New FFL

[smoothang21]

OP, Stockton is in need of a full service FFL that knows the laws and can do everything and offer reasonable prices. I live in Stockton and I there is not 1 FFL in Stockton that I will use.

There are two great FFLs nearby, Elite Arms in Manteca and Tracy Rifle and Pistols. My go to FFL is Elite Arms because they are closer to me.

Their out of state transfer fees are higher than I care for but for their in store stock their prices are very fair. I saw them every 30 days last year to take full advantage of the last year of SSE. They have cut me a break on a couple of out of state transfers because I have spent so much with them. Their customer service is top notch. So I am willing to pay a little extra for the CS.

My day job is plenty stressful and this year I am working extra hours to help get my son through his last year of college without the need for student loans. So I do not mind driving a little. I have a C&R and COE and am starting to collect C&R handguns. Commyfornia require I have them shipped to a FFL 01. Elite would likely accept these for me, but their fee is again in the very high range. They are a full service walk in store and are great at that so I am sure they would rather focus on that. I still use them for buying my new guns and until I have the time to reload, I will buy my 10mm ammo from them, they are the only ones in the area that carry it.

I have discovered UG Imports in the East Bay for my C&R transfers. On a weekend it is a hour or so drive to get to him. The process took 5 minutes and the fee was more than reasonable. I only had to make one trip as I am exempt for the 10 day wait because of my COE. I avoided traffic by driving in the morning and then I had lunch and took in a movie at my favorite place and had a great stress free day. I will use them again for this.

The whole point of this long post, the attitude you displayed in this thread is the reason why I will not even consider giving you a chance. I know being a FFL is at best difficult in this state. My dad was a part time FFL in the 80s and 90s in Stockton and had to give it up because the CLEO made the restrictions on where he could do business so strict he could no longer stay in business.

The people like me that drop a lot of money into firearms do not want to deal with any attitudes or extra BS. We also refer a lot of people to the places we do business with. When I tell a noob to go to Elite Firearms in Manteca, they will treat you right, I am putting my reputation on the line as well. I tell them what to expect and how they will be treated. If I am wrong, that person will not trust me for advice ever again.

You need to attract and hold the loyal customers, they ones that keep coming back over and over. The ones that tell their friends about you. You will likely lose on a PPT because of the time it takes, but you have two people there, one with money in hand. What do you have in stock to tempt them. I have purchased two guns via PPT and both times I found a great deal on a gun I wanted at the FFL and bought that at the same time. If the FFL had given me any BS about extra fees or hassles because they did not want to do PPTs or only did them on certain days they would not have made that sale.

You will probably attract the occasional gun buyer or the guy that only buys by PPT. I suspect you will have lots of shady people try to buy through you because you are new and they will think they can pull one over on you. They will complain bitterly and cause you nothing but problems and you will lose money in the end. People will try you once or twice and then move on to the next new guy that comes along. In the past 3 years that I have gotten back into guns, I have seen maybe 20 small FFLs come and go within a 20 mile radius of Stockton. One lasted only 2 months in Lodi.

Change your attitude and follow all the advice here that you can get. Most important, hire someone to ensure you stay legal on the paperwork and procedures required by the DOJ and ATF. The DOJ can be especially harsh and they are not gun friendly and will likely try to shut you down for even small errors. The downside to living in Stockton, we are a 1 hour drive away from Sacramento and so they tend to spend more time and effort in enforcement efforts here. Because of the high gang activity rate, Stockton also gets a grant once a year to put together a task force of local, state, and federal agencies to do a major gang sweep operation. I have a friend who is part owner of the Stockton Gun Exchange, and the DOJ always stops in for an audit as part of this sweep to make sure the guns they sell are not being sold to prohibited people or known gang members.

Ultimately, El Dorado St. is not the best place to open a gun store.

I appreciate your honesty and input. I have been open and doing business for about month and half now and my attitude towards things and knowledge of the business has changed drastically. There are still many laws I need to learn and that is one reason why still now I don't do certain things or transactions until for sure I know what is and 100 percent positive I'm doing it right. When I started this thread I haven't even had 1 customer yet and dealt with anything at all and now it's totally different with me. My prices are probably one of the best around. And as for the location believe me I searched far and wide to get in better place and I got denied 8 times places around town cuz of to many liberals but all I can do is make the best of it and hopefully build up to something better. I've had many customers since and they were pretty pleased with my prices and how I treated them with respect.

[curvejunkie]

OP, Stockton is in need of a full service FFL that knows the laws and can do everything and offer reasonable prices. I live in Stockton and I there is not 1 FFL in Stockton that I will use.

There are two great FFLs nearby, Elite Arms in Manteca and Tracy Rifle and Pistols. My go to FFL is Elite Arms because they are closer to me.

Their out of state transfer fees are higher than I care for but for their in store stock their prices are very fair. I saw them every 30 days last year to take full advantage of the last year of SSE. They have cut me a break on a couple of out of state transfers because I have spent so much with them. Their customer service is top notch. So I am willing to pay a little extra for the CS.

My day job is plenty stressful and this year I am working extra hours to help get my son through his last year of college without the need for student loans. So I do not mind driving a little. I have a C&R and COE and am starting to collect C&R handguns. Commyfornia require I have them shipped to a FFL 01. Elite would likely accept these for me, but their fee is again in the very high range. They are a full service walk in store and are great at that so I am sure they would rather focus on that. I still use them for buying my new guns and until I have the time to reload, I will buy my 10mm ammo from them, they are the only ones in the area that carry it.

I have discovered UG Imports in the East Bay for my C&R transfers. On a weekend it is a hour or so drive to get to him. The process took 5 minutes and the fee was more than reasonable. I only had to make one trip as I am exempt for the 10 day wait because of my COE. I avoided traffic by driving in the morning and then I had lunch and took in a movie at my favorite place and had a great stress free day. I will use them again for this.

The whole point of this long post, the attitude you displayed in this thread is the reason why I will not even consider giving you a chance. I know being a FFL is at best difficult in this state. My dad was a part time FFL in the 80s and 90s in Stockton and had to give it up because the CLEO made the restrictions on where he could do business so strict he could no longer stay in business.

The people like me that drop a lot of money into firearms do not want to deal with any attitudes or extra BS. We also refer a lot of people to the places we do business with. When I tell a noob to go to Elite Firearms in Manteca, they will treat you right, I am putting my reputation on the line as well. I tell them what to expect and how they will be treated. If I am wrong, that person will not trust me for advice ever again.

You need to attract and hold the loyal customers, they ones that keep coming back over and over. The ones that tell their friends about you. You will likely lose on a PPT because of the time it takes, but you have two people there, one with money in hand. What do you have in stock to tempt them. I have purchased two guns via PPT and both times I found a great deal on a gun I wanted at the FFL and bought that at the same time. If the FFL had given me any BS about extra fees or hassles because they did not want to do PPTs or only did them on certain days they would not have made that sale.

You will probably attract the occasional gun buyer or the guy that only buys by PPT. I suspect you will have lots of shady people try to buy through you because you are new and they will think they can pull one over on you. They will complain bitterly and cause you nothing but problems and you will lose money in the end. People will try you once or twice and then move on to the next new guy that comes along. In the past 3 years that I have gotten back into guns, I have seen maybe 20 small FFLs come and go within a 20 mile radius of Stockton. One lasted only 2 months in Lodi.

Change your attitude and follow all the advice here that you can get. Most important, hire someone to ensure you stay legal on the paperwork and procedures required by the DOJ and ATF. The DOJ can be especially harsh and they are not gun friendly and will likely try to shut you down for even small errors. The downside to living in Stockton, we are a 1 hour drive away from Sacramento and so they tend to spend more time and effort in enforcement efforts here. Because of the high gang activity rate, Stockton also gets a grant once a year to put together a task force of local, state, and federal agencies to do a major gang sweep operation. I have a friend who is part owner of the Stockton Gun Exchange, and the DOJ always stops in for an audit as part of this sweep to make sure the guns they sell are not being sold to prohibited people or known gang members.

Ultimately, El Dorado St. is not the best place to open a gun store.

Thank you very much for the kind words!

[send it_hit]

Just curious, regarding Glock pricing on your facebook, doesn't Glock have a strict MAP unless you're a blue label dealer?

[ugimports]

Just curious, regarding Glock pricing on your facebook, doesn't Glock have a strict MAP unless you're a blue label dealer?

$499.99 is Glock MAP for the standard small frame ones. Did you see it cheaper?

[send it_hit]

$499.99 is Glock MAP for the standard small frame ones. Did you see it cheaper?

Nah, more curious about what the MAP actually is and if $499.99 is below it. Guess not

[ugimports]

Nah, more curious about what the MAP actually is and if $499.99 is below it. Guess not

For reference:

http://www11.davidsonsinc.com/ManufMaps/Glock-MAP-Pricelist.pdf

I was off by $0.99