I am considering applying for a FFL 03 C&R.  It would be nice to have firearms shipped to my home rather than shipping to a FFL 01 dealer.  Also not having to pay the transfer fees would be nice.  What are the negative aspects of having an 03 license ?  Are there in home inspections by the BATFE?  Special record keeping inspections?  etc?

Hi Philngruvy,

I recently renewed my C&R and I can say, without a doubt, that I have certainly benefited from it.

I usually like to keep my firearms purchases local but... sometimes it's hard to pass up a good deal online.  C&R allows me to make purchases and bypass the cost of an FFL since most of my interest is in older firearms.

Never been inspected, so far, but it could happen.  just need to make sure that any C&R you've obtained gets entered into your C&R records within the close of the next business day following the date of purchase or acquisition.  The NRA sells a nice record book if you don't want to create one yourself.

Here's a link to ATF Publication 5300.11 which covers "Curios or Relics":

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Additional information concerning C&R that you might find useful:

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Good luck with your decision!

Had mine for a while.

Many online retailers treat you as a dealer, with dealer pricing.  I've saved far more than the license fee just in discounts from Grafs.

I did get inspected once.  I was contacted in advance, and had the inspector come out to the house.  I could have arranged to meet the inspector at the local ATF office, but I did not feel like making the drive.

I keep my bound book and all of my receipts in a binder.  When the inspector showed up, I let her in, led her to the dining room table where the binder was waiting for her.

She was friendly, and the inspection took no more than about 10 minutes.

I asked why I got selected for an inspection, where others have had their FFL03 for far longer and had ever been inspected.

She said it is a random selection.  Their system picks 'X' number of each FFL type for the area to get inspected.

I wouldn't let the fact that you could be inspected stop you from getting one.  They aren't going to barge in with no notice.

Thank you for the replies.  I appreciate the help in making the decision to get FFL03.  I guess I was just a bit paranoid about the inspection process.  Did the inspection just involve the record keeping or did they look at the storage facilities also?  I reload for many different calibers and was wondering if they inspected everything?

I have had my C&R FFL for 15 years and it has been an easy process. Never had an inspection or an issue. The only problem that I had was on an address change where they had mixed up my info with another licensee , right address, wrong name and license number, that took about 2 months to straighten out. It is nice to be able to ship C&R firearms to your house and bypass the dealers transfer fees. Just keep good records and remember that you are a collector and not a dealer and you will do fine.

Philngruvy wrote on Apr 20^th, 2018 at 10:58am:

Thank you for the replies.  I appreciate the help in making the decision to get FFL03.  I guess I was just a bit paranoid about the inspection process.  Did the inspection just involve the record keeping or did they look at the storage facilities also?  I reload for many different calibers and was wondering if they inspected everything?

It is just an inspection of your bound book.  I did not show her my storage facilities, nor did I show her any firearm.  For the record, she didn't ask to see anything other that my records.

I honestly think that they use the inspections to make sure you aren't buying a large number of C&R firearms and then selling them.

With a C&R, on the off chance you do get contacted for an inspection, you can, at your option, have the inspection at the local ATF office.  All you need to bring is your bound book.

Thanks to everyone who replied.  I really do appreciate your help.

Do they notify you when the license is about to expire?

Yes they do.