So you may or may not have heard about the recent appropriations bill that was passed to keep the .gov running until sometime in december. Part of the ATF's funding came with some new riders, provided by the NRA's lobbyists. This was part of the "minibus" bill, HR 2112
Bill can be read here
BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES
SALARIES AND EXPENSES
For necessary expenses of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives
Provided,
That no funds appropriated herein or hereafter
shall be available for salaries or administrative expenses in connection
with consolidating or centralizing, within the Department of
Justice, the records, or any portion thereof, of acquisition and disposition
of firearms maintained by Federal firearms licensees: Provided
further, That no funds appropriated herein shall be used to
pay administrative expenses or the compensation of any officer or
employee of the United States to implement an amendment or
amendments to 27 CFR 478.118
or to change the definition of ‘‘Curios
or relics’’ in 27 CFR 478.11 or remove any item from ATF Publication
5300.11 as it existed on January 1, 1994: Provided further,
That none of the funds appropriated herein shall be available to investigate
or act upon applications for relief from Federal firearms
disabilities under 18 U.S.C. 925(c): Provided further, That such
funds shall be available to investigate and act upon applications
filed by corporations for relief from Federal firearms disabilities
under section 925(c) of title 18, United States Code: Provided further,
That no funds made available by this or any other Act may
be used to transfer the functions, missions, or activities of the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to other agencies
or Departments: Provided further, That, during the current fiscal
year and in each fiscal year thereafter,
no funds appropriated under
this or any other Act may be used to disclose part or all of the contents
of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National
Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives or any information required to be kept by licensees pursuant
to section 923(g) of title 18, United States Code, or required
to be reported pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (7) of such section,
except to: ...snip....
defined) and licensed manufacturer (as so defined), or statistical aggregate
data regarding firearms traffickers and trafficking channels,
or firearms misuse, felons, and trafficking investigations: Provided
further,
That no funds made available by this or any other
Act shall be expended to promulgate or implement any rule requiring
a physical inventory of any business licensed under section 923
of title 18, United States Code: Provided further, That, hereafter, no
funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to electronically
retrieve information gathered pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
923(g)(4) by name or any personal identification code:
Provided further,
That no funds authorized or made available under this or any
other Act may be used to deny any application for a license under
section 923 of title 18, United States Code, or renewal of such a li-
cense due to a lack of business activity, provided that the applicant
is otherwise eligible to receive such a license, and is eligible to report
business income or to claim an income tax deduction for business
expenses under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
So aside from all the good new stuff in bold (and the old bad stuff thanks to Chuck Schumer in italics), what do you guys think will the impact be upon people who want to do the kitchen table dealer style FFL? The last bold section specifically denies the ATF funds to deny a FFL due to lack of business activity. I guess this now means that you can get an 01FFL and not have to worry about the getting shut down for "not enough business" in the eyes of the ATF.
hat tip to
Dave Hardy
Also as a 03FFL, I like that they protected the definition of C&R. Moving forward a lot of "modern" guns will become C&R's due to their age.
Originally Posted By sparty:
That no funds authorized or made available under this or any
other Act may be used to deny any application for a license under
section 923 of title 18, United States Code, or renewal of such a li-
cense due to a lack of business activity, provided that the applicant
is otherwise eligible to receive such a license, and is eligible to report
business income or to claim an income tax deduction for business
expenses under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Sounds like Congress doesn't want the ATF treading on the IRS's toes, since the IRS determines business vs hobby:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=169490,00.html
Originally Posted By sparty:
what do you guys think will the impact be upon people who want to do the kitchen table dealer style FFL? The last bold section specifically denies the ATF funds to deny a FFL due to lack of business activity. I guess this now means that you can get an 01FFL and not have to worry about the getting shut down for "not enough business" in the eyes of the ATF.
No effect, on "kitchen table".
In this down market though I bet their are a lot of FFLs that are not selling like they did 3 years ago. This protects them from having their FFL taken away.
