Midway Won't Ship Ammo

[FourT6and2]

Got an email from Midway stating they will now ship to CA with FFL/COE. Uploaded my docs and attempted to purchase. Wouldn't let me check out. So I called. They told me they will not ship to someone with an 03 FFL. Has to be a "dealer" FFL. I politely explained to them CA law. 03 FFL is in compliance with law. They told me it was their own internal policy that will not ship to 03 FFL, even if CA law allows it.

Screw 'em. They just lost a customer for life. Not just on ammo.

[ar15barrels]

Got an email from Midway stating they will now ship to CA with FFL/COE. Uploaded my docs and attempted to purchase. Wouldn't let me check out. So I called. They told me they will not ship to someone with an 03 FFL. Has to be a "dealer" FFL. I politely explained to them CA law. 03 FFL is in compliance with law. They told me it was their own internal policy that will not ship to 03 FFL, even if CA law allows it.

Screw 'em. They just lost a customer for life. Not just on ammo.

This has been their policy for quite some time, like since CA passed the law requiring ammo to go to an FFL.
Post the email.

[cyphr02]

[blackrat]

This has been their policy for quite some time, like since CA passed the law requiring ammo to go to an FFL.
Post the email.

I just got the email as well, I've never bought ammo from midway before but what I took away from it is that after 2016 they wouldn't ship ammo to California period, but now they will ship to an FFL in this state and NY. I didn't see anything specific about FFL03/CoE holder's.

Dear Customer,
We’ve recently updated our policy for ammunition sales to California and New York and we’re now able to ship ammunition to the FFL of your choice. Due to state law, all ammunition going to California and New York must ship to a licensed FFL Dealer.

When checking out, if you agree to have the ammunition shipped to a licensed FFL Dealer then just continue with your order as usual, or else return to your Shopping Cart and remove the restricted products.

Once you have placed the order, one of our Customer Service Representatives will contact you. At that time, you can select where you want the ammunition shipped. If you have multiple items in your order and not all restricted, the items shipping directly to you will ship at the same time as the restricted items.

Do they ship to dealers for transfer in CA? Why are you so upset that a company in a free state doesn't bend to CA's dictates? How would you feel if compelled to take risks you’re not comfortable making? That’s what you seem to be expecting here…

Well, because he is an FFL and they won't ship to him. Some companies have been shipping to FFL03/COE holder's for over 5 years now, it's pretty clear that it's legal. I'm in that same boat and appreciate every company that does. Assuming that law gets overthrown I'll remember the companies that continued to ship to California and those that didn't.

[FourT6and2]

I just got the email as well, I've never bought ammo from midway before but what I took away from it is that after 2016 they wouldn't ship ammo to California period, but now they will ship to an FFL in this state and NY.

Correct. But... they will only ship to a gun shop FFL, not to 03.

[FourT6and2]

Do they ship to dealers for transfer in CA? Why are you so upset that a company in a free state doesn't bend to CA's dictates? How would you feel if compelled to take risks you’re not comfortable making? That’s what you seem to be expecting here…

They can do whatever they want. They can refuse to ship to anybody who likes the color green or to fans of The Rolling Stones if they want to. The point here is 03FFL + COE is eligible for ammo purchase in CA and Midway won't honor that. So... I'm choosing not to purchase anything from them. Hard stop.

Midway is absolutely "bending to CA's dictates" as you put it. They are only shipping to dealer FFLs. That is literally Midway bending to CA's dictate. Midway is cherry picking which part of the law to follow. CA law allows 03 FFL to receive ammo. It is literally in writing in the law. Midway is choosing not to honor that.

[FourT6and2]

Well, because he is an FFL and they won't ship to him. Some companies have been shipping to FFL03/COE holder's for over 5 years now, it's pretty clear that it's legal. I'm in that same boat and appreciate every company that does. Assuming that law gets overthrown I'll remember the companies that continued to ship to California and those that didn't.

Correct. You get it.

[joefrank64k]

They can do whatever they want. They can refuse to ship to anybody who likes the color green or to fans of The Rolling Stones if they want to. The point here is 03FFL + COE is eligible for ammo purchase in CA and Midway won't honor that. So... I'm choosing not to purchase anything from them. Hard stop.

Midway is absolutely "bending to CA's dictates" as you put it. They are only shipping to dealer FFLs. That is literally Midway bending to CA's dictate. Midway is cherry picking which part of the law to follow. CA law allows 03 FFL to receive ammo. It is literally in writing in the law. Midway is choosing not to honor that.

Yes, exactly. I've got 03/COE and get ammo shipped all the time.

I'm totally soured on Midway now.

This reminds me of when SGAmmo stopped shipping to CA because some folks gave him bogus documents. That was a tough, because he always had some cool and unusual ammo deals. But if SGA were to come around, I wouldn't go back for the same reason I won't shop at Midway anymore.

[ar15barrels]

Correct. But... they will only ship to a gun shop FFL, not to 03.

An 03 FFL is NOT a dealer license.
03FFL is only for collectors.
You can not DEAL in firearms with an 03 FFL.

The Midway email posted above is very clear that they only ship to licensed FFL dealers.

[FourT6and2]

An 03 FFL is NOT a dealer license.
03FFL is only for collectors.
You can not DEAL in firearms with an 03 FFL.

Oh pound sand dude. 03 FFL can buy ammo. Hard stop. Period. That's CA law. Midway is choosing to ignore that part of the law and they are well ware of it. It's not some shady loophole. It's written into the law and specifically carves out an exemption for 03 FFL holders.

I just ordered from another vender. No issues. Midway's loss, not mine.

The Midway email posted above is very clear that they only ship to licensed FFL dealers.

Yeah, that's the point. They are choosing to cherry pick which part of the law to follow and which part to ignore.

[Scratch705]

Yes, exactly. I've got 03/COE and get ammo shipped all the time.

I'm totally soured on Midway now.

This reminds me of when SGAmmo stopped shipping to CA because some folks gave him bogus documents. That was a tough, because he always had some cool and unusual ammo deals. But if SGA were to come around, I wouldn't go back for the same reason I won't shop at Midway anymore.

You should blame the people who sent fake documents that would have landed SGA in legal trouble for him to stop shipping to CA. I place zero blame on SGA for stopping.

[Scratch705]

I blame the idiots that put these stupid laws on the books.

I blame people that voted for those politicians.

And i blame the parents who birthed those people.

[Bot]

An 03 FFL is NOT a dealer license.
03FFL is only for collectors.
You can not DEAL in firearms with an 03 FFL.

The Midway email posted above is very clear that they only ship to licensed FFL dealers.

[ELR Researcher]

[SkyHawk]

Presumably they only want to ship to people/business which they can quickly (meaning within seconds) identify as being currently licensed, and that means probably using ATF Ez Check.

Ez Check does not work for 03 and it does not work for "licensed CA ammo vendors" and AFAIK CA does not make a site available to check those or to check COE status.

It is what it is. They are treating ammo sales to CA like they treat guns, and it is hard to blame them since there is no quick way to check and verify all the other stuff that may allow a person to import ammo into CA