ATF Inspection Home Base

[AWPER]

Hi Everyone. I applied for my FFL 3 weeks ago. I just got a call from the ATF that they will be inspecting my house this Thursday. Any tips on what should I do. I have Home Alarm. All my doors and windows hace a sensor and with two motion sensors. I also have two security camera. I have a gun cabinet that is bolted down which is inside my closet.

Thanks in advance

[Tavern Keeper]

Home FFL

Have all your paperwork in order and available. Wright down any questions you have ahead of time. Take notes, you'll forget later.

Relax. Put a pot of coffee on and get to know your agent.
Best of luck!

[AWPER]

Will they deny me if I have a small yorkie inside the house

[Condorguns]

Depends on if the Yorkie takes a bite out of the agent.
seriously you might want to have the dog someplace else if he will be distracting or aggressive.
Good luck and relax. I have found the Atf guys to be easy to deal with, and a great source of advice and info. DOJ on the other hand can be a crap shoot.

[AWPER]

Thanks. I saw on other post that same agent inspected other members here and the agent is very pleasant to work with. She even adjusted to my schedule to come in at 730 tomorrow night

[kemasa]

One suggestion is to know what the laws actually are.

I have seen cases where the IOI does not know what the actual law is and gave conflicting information to what is written on the 4473. I was personally told that because I moved and was issued a different FFL number, that I had to send in all my old records to the out of business dept. The IOI would not listen and I had to call the out of business group, who gave me the name and phone number for the IOI to call to "educate" them. The IOI backed down with just the name and number.

Another FFL was told that he did something wrong and was told to do it differently, which was in direct conflict with what is written on the 4473.

Yet another FFL had a new IOI who wanted to get into CA issues, which is none of their business, although they can report you to CA if they notice something, and who wanted to write them up for everything, even for things which were not a problem. Yes, it got dealt with afterwards.

You don't want to get into a battle with the IOI, especially at the time of the inspection, but stand your ground afterwards and/or request things in writing.

This is NOT to say that there is a problem with all or even many IOIs, just that some can have issues and some don't know the laws, even if they are nice. I know who I trust and that is who I ask questions.

[Tavern Keeper]

Home FFL

Nothing wrong with an alarm dog. I've got a shepherd that takes care of me. If the dog is aggressive and doesn't have good 'door discipline' you may want to kennel or put away. If you're going to work from home better start training the dog with verbal or hand signals when it's 'clear' at the door.
Best of luck!

[AWPER]

Thanks for all the advice. Someone made a suggestion to change my mailing address to a UPS store or Fedex so I can just pick up all my delivery from there. Is that possible?

[kemasa]

Yes, you can have your mailing address at a UPS Store, but some won't deliver to anything but the premises address.

My personal suggestion is to get a Post Office box. It is cheap and you can have packages delivered there, although, again, some won't send firearms there, others don't care. It is legal.

[AWPER]

Had my inspection and the inspector said she doesn’t have any problem issuing me a license but she cant. She informed me that she called the Alameda county planner and informed her that I’m not allowed to have any foot traffic. I showed her that a senior planner signed off on my permit and they even gave me a business license. She told me to call the city planner again.

I gave them a call and informed them that I don’t see why I can’t have any foot traffic. The Fairview District states “Results in on-street parking or the generation of pedestrian or vehicular traffic beyond that normal to the District, of the parking of any commercial vehicle in violation of Section 172.52.130” I informed the planner that I plan on doing this by appointment only and I’m only expecting up to five customers per week. I also informed him that my driveway fits 3 cars. He then informed me that the problem is the dwelling and my proposal will increase the amount of vehicular traffic and parking demands. I then told him, city of Hayward states a maximum of 2 customers per day, what is the Fairview districts maximum limit? My proposal is 4 per week compare to Hayward’s regulation of 14 per week. He still denied my request saying it will cost traffic in my neighborhood

Any suggestions on what should I do? ATF is giving me until the end of the week to straight this out before she submits my withdrawal of application

[j-shot]

[junior40er]

bribe

[modok]

Wow, that sucks. ATF isn't giving you much time. I have a tabletop FFL in San Benito County, which had it's own challenges, but was workable. In my opinion(which is always dubious at best), is that you play the "discrimination card". I am not familiar with Hayward, or the "Fairview district", but if there is any other Home based business in your district I would find out and ask why they are allowed and you are not, especially if they are real estate or retail businesses. When I talked to my city planner (who was also the mayor), I played up the internet side of my business (which is almost nothing), and explained that for federal licensing reasons, I had to have a retail location, but was concentrating on the internet side because of concerns for my neighborhood traffic situation, and I didn't want a stream of strangers in my neighborhood or in my house. YMMV. Good luck!