It seems reasonable to me that if you sell more than X number of firearms in a month/year then you are in the business of selling firearms. What number for X is reasonable? I'm not sure... but it seems like there should be a number that is high enough to not inhibit regular Joes from selling items that they no longer need/want and yet low enough to not allow the "professional private seller" to bypass the hurdles that FFLs face.OldCannon wrote:Actually, as an FFL, I would welcome a type of "gun show loophole" closure - that a gun show can either exclusively have private sellers or only allow sales by FFLs as a "sanctioned event." The reason I say this is that it would eliminate the "professional private seller" that you see working tables at just about every gun show on the weekends. These folks buy and sell used guns all the time and operate in the "private sale" bubble. The challenge is that there aren't enough ATF people to enforce existing laws on private sellers that are genuinely operating "in the business" of selling firearms, which requires a license (and all that nasty paperwork, you know?). So, right now, FFLs who have gone through great trouble and expense to operate a business (and all that pesky sales tax stuff) are receiving "competition" from sellers that have all the benefits and none of the overhead. It would not surprise me, in fact, if the ATF passed such a ruling, as it would require no statutory law, merely a clarification of what a "sanctioned event" is.chasfm11 wrote:The Feds can drive up FFL costs and will use a law to close the "gun show loophole."
Of course, this is my solitary opinion, and it is clearly colored by my perspective (now) as an FFL. It's definitely not something I've suggested to the ATF (nor would I), but it's definitely an annoyance among the FFLs I know.
As for price gouging in general, I fully support a property owner's right to charge whatever the heck he wants for his property. I also support the customer's right to complain/protest if they feel that the seller is unreasonable. Should you be able to take advantage of circumstances to make a big profit? Sure you should. And if you do, you should be willing to face whatever backlash results. CTD can sell their PMAGS for $60. They won't sell them to me at that price. Nor will they sell anything else to me now. If the extra $45 per unit on their inventory of pmags was worth the loss of a customer to them, then that's their choice.