Is FFL123 a joke?

[Jaybeez]

Don't conduct business from your home even if it is the business address listed. Internet sales come to mind. That's the direction I'm going with my business. I'll keep everyone posted on how it pans out for me.

Personally I wouldn't want to sell firearms from my house. The internet on the other hand. I'll try it. If I do sell any locally, within a certain radius I may conduct business at a purchasers home. If I get deliveries it will be picked up at the shipping location and none will be delivered to my house.

Have you ever heard of a firearms dealer that delivers or makes house calls. Imagine being able to purchase from the comfort of your home. Paper work brought to you. Firearm delivered to you.

Just a thought. It could work well for people with physical disabilities.
that may want home protection but can't get out to file the paper work.

I don't think off premises business is legal at all. if you did it you would have to follow the same rules as a gun show, and that would be pretty tough to do considering MD's laws on gun shows. iirc you have to pay the state police for each show and you can only do a few shows in MD per year.

on the federal side, the business premises need to be available for atf inspection, I don't think your customers would appreciate that.

 

[Kharn]

And as long as they are recognized as a collector by the state of Md. that 'gun show' can be anywhere at any time.

Notice it is called an "exhibition" and not a "show" in the regs for designated collectors?

The ATF also doesn't care about cute state designations such as collectors, either it is a legit gun show or you're in violation. And if no one else does business at that location on that day, its not a gun show.

 

[ThumperIII]

There are probably a number of other issues/legalities for an FFL in Maryland. It may be worth your time to contact NRA. They have a section that specializes in assisting individuals in setting up legal FFL operations. From how to write a business plan and all the legal hoops and forms you need. I believe it is free and actually can do a lot more for establishing a legitimate business than those online rip sites that promise a lot and basically send you the free forms for a fee.

 

[matt.ruszala]

I like that.

Hook up with a liquor store and cigarettes and call the store ATF. People will come from all around for the novelty. I bet you would get a lot of free publicity too.

It won't help me keep the overhead down. Seriously though. I'd like to do this the old fashioned way. Start small, reinvest income and grow. I don't want a business loan and certainly can't float a ton of merchadise at this point in time. I'll take all the information I get here and make notes and work it out. I haven't read all the information I have yet but I'm working on it. I'm in no hurry either. Timing is everything.

 

[tball]

If you called the combined Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms store ATF, you could have hats and T-shirts and make a mint selling them.

 

[matt.ruszala]

Just think

If you called the combined Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms store ATF, you could have hats and T-shirts and make a mint selling them.

let's add explosives! You could state in advertising "All your smokin', drinkin', shootin' and blowin' up needs all in a one stop shop.

 

[uscoastiee]

Is it safe to assume that the silence on this thread means things are moving slowly, or not at all?

Any updates?

 

[Kharn]

What is there to move? For $40 they send you a CD with a copy of every freely-available ATF form out there and tell you to read the instruction sheet, just like every other "Start your own _____, we'll help with the licenses" scam.

 

[Biggfoot44]

At least in Md , the hitch is the zoning complience. To obtain a for real liscensed bussiness premise will require $ up front , and a substantial monthly cashflow to cover the overhead , and still break even. Short of going big from the start , the best bet is to have some other succuesful small business , and add a gun counter / gun room .

 

[Jaybeez]

At least in Md , the hitch is the zoning complience. To obtain a for real liscensed bussiness premise will require $ up front , and a substantial monthly cashflow to cover the overhead , and still break even. Short of going big from the start , the best bet is to have some other succuesful small business , and add a gun counter / gun room .

Zoning is county by county, and sometimes town by town. At least until plan maryland goes into full effect, and the state takes over.

 

[A1Uni]

We used FFL123 in our research before we got our FFL and Maryland Regulated Dealer license. It was a big help and well worth the money. It helps you understand the process in advance and helps you avoid some common pitfalls.

FFL123 is designed mostly for folks who are trying to work from home, but it can be very useful to anyone who wants an FFL. I should add that it does not help with state licensing at all, but since you can't even apply for a MRD license without having a FFL, it did move us forward.

In reading through the thread, it seems some think an FFL can do a transfer anywhere, which is positively not true. You may conduct business at the address on your FFL, and at bonafide gun shows, (not gun shows out of your trunk) and there are limitations on gun show activities.

 

[uscoastiee]

I was able to view the content of FFL123.com, and it appeared to be very helpful. At least allthe info was in one place, and seemed pretty organized for the most part.

But as stated above, there wasn't a lot about state specific licenses. There was a section about what to do if zoning is an issue, the basic answer seemed to be: change your business plan to be an internet business.

I was wondering if anyone had luck getting their FFL, since this thread started.

 

[matt.ruszala]

Not me. Hit a brick wall with Baltimore City zoning. I have my Web Site up. WWW.SAFE-DPP.COM. I found a pretty good supplier, internet gateway and credit transaction capabilities. I'm a bare bones operation. To support the business it costs about $450 a month. I'm working on optimization now for search hits. I haven't been all up in it to get the most out of it but I'm going to hang in there for a while.

My goal is to justify filing for a variance with the city for Zoning. (Can't have any inventory on the property if it is ecommerce) I don't know about anyone else but if I sell a gun I want it in my hands first and then sell on the net or to known associates) I Need to get traffic and sales on the site before I do that. Once that obstacle is smashed then I need to approach the state police and the local law enforcement to accept my internet business and small inventory ( the size of a small safe, refrigerator size). Once that is signed off on. At that point you can file for the FFL and get an interview.

No easy task. I have an unbelievable inventory of all kinds of outdoor goodies, ammo, gear knives. I haven't posted it on this forum. It just doesn't seem proper to self promote here.

In the end. I swear by FFL123. It is up to the individual if having all the documents you need at one place for the price. Sure, you can find it all, with time. It's all right there at FFL123.

 

[A1Uni]

It is dirt cheap too. No more than a nice lunch out, so what do you really have to lose?

I will say one thing that they won't like.

Since you need an FFL (the really hard part of the process) to get/apply for your Class 3 credentials (SOT), and that is basically just a $500.00 a year tax, the additional Class 3 program they sell is really not necessary, though if you are truly uninformed, it would not be a waste of money.

Kind of off topic, but working with the ATF (at least the Baltimore Field Office) was super easy, and they were really helpful.

We were expecting a long wait and an interview with the ATF at their offices, before an onsite inspection, but from mailing the application to the issuance of the license took less than two months, 54 days in fact.

The ATF sent out an official to sit with us and go over the regs and give us sample forms, and then she actually gave us our license number, which arrived in the mail 5 days later. That was the only personal contact we had with them.

 

[matt.ruszala]

Glad to here it went smoothly for you. I wish I was in a position to invest in a true store front. No such luck at this time though. Do you have a website?

 

[A1Uni]

Glad to here it went smoothly for you. I wish I was in a position to invest in a true store front. No such luck at this time though. Do you have a website?

Yes, but nothing firearms related on it yet. We have been a uniform and police supply company for over 25 years and just recently went into firearms. We hope to have a new indoor range up and running on our 20,000 SQF warehouse within a year or so.

The firearms sales/accessories/services pages of the website are in the works and coming shortly.

http://www.a1uniforms.com/

 

[The Shooter]

Hook up with a liquor store and cigarettes and call the store ATF. People will come from all around for the novelty. I bet you would get a lot of free publicity too.

I lived in a small town in North Carolina called Stalely for a few years. There was a gas station that sold everything smokes, alcohol, guns, ammo, hunting/ fishing supplies, ice cream cones even general groceries. it was a great place only the size of a Royal Farms up here. We often joked that it should have been named ATF.

 

[Ridler12]

Hey guys,

I know this is an old post. However, I would like to revive it if I could. there are some new points that have come up in regards to FFL123 and I wanted to know if there were any real people here that had real results with the company.
They now have a second web site business called "FFLTrust.com" that is the exact same site, with the same pics of the product. When I e-mailed FFL123 and asked about this, here's the exact response I received"
"They are try to steal my content, sorry for the confusion."

????
yeah, sounds like someone from Nigeria is answering their e-mail.
FFLTrust has a nice pic of their HQ, but google earth shows the neighborhood is actually county buildings.
FFL123 has a nice pic of their HQ with signage, but google earth shows the buildings have no signs on them.
There's an old Italian saying, "if the head of the fish stinks, the whole fish stinks"
just that they would have ANY deception tells me they are not trustworthy.
BUT
if anyone here has real world dealings with them, I would like to know if after a few years of having your FFL if you have faced any problems having used this company to attain it.
Thanks.

 

[rseymorejr]

Hook up with a liquor store and cigarettes and call the store ATF. People will come from all around for the novelty. I bet you would get a lot of free publicity too.

Open it in Northern Virginia or Montgomery County and you would get all the free publicity that you could handle!

 

[L8agin]

Hey guys,

I know this is an old post. However, I would like to revive it if I could. there are some new points that have come up in regards to FFL123 and I wanted to know if there were any real people here that had real results with the company.
They now have a second web site business called "FFLTrust.com" that is the exact same site, with the same pics of the product. When I e-mailed FFL123 and asked about this, here's the exact response I received"
"They are try to steal my content, sorry for the confusion."

????
yeah, sounds like someone from Nigeria is answering their e-mail.
FFLTrust has a nice pic of their HQ, but google earth shows the neighborhood is actually county buildings.
FFL123 has a nice pic of their HQ with signage, but google earth shows the buildings have no signs on them.
There's an old Italian saying, "if the head of the fish stinks, the whole fish stinks"
just that they would have ANY deception tells me they are not trustworthy.
BUT
if anyone here has real world dealings with them, I would like to know if after a few years of having your FFL if you have faced any problems having used this company to attain it.
Thanks.

I sent FFL123 a message yesterday and got a coherent response back. I am looking into ordering their guide. If A1 says it's worth it, I'm inclined to give them a try.