First off, it's called "free enterprise". Nobody likes to pay one way or the other . . that's human nature. Is $10, $25, $50 too much? That is "in the eye of the beholder". However, a business is in business to make money . . . not break even. Where I live (MI) and I purchase a firearm in a store, it takes a good 20 to 30 minutes to get it done. It's my understanding that if a FFL does your transfer and there is a problem, it's their butt on the line. I have a friend who owns a large gun shop and every year the BATF are camped out in his basement going over his records to see that every T is crossed and every I is dotted.
Put yourself in the shoes of the gun shop owner. If they will do FFL transfers . . . (and more power to them if they do) . . . you are buying a weapon from some one else but asking them to do the paperwork . . . when they very likely could have sold you the same gun (in most cases). That's like buying your tires from the Sears Roebuck catalog, putting them on your car and then going to the local tire store to ask for air to fill them up.
There are two sides to every issue. In the end, if you feel that a $50 transfer fee by an FFL is too much . . . you have the option of going elsewhere and finding someone who will do it cheaper. Non of us like paying higher prices for things . . . even the guy who owns the gun store . . . but that's a fact of life. I am no martyr . . . but there are times that I will buy things locally that may cost a little more, but I know that the local store needs a community's support. If not, it's not going to be there the next time I need something. It's kind of like people who will waste $5.00 in gas to drive 20 miles to save a dollar on something.
If an FFL charges $50 for a transfer .. . then they probably have a good reason. . . especially if it's a smaller LGS. They don't have the buying power that a large chain store does. They don't get 90 or 120 day billing like chain stores do. Chances are, many items, primers, powder, whatever . . cost them more than someone like a large chain store and they have to take a lower profit margin on it in order to compete with the chain stores. As a result, they have to make up for that loss somewhere and such things as transfer fees help do that. Everyone who is not self-employe and who works for someone else expects their pay check at the end of the week. The guy who owns the LGS has to pay his overhead, pay his bills, pay his help, pay his withholding, pay his insurances, etc. . . at the end of it all . . . there's no guarantee that HE is going to have enough left over to pay himself so he can pay his own personal bills.
Those are the things you have to consider . . . it's not about "a dollar in is a dollar profit". . . . or they are "ripping you off". You still have the option of turning around and leaving if you don't want to pay their price . . . the same option you have when you pull in to a gas station, a hardware store or a grocery store. If they are good enough to do a transfer and assume liability, they are providing a service the same as anybody else. If you think that service is too high . . . wait until the next time you need a plumber or a furnace man who will have a minimum fee just to show up. In the end . . . people who work, don't and shouldn't do it for nothing.
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Originally Posted by meshugunner
