Thoughts on buying a collection.... Pros/Cons

[smokey]

Great opportunity to get a FFL out of your home address. Make a wix website and do it by appt only.

 

[Melnic]

Well
You could just keep them all and have your self a small collection there
Yes , small


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[lazarus]

Awesome guys…. We will use Tyler’s for the long guns and the rest I will go through MSP. I have a designated collector letter so I’m good to go there. I’m SUPER glad to hear the $10 few is per 77r….. that will save me some $$.

How stupid is it that MSP can do “regulated”, but can’t do long guns? Maryland…. Home of the dumbest gun laws ever….

Super dumb. Though IIRC it is partly an issue that MSP can't do a NICS for a gun transfer, and they aren't empowered by the law to do all of the other state background checking that a 77r/regulated handgun transfer requires. As a point, when a 77r is done by a licensee, the 4473 and NICS is done by the licensee, not by the state police.

So if police were to do a long gun transfer, the best they could do was register it in a state database, OR put you through the 77r process and all of the time that takes. I mean, they COULD change their systems so that all of the state databases got checked right away, but that is not how it is setup today. The whole 22 (or whoever many) state database checking process doesn't take long, but it is not 100% automated so far as I have heard.

Anyway, that is my (possibly mistaken) understanding. Lawmakers didn't empower MSP to do it, and if they DID, it would require a lot of changes to their systems both to register it (or keep a record of the transfer, as even for regulated firearms it isn't a real registration system MSP has), as well as conduct all of the checks quickly. OR you'd be stuck with a waiting period of some sort.

I do agree, in an ideal world (ha) where universal background checks are required (ew) then police, at least state police, but ideally local also, would be required to conduct transfers and those should be no more painful than an FFL doing a 4473 and NICS check and it should be at no, or at most nominal cost like a 77r is now ($10 for however many guns).

 

[lseries]

I hope one of the lawyers here will weigh in, but isn't acquiring a gun with the intent to transfer ownership to someone else the definition of a straw purchase? Why would that not apply to selling unwanted parts of the collection as described here in any venue?

 

[Bob A]

Collectors of all sorts of things will sometimes buy someone else's collection, and recoup some of the expense by selling off the stuff that's surplus to their needs.

I think that it is considered a normal aspect of collecting.

Doing it over and over would be engaging in business. A one-shot deal, not so much.

Trading off a big chunk of a collection to someone who has a particularly pricey item that the collector desires is also done. A previous IP here suggested that that would be a reasonable way to purchase something like a machine gun. (Thanks a bunch, BATF/NFA).

 

[rseymorejr]

I hope one of the lawyers here will weigh in, but isn't acquiring a gun with the intent to transfer ownership to someone else the definition of a straw purchase? Why would that not apply to selling unwanted parts of the collection as described here in any venue?

Straw purchase is buying a gun for a specific person, usually prohibited. Buying a collection and selling off some of it seems different to me. And a one shot deal like this doesn't seem like the ATF would consider it "engaging in business". I it was me and I could get a deal I'd just do it and if I decide to sell a few next week I'd just go ahead and do that too.

 

[rbird7282]

Awesome guys…. We will use Tyler’s for the long guns and the rest I will go through MSP. I have a designated collector letter so I’m good to go there. I’m SUPER glad to hear the $10 few is per 77r….. that will save me some $$.

How stupid is it that MSP can do “regulated”, but can’t do long guns? Maryland…. Home of the dumbest gun laws ever….

Because long guns don’t require a 77R, just a 4473 and a NICS check


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[AliasNeo07]

I haven't done this nearly as long as others, but in my time doing this, I find most people don't actually shoot their guns very often, if ever. Every time I go to sell a used gun, its obvious that it is USED (although well maintained.) When I look through the "used" case at my LGS or the few times I've bought "used" guns, they look damn near brand new lol.

If they're guns you're interested in, and any of them are marketable, I'd say sell the ones you don't like to pay for the ones you do. Assuming you buy at the right price, you get a few free guns out of the deal. Not bad.

 

[sakislayer716]

I haven't done this nearly as long as others, but in my time doing this, I find most people don't actually shoot their guns very often, if ever. Every time I go to sell a used gun, its obvious that it is USED (although well maintained.) When I look through the "used" case at my LGS or the few times I've bought "used" guns, they look damn near brand new lol.

If they're guns you're interested in, and any of them are marketable, I'd say sell the ones you don't like to pay for the ones you do. Assuming you buy at the right price, you get a few free guns out of the deal. Not bad.

That's the plan..... There are several I really wanted and several I either have no interest in, or already have..... I love deals!

 

[lazarus]

I hope one of the lawyers here will weigh in, but isn't acquiring a gun with the intent to transfer ownership to someone else the definition of a straw purchase? Why would that not apply to selling unwanted parts of the collection as described here in any venue?

Nope. You'd have to look at what exactly that transfer was. I can buy a gun with the intent to GIFT it. I cannot buy a gun on someone else's behalf. For example, I can buy a deer rifle to gift to my son. That is a perfectly legal purchase.

The issue is "in the business of" that the ATF runs with. Heck, I could by a gun I know my neighbor has been looking for and can't buy (I don't know, on a business trip) with the intent to transfer it to him...supposing we then go to an FFL and do the proper background check. Now, to not run afoul of the ATF rules on "in the business of", I'd need to be buying it and charging him no more than my costs. That is hardly a business transaction if I am not making any money.

Straw purchases are not necessarily straight forward. Now, usually if you think it might not be okay, it probably isn't.

 

[sakislayer716]

I’m certainly not try to make any money, I just want to sell what I don’t want to pay for what I do want. If I can’t sell some, so be it… It was an unbelievable deal that nobody would pass up….

 

[Docster]

I agree with this.
If the OP is buying 25 guns and flips 2-3 of them, I don't see an issue. Conversely, if he is buying 25 guns and flipping 15 of them, he would be in the business of selling firearms.

^^THIS. Again and again. Never thought it a wise move to answer questions from a newbie wit just a few posts.

Any post like this by a new account raises a red flag for me. I can just hear it now; "when our representative, Karen, created an account on Maryland shooters, the website of a violent militia, her query was met with suggestions of potentially illegal activity. Mad mommies will continue to do everything we can to disarm people!"

^^THIS. Again and again. Never thought it a wise move to answer questions from a newbie with just a few posts, especially with comments like "you probably could get away with it" etc.
This is a public forum and I prefer to stay a little paranoid