Sunday, 5 July 2015

As nearly every member knows, the Club has a Federal Firearms License, which allows us to purchase firearms, and to receive firearms from FFLs and other sellers in order to transfer them to their purchaser.  The FFL must be renewed every 3 years, and the current FFL expires on March 1, 2016.  The renewal process will start in early January, 2016.  The club also pays for a Class 3 Special Occupational Tax (SOT)to allow us to deal in National Firearms Act (NFA) devices.  The Class 3 SOT is renewed every year, and expires on June 30.  Use of the Class 3 is a bit different than the FFL itself, and is not part of this article.  If you have questions about the Class 3 SOT, please talk with one of the FFL holders (see the "Officers, Directors, Chairpersons" entry in "The Board" menu item on the left side of the CRGC web site, or send an e-mail to crgc@canby.com.

Using the FFL to purchase firearms is something that can only be done by authorized club members, but using the FFL to receive firearms can be initiated by any member.  When you purchase a firearm, and do not take possession of it immediately (for instance in a purchase in a firearm auction on the Internet, or when you are actually at a seller's location, but you don't want to take the firearm with you), then you need to have it shipped.  If you have already taken possession of the firearm, but don't want to take it with you, you can have it shipped to yourself, to be opened only by yourself, or you can have it shipped to CRGC.  If you have not taken possession of the firearm, then the seller (dealer or otherwise) must ship the firearm to another FFL to complete the transfer.  You may choose to have the firearm shipped to CRGC.

In order to ship a firearm that has not been transferred to you, the seller must ship it to an FFL holder.  The seller must have a signed copy of the receiver's (e.g. CRGC's) FFL, and should verify that the receiver's FFL is legitimate and current using the ATF web site.  The easiest way for you to request a copy of the FFL is to send an e-mail to the club to request one, and give the seller's e-mail address in your e-mail request.  We will send a .pdf document which contains the scanned image of a signed copy of CRGC's FFL to you and to the seller whose e-mail address you have provided.  If the seller does not have an e-mail address, but you have provided a U.S. mail address, we will still send you a signed copy of the FFL, and send a printed copy of the signed FFL to the seller by U.S. mail.  Once you have a copy of CRGC's FFL, you do not need to request another one (unless the signed FFL you have is expired) if you purchase another firearm to be transferred to CRGC.

When the seller ships the firearm, it must be shipped to the physical address contained in the FFL (which is the address of CRGC's clubhouse).  The seller should include with the firearm a copy of the seller's FFL, if the seller has one, and a copy of the bill of sale.  If the seller does not send a copy of their FFL, then we must have an address and telephone number for the seller to deal with contingencies in the transfer - for example if the transfer is denied by the Oregon State Police.  Depending upon the circumstances, CRGC will need to know how to dispose of the firearm.

When CRGC receives a firearm to complete a sale - that is, to fill out the forms and do the background check required to complete a transfer - there is no difference between completing this sale and one that was initiated by CRGC by purchasing a firearm for sale to the member.  It is a standard process which we do several hundred times a year, and given that the recipient is a CRGC member (and therefore an honest, forthright, and upstanding good citizen) there is unlikely to be any problem.