifles used by the military are really expensive and unaffordable for the vast majority of prospective gun owners.

What you can buy from your local gun dealer, after that licensed gun dealer has confirmed that you passed a federal background check (yep, that’s required by existing law), is a semi-automatic rifle. And now, a bunch of gun controllers who don’t understand the slightest thing about guns have decided that rifle needs to be banned. Not because it’s more deadly than a typical hunting rifle (it’s absolutely not), but because it looks scarier.

[Tdarcos]

When silly people like Seth MacFarlane and Susan Sarandon say they want to ban "automatic weapons," what they mean is that they want to ban guns that look scary.

To quote The Bridgetender, "You are absolutely correct, sir!"

And they are not silly, they are incompetently uninformed and expressing opinions on a subject for which they have no idea what they are talking about.

They don't understand that you can't walk into a gun store and walk out with a military-style assault weapon (one that can fire multiple rounds with a single trigger pull). That's because 1) most gun dealers don't carry the military version of the scary looking gun, 2) you have to jump through an obscene number of hoops with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to even obtain a tax stamp that says you may purchase such a weapon (a process that takes months, if not years),

The guys at Moss Pawn and Gun near Atlanta, who run a YouTube video under the username Iraquiveteran8888 say that ATF hired a bunch more people, it used to take about 9 months but they've gotten the wait down to about 6 weeks to 45 days.

The bigger problem is ATF is still requiring paper fingerprinting. (Getting the transfer of an NFA firearm - which a machine gun or short barrel rifle or short barrel shotgun qualify as - or getting a license to be a firearm dealer require you get fingerprinted. On a card.)

When I went to take the training for both my Utah Non-Resident concealed carry permit and my Maryland Handgun Qualification License, the place does the paper fingerprint card for Utah as part of the course fee. (This makes sense since the application is mailed to Utah).

Maryland, on the other hand, uses electronic fingerprinting. For that, I had to go to an organization that offers it. For me, the nearest place was four blocks away in College Park at the University of Maryland Police Station. That costs $55, and then I had to go onto the State Police website and attach the receipt code to my application.

Now, nobody around here does paper fingerprint cards any more, so I had to find someone. So I called the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police, but they only provide them for DC residents. They did refer me to a private law office on K street which does them for $10 each.

and 3) the actual versions of rifles used by the military are really expensive and unaffordable for the vast majority of prospective gun owners.

Actually, they're about the same as they were back in '86, for an ordinary full-auto machine gun they're around $1 - 2,000, but it's not that they're unaffordable, it's that you cannot buy one no matter how much money you have unless you are a LEO or a military agency.

What you can buy from your local gun dealer, after that licensed gun dealer has confirmed that you passed a federal background check (yep, that's required by existing law),

It's part of the Brady Law that was enacted after Jim Brady and President Reagan were shot by Hinkley.

is a semi-automatic rifle. And now, a bunch of gun controllers who don't understand the slightest thing about guns have decided that rifle needs to be banned. Not because it's more deadly than a typical hunting rifle (it's absolutely not), but because it looks scarier.

The actual lethality vs. other firearms is not considered, it's more on the order of "Mommie, mommie, I'm scared, make it go away!"

As I have said several times, the rashes of shooting incidents are not because of some excessive lawlessness on the part of people, but something else.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, kids would routinely bring a rifle or shotgun with them to school, and leave it in the back of the classroom until they needed it for their target shooting class, and nobody thought about it. You still had significant incidents, like when Charles Whitman climbed into the Bell Tower at the University of Texas, Austin, and shot up the place back around '64. Before that I think you have to go back to the murder of the Clutter family back in the 1950s.

No, I think the real issue is handing out psychotropic drugs and SSRIs in schools to children like they're M&Ms. They're being used as chemical babysitters to make the alleged "unruly and disruptive" kids into docile little zombies. If as many children really needed these kinds of powerful drugs because of true mental problems we would have had to have investigations into why.

I think it's been found that in almost all of these mass shooting incidents the perpetrator was either using one or more of these powerful psychotropic drugs or was undergoing withdrawal from recently having stopped using them.

They can sometimes be quite useful in adults, as in my case, phentermine (and fenfluramine, before it was banned) helped me quite a bit although Prozac never did anything for me. But none of these drugs were ever tested on children.

[Tdarcos]

To continue about my application for an FFL.

When Ms. Thomas informed me I needed approval from the landlord, and from the zoning people, I went immediately to work.

The landlord signed off on a note for ATF. County Department of Planning,Inspection, and Enforcement (DPIE) wants a copy of the site survey. So I borrow it from the landlord and make copies, as I mentioned earlier. I bring one with me and take two buses to the walk-in DPIE permit office at 9400 Peppercorn Lane in Largo.

What they don't tell me is (1) I'm supposed to have 3 copies of the site plan and (2) that you can go on line and fill out the application. Which, if you don't do they direct you to the computers they have to do sol. But they require you provide 3 printed copies of the application even though they provide no means to print them. So I go up to the counter and I guess the clerk felt sorry for me because she printed them for me.

But, the thing I need is a note from the landlord giving permission, and it has to be notarized. So I go home and write up what I'll need, and by sheer luck the landlord comes over, so I get him to sign. Specifically for it to be legal for me to notarize the statement, it grants Viridian Development Corporation permission to operate a business here. Under Maryland law an officer or director of a corporation is permitted to notarize a document related to its operation as long as they are not named in the document. Has the letter been a permission to me personally as the previous note was, I would have had to find a notary.

Go back to DPIE. All approved, pay the fee using the on-line system because it takes credit cards but the cashier doesn't, then I'm told that in two days to call a number, enter a code along with the permit number, and I can schedule an inspector to come out in five days.

Which means I don't yet have the use permit, I'll have to ask ATF to reschedule for maybe two weeks later.

The Interviewer for ATF, Roberta Thomas, called me today and left a message on voice mail to remind me about my appointment tomorrow. I had gotten to my phone about 20 seconds too late. But this was fortuitous since I had to reschedule. Turns out I won't have to; ATF will allow me 30 days to be in compliance Which will be more than enough time.

So I'm going to put on my nicest clothes for my interview tomorrow. I'll even do an extra thorough sponge bath, AXE aerosol body spray and a new clean diaper.

[pinback]

How'd that all go, then?

[Ice Cream Jonsey]

Paul, I'm ordering you to not buy a gun.

[lethargic]

I THINK I'D RATHER CONTINUE GETTING MY GUNS SENT TO MY LOCAL STORE FOR 40 BUCKS THAN GET ONE FOR 50 FROM A BLIND GUY