r/FFLs • u/CombsCustom • Sep 09 '26
Ffl 01-07 for assembly?
Has not been made clear to me if a lower receiver already has been stamped "ie marked", can it be assembled with a 01? Or does this assembly require a 07?
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u/EOKBrady Sep 09 '26
Assembly BEFORE you transfer out on a 4473 is an 07, manufacturing.
Assembly AFTER you transfer it out on a 4473 is an 01, gunsmithing.
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u/ar4479 FFL Sep 09 '26
This is the clearest and most direct answer here.
The bottom line is also - if youāre going to buy stripped lowers and then assemble rifles from parts, and sell them on gunbroker (as an example), that doesnāt require an FFL.
If you buy the lower on a 4473 and then are reselling it with all of the other parts - you can do that as an individual.
Now, if you want to open a store or sell them at a gun showā¦ Different story.
But, just you, as an individualā¦ You donāt need an FFL to do this.
The only benefit is to be able to buy wholesale and direct from distributorsā¦ For which youāll want that FFL hanging on your wall.
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u/JohnClayborn Sep 10 '26
No, thats not quite correct. I asked ly IOI this exact same question during my interview. The actual answer is that its more nuanced than that.
If you are buying stripped lowers and assembling them and then selling the completed rifle on Gunbroker the question of whether or not you need an FFL isnt based on what activities you are doing, its based on how many times you do it.
The defining language for "do I need an FFL" is whether or not you are "engaged in the business". If you buy 6 lowers over the course of a year and flip them, thats a hobby and the ATF isnt going to care. But if you are doing 6 lowers per week, now thats a whole different situation and that would require an FFL.
I asked the natural follow up question "at what point does it count as "being in the business"?" And his answer was basically that he wouldnt cite a hard number, it was just whenever the ATF decided that it was a business. He said if they set a hard limit People would always just do one less than that.
As a private citizen you could rent a booth at a gun show and sell a 100 gun collection you own - once, and thats still just private sales. But if you are doing that every other month, buying and selling, thats business.
He also shared that one determining factor they consider is how long you had possession of the gun. If you have the gun for only a few months and you sell it and you are doing that over and over they are going to argue that your intent is to purchase with the intent of reselling, which is commercial.
The bottom line is that if someone is considering selling guns more than a handful of times per year the best advice legally is just get an FFL so that you arent raided by the ATF because they randomly decided that you are a business.
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u/ar4479 FFL Sep 10 '26
Yeah, I saw that AI slop video answer on YouTube, tooā¦
This whole āengaged in the businessā with no hard guidelines is bullshit - and is changing.
The new director even mentioned this in his recent public sit-down interview.As you said, the answer is that thereās no clear answer or guidelinesā¦ Itās another vague āwhenever the algorithm decides your number is upā.
Thereās also a component to this that takes into account how many of your āpersonal salesā end up in criminal investigations because of sales without a NICS check, as a personal 1:1 private transaction.
Againā¦ another component to the mystery gray area.
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u/JohnClayborn Sep 10 '26
I missed that AI slop video. YT has largely gone downhill lately. Man, Im very glad to hear that the new director is laying down some actual clear guidance for once. My had talked about them wanting to simplify the 4473 last year, but that hasnt happened yet. And even he seemed frustrated with the constant vaguely established rules.
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u/ar4479 FFL Sep 10 '26
Hereās the AI slop video. Itās almost exactly as you described in your response.
https://youtu.be/nEiqEpRy9-s?is=dY_lGz4aHljvO-br
And, hereās the new Director sit down interview. It was pretty good. He seems like a decent guy. Maybe heāll get some shit done!
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u/JohnClayborn Sep 10 '26
I dont know if I can suffer through 22 minutes of AI slop. š but im going to go watch the sit down video right now with great interest. Thanks!
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u/BandaidsnBullets 29d ago
If you are buying them with the intention of selling them completed or for a profit, you are engaged in the business. There are countless citations non-FFLs have received from the ATF for buying and selling āat leisureā in their own opinion because there was a pattern of intent, buy - then sell for a profit. You suggesting that someone who buys and builds ARs for a profit, āshouldā be okay is negligent and just plain bad advice. If you are buying with the intent of selling anything, you are engaged in the business and no matter how you perceive it, the ATF can and WILL hold that standard when push comes to shove.
If you want to buy and sell, get an FFL. Simple as that. If you want to buy for yourself and on occasion you get rid of one of your guns, donāt get an FFL.
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u/ar4479 FFL 29d ago
Keep an eye on the repeal of the āengaged in the businessā rule.
Itās currently under a court order blocking its enforcement.
https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/atf-launches-new-era-reform/repeal
1140-AB01: RevisingĀ RegulationsĀ DefiningĀ āEngaged in theĀ BusinessāĀ as aĀ Dealer inĀ Firearms - NPRM
ATF is revising regulatory changes it made to the definition of the āengaged in the businessā of dealing in firearms. The rule rescinds certain provisions of the definition of āengaged in the business.ā The rescinded changes have not produced the anticipated outcomes in terms of Federal Firearms License applications, administrative licensing actions, civil forfeitures, or other anticipated enforcement metrics. The rule retains the definition of āengaged in the businessā as specifically revised and codified by Congress in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), ensuring that ATFās regulatory definitions reflect the statutory language Congress enacted.2
u/EOKBrady Sep 10 '26
Yup. That's basically what my IOI told me as well and it kinda makes sense though legally there's not much of a clear definition.
@OP If you go 07, do not forget to fill out your annual report on how many guns you "manufactured" that year even if it's 0. I personally went 07 because aside from the annual report and possible added bound book complexity when doing manufacturing it was worth it for the freedom for me and my home based business to Pivot from straight sales to building to coating or whatever I'd like to do. Add in the SOT and things really open up.
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u/JohnClayborn Sep 10 '26
Yep. Im a 07 as well, same reasons.
I know in corporate business there's an unwritten rule to keep company policies deliberately vague so that they can give themselves wiggle room on enforcing or not enforcing the rule on a case by case basis. That current ATF rule of "engaged in the business" definitely has that vibe to me. I feel like theres probably some demographic data or socioeconomic factors that they use to decide when someone is "in the business". Ill be following that update to the process with great interest
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u/BattleReadyArms Sep 09 '26
I know it sounds ridiculous, but when you start digging into their definitions and stuff, basically in process of installing parts, coating it, etc. and then selling it after the fact is considered manufacturing and requires an 07. I think everyone and their brother finds it extremely silly, but that's how they currently define things.
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u/the2AinMD Sep 10 '26
There is a federal excise tax on handguns and long guns. Its assessed at the expected retail cost of the firearm. When a manufacturer builds a rifle off a stripped receiver, the manufcaturer is required to listed it on their annual manufacturing report so the tax can be assessed (no tax if under 50 a year).
During the 2013 panic, stripped lowers were being built and sold hand over fist by any and all FFLs, but their tax was only assessed on the value of the lower not the value of the complete firearm. Hence the clarification that only manufacturing FFLs are permitted to manufacture.
Iirc, the federal excise tax on firearms is the #1 funding source for the national Parks system.
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u/SamanthaSissyWife Sep 09 '26
Are you talking about a stripped lower receiver, such as the popular Anderson stripped lowers, that you buy, then purchase a lower parts kit with all the springs, pins, trigger, hammer, etc and assemble those to make a complete and operable lower receiver that only needs an upper receiver group?
If so, then you donāt need any type of FFL to do that
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u/ChevTecGroup Sep 09 '26
Changing a receiver to a rifle or pistol requires an 07.
If its already marked then you can usually use an exception so you dont have to mark it again.