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The Time To Become A Gun Dealer Is NOW

Fifteen years ago there were 23 federal firearms licenses issued in Belchertown. Today, there are three. "I would say is a severe drop," said Rich Kimball, R & R sale of arms, 450 State St., and one of three remaining licensees.

Stricter regulations of federal licensing dating back to 1993, plus the general climate of Massachusetts, with some of the toughest laws for firearms in the country, have made it difficult for gun dealers in the State of Bahia, According to Kimball. The combination, he says, "has caused many dealers to leave the company."

Since 1994, the number of federal licensing of firearms – FFL – issued in Massachusetts has decreased from 4109 to 531, or by 87 percent. A federally licensed firearms permit is necessary for any business that makes, repairs, sells, imports or engages in the display of firearms or ammunition. A federal license is also required for companies that make or importing of "destructive devices", specialized heavy weapons such as bean sprouts firearms or weapons bag, which can be fitted to fire explosives illegally.

The total number of federal licensing of firearms in Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties, fell by 76 percent, 446 to 120. Eighty-six of the 120 licenses are licenses of type 1, required for arms dealers. There are 26 Type 7 licenses are issued to dealers, four Type 8 licenses for importers of arms and three Type 6 licenses to manufacturers of ammunition.

There are two type 10 licenses issued to manufacturers of destructive devices or ammunition for destructive devices. Kollmorgen, Northampton company that works for the Department of Defense, holds one, and ZM Weapons, a high performance manufacturer of weapons in Bernardston, holds the other.

Among individual communities across the three counties, the decline in total numbers of federal licensing of firearms is drastic. Springfield used to have 72 total licensees, there are now 10. Three of them are in the hands of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and one by the Springfield Library and Museums Association, who needs to show his collection of weapons. Westfield went from 44 to nine, Chicopee, from 38 to seven, and Greenfield, who once had 20 FFL holders, which now has one. In 1993 there were 240,000 federally licensed firearms issued nationwide.

As noted in time by a pro-gun control, there were more licensed dealers of firearms in the United States than there were gas stations. Since then the number has dropped to about 109,000, or 62 percent, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff, Firearms and Explosives.

The decrease is part of a national trend that goes back two pieces of legislation, according to the federal agency that oversees licensing. The first is the Brady bill, named for the White House, James Brady, who was shot in an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981.

It increased the license fee of $ 10 per year to $ 200 for the first three years and $ 90 for each renewal for three years. The second piece of legislation was the control of violent crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also known as the Criminal Law. It requires applicants for federal licenses to notify your local law enforcement department and submit fingerprints with a photo to go with the application and certify that their companies adhere to local zoning regulations. It also requires gun dealers to have a place established for its stores to be separated from their residences.

This eliminates many amateur and part-time traders. At that time, the Clinton administration was worried about the smaller arms dealers operating under the radar and possibly outside the law. Police departments complained that the dealer licenses easy to obtain and difficult to follow, are often the last to know to whom licenses were issued. Kimball said that with the highest rates and the demand front of the store, many smaller retailers has just decided that it no longer worthwhile. "It used to be you could get a license for your garage, basement or bedroom," he said.

"It took over most of the dealers". Nine of the 12 licenses granted in Agawam are held by four companies, Walter A. Meissner, Jr., Sports Car Distributors, Ltd Cortzar, Three-Ten Corp. and Taugwank Spur Corp, which all operate from one location: 396 Main St. Three-10 Corp is a small arms development and research  busines that is chaired by Alma E. Marcinkiewicz, of Agawam. The Taugawank Spur Corp. is an arms sale and real estate business owned by Ronald L. Gaudette, also of Agawam. Cortazar LTD. is a small arms importer, manufacturer and distributor.

It is owned by James L. Hansmann. Gaudette said the four share a location to comply with the law that requires a store. None of them is a major distributor, and sharing a place is cheaper than each store individually, he said. Meissner said that once you stop for small traders, but now feels that the government has overstepped its bounds.

"It has gone too far – too far," he said. James L. Wallace, executive director of the Northboro-based Gun Owners Action League (GOAL), agrees, saying the legislation did nothing to force a lot of law-abiding merchants out of business. "The state decided to firearms retailers should not have the same rights to run a small business like any other business owner," he said.

Most small businesses were in rural parts of the state. Residents of troops out of those areas to travel further to find licensed distributors said. In short, federal law and state regulations did little to fight crime, says Wallace, but have failed to put a lot of honest traders of the company. He also cited the gun control Act of 1998 Massachusetts, which he said passed more layers of restrictions and regulations for the purchase and sale of firearms.

West Springfield Police Chief Thomas E. Burke said the new rules were a good thing for the police, though dealers can not agree. "It is difficult at mom and pop retailers who would sell weapons," he said. West Springfield rose from 16 federal firearms licenseholders in 1993 to five today. Burke said that before the regulation, the police were hard to keep track of distributors. "There was a lot of things that were not aware of," he said. "It's good for us to know exactly where are the dealers," he said.

His department conducts audits of distributors once a year and sometimes makes surprise inspection to ensure that the registration books are in order, he said. Police may impose conditions for storage, such as safes in arms and, in some cases, burglar alarms, according to Burke. A major concern for police is that the weapons stolen in the robbery will go to the hands of criminals on the street, he said. Kimball, an arms dealer for 25 years, said that in the last decade the amount of paperwork and forms to fill out every time it receives an order for guns or sell one has increased dramatically.

Like all dealers, which is required to keep detailed records of all weapons into or out of his tent. The register must be available for inspection by authorities at any moment, and woe to any dealer whose registration does not match the inventory. "We can not make mistakes and jeopardize the business," he said. "We would be in trouble. Not sold more."

Click the video at the top of this page to get your FFL and become an arms dealer, while you still can.

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