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You asked "Do I need an attorney". To answer that question, think about this question: what can the attorney do for you?
The FFL has possession of the gun, and he has it completely legally: you gave it to him. An attorney can not change that. You can ask the FFL to return the gun to you. Will having that request come on the letterhead of an attorney make the FFL more likely to honor the request? Is there any mechanism you can apply pressure on the FFL? As CAL.BAR already explaining getting a superior court to enjoin the FFL (to return the gun to you and not hand it to law enforcement) will be slow and expensive.
The FFL is suspecting that a crime is being committed, namely possession or creation of an AW. In particular, if the FFL does not have an AW permit, they might suspect that they are inadvertently committing a crime right now. And given the looks of the gun and presence of a bullet button, that suspicion is not terribly unreasonable: Why would any sane person add a BB to a rifle, other than to make the rifle legal in the old days? But since the registration period for BB-equipped rifles has passed, at this point if the rifle were an AW with a BB, it either is now a registered AW (in which case the FFL can't sell it, unless he has an AW permit and is selling it outside the state), or it is not registered, meaning it is an illegal AW. Now, from what you have explained we know that this line of reasoning is faulty, but it is still perfectly reasonable.
The FFL has every right to contact law enforcement if they think a crime is being committed, in particular in order to protect themselves if they are worried that they are themselves in trouble. And law enforcement will do what they do; they will either look at the gun and say "not an AW, perfectly legal" and hand it back to the FFL, or they will say "we'll check more into this" and take the rifle as evidence. I think threatening the FFL with an attorney will, if anything, make it ore likely that they will ask law enforcement for assistance, to cover their behind. And threatening the police with an attorney is unlikely to accomplish anything, other than waste money.
I would wait until the FFL has dealt with law enforcement. At that point, if they still have the rifle, they will probably be happy to return it to you. And if is taken by law enforcement, you will know which agency has it, and you can begin the usual process (LEGR and all) of having it returned to you. And if they determine that it really is an AW, then there is still ample time to get an attorney.
The FFL has possession of the gun, and he has it completely legally: you gave it to him. An attorney can not change that. You can ask the FFL to return the gun to you. Will having that request come on the letterhead of an attorney make the FFL more likely to honor the request? Is there any mechanism you can apply pressure on the FFL? As CAL.BAR already explaining getting a superior court to enjoin the FFL (to return the gun to you and not hand it to law enforcement) will be slow and expensive.
The FFL is suspecting that a crime is being committed, namely possession or creation of an AW. In particular, if the FFL does not have an AW permit, they might suspect that they are inadvertently committing a crime right now. And given the looks of the gun and presence of a bullet button, that suspicion is not terribly unreasonable: Why would any sane person add a BB to a rifle, other than to make the rifle legal in the old days? But since the registration period for BB-equipped rifles has passed, at this point if the rifle were an AW with a BB, it either is now a registered AW (in which case the FFL can't sell it, unless he has an AW permit and is selling it outside the state), or it is not registered, meaning it is an illegal AW. Now, from what you have explained we know that this line of reasoning is faulty, but it is still perfectly reasonable.
The FFL has every right to contact law enforcement if they think a crime is being committed, in particular in order to protect themselves if they are worried that they are themselves in trouble. And law enforcement will do what they do; they will either look at the gun and say "not an AW, perfectly legal" and hand it back to the FFL, or they will say "we'll check more into this" and take the rifle as evidence. I think threatening the FFL with an attorney will, if anything, make it ore likely that they will ask law enforcement for assistance, to cover their behind. And threatening the police with an attorney is unlikely to accomplish anything, other than waste money.
I would wait until the FFL has dealt with law enforcement. At that point, if they still have the rifle, they will probably be happy to return it to you. And if is taken by law enforcement, you will know which agency has it, and you can begin the usual process (LEGR and all) of having it returned to you. And if they determine that it really is an AW, then there is still ample time to get an attorney.
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