Posted: 7/9/2008 4:13:22 PM EDT
| i live in houston and i am intrested in buying full auto firearms and sbrs and all the good stuff, but i have been told that to get a ffl you have to form a business....i am not intrested in forming a business if i dont have to i would like to just buy them for personal use.....how can i do that?? |
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ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=8&f=8&t=315299 The process is the same as silencer/suppressor/can. |
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I was under the impression that in order to obtain a Class III license you pretty much had to know the governor/sherrif/mayor etc. Hey SC, I sent ya an email about FFL transfers. I got a revolver in bound but haven't finalized the shipping point just yet. I was curious as to what your fees are. Thanks man. |
I'll take an MP5K please!! Will trade for worst kidney. |
Hell! ! ! Will trade for good kidney! |
That's my drinkin kidney! |
We can play 'what if' all day long, but the fact is that many people own Title II weapons and have had no problems. Urban legends of the ATF coming to your house and searching it without a warrant simply because you own NFA are BS. What if the government decides to round up all blond haired people and throw them in labor camps? The biggest risk, realistically, is that they issue a ban on all machine guns without grandfathering, they confiscate them, and you lose the money you put into one. I don't think that's a very likely scenario. You don't lose any rights by owning Title II. |
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As an individual you can purchase what are know in the industry as "Transferrable" machineguns. These are essentially any guns manufactured in the United States prior to May 19th 1986 or imported prior to 1968, Anything manufactured after 1986 is what is classified as a "Post-Sample" and can only be possessed by an FFL with SOT or a government agency. There is a 3rd class of guns know as "Pre-May Dealer Samples". These guns were imported into the country after 1968 but before May of 1986. These guns can also only be owned by a FFL/SOT or government agency but with one small difference. The FFL/SOT owner can *keep* the gun after his license lapses. Where a "Post-Sample" must be sold or destroyed prior to letting your license lapse. Prices for each type of gun are relative to it's legal status. Example: HK MP5 Transferrable = $17,000 HK MP5 Pre Sample = $8000 HK Dealer Sample = $2000 You do not need a license to own a "Transferrable" machinegun but will have to pay a one time $200 transfer tax in order to purchase the gun. This is what is know as an ATF "Form 4" transfer. Once the transfer is approved by the ATF NFA branch the gun is yours. Part of the ATF "Form 4" transfer process involves your local Chief Law Enforcement Officers "CLEO" signature on the application, prior to sending it off to the Sheriff. Most CLEO's in major metropolitan areas in Texas refuse to sign the forms. Austin, Texas is the only major city in Texas I am aware of the will sign any ATF Form 4 for any type of NFA firearm. In your case, (it looks like you are from Houston) you are pretty much out of luck getting any CLEO in Harris County to sign unless as you mentioned before you are buddies with a local PD Chief. *However* while you cannot purchase the firearm personally without a CLEO signature a Legal Trust or Corporation can. The reasons for this are beyond the scope of this brief introduction. But it is safe to say that if you start a Texas Corp, LLC, or have a Trust set up this entity can purchase the gun without the consent/signature of the CLEO in your area. As an individual you do not give up any of your Constitutional rights when purchasing an NFA firearm. (MG, SBR, SBS, DD, or AOW). However, as an FFL you definately lose some rights in the process as you open premises and books for inspection at the ATFs choosing. Be aware however, in Texas all machineguns are "illegal" and it is a defense to prosecution if the gun is owned in compliance with federal regulations. Basically, this means that the onerous is on you as the individual to prove your innocence vs. the government having to prove you are guilty. The net of which is that it is highly advisable to carry a copy of your registration paperwork with you whenever you are in possession of the gun and provide it to any law enforcement officer who asks. Otherwise you may "beat the rap, but not the ride". As for confiscation, I think that it is a pretty remote chance this will ever happen. There really are not enough guns to worry about and they are all so expensive at this point that the chance of them used criminally is really almost zero. Today most transferable machineguns sit under lock and key in a safe or vault and require alot of money and patience to aquire. It's not like your average mall shooter is going to pay $10,000 and wait 3 months to get a legal machinegun when your run of the mill semi AK is $399 and a 5 minute NICs check away. This is just my personal opinion, but the biggest threat to private machinegun ownership is one of two things. A. A ban on any future transfers. You get to keep what you got but thats it. Government takes the gun when you die. California style assault weapons law. B. A new semi-automatic "assault weapon" ban that also includes a high cap magazine ban. This could come in two forms. 1B. Governments says you can keep your high caps, but they have to be legally modified to only hold no more than 10 rounds. AKA Canada style law. 2B. Government says you can keep the mags you have got but you can't purchase any additional high cap mags. So while you could purchase a new machinegun, you couldn't legally get any mags for it. When you die the machinegun can transfer but the mags can't, and then who really wants a machinegun with a 10rd or less magazine. Both of these senarios would not require the uglyness of confiscation from the original owners and the government would probably not have to pay you a dime for lost property as you technically got to keep it. Hope this helps James Austin, Texas |