Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Yeah, I know the left-handed isn't quite a large market, but it'd be cool to have at least something catering to them. We're not looking to setup shop with 50% of the stock being left-handed. That's just silly.

Thank you for the advice.

My step-son is left-handed and now that we have a rifle to play with, I'm going to teach him to shoot the right way...right-handed

allingeneral wrote:My step-son is left-handed and now that we have a rifle to play with, I'm going to teach him to shoot the right way...right-handed

Do the dominant eye test. Give him a rifle that caters to the dominant eye.

As others have mentioned, an inventory of reloading supplies would be welcome.

NOVAArmament wrote:

ZeSpectre wrote:"As for inventory, give us some ideas, what would you like to see?"

For the love of God can you please carry some IWB holsters and at least a few for us left-handers!
(especially for SIG 229 and CZ-75 pistols).

Left-Handers? Sure thing. That's actually a section we're thinking of stocking. Maybe some left-handed AR-15s, and bolt guns as well.

Being a South-Paw, I'm ALWAYS up for more left-handed shooting gear...

NOVAArmament wrote:Hopefully I can answer some questions here:
Will y'all do transfers? Yes. We're still working on the policy, but let's just say it's gonna beat anything else out there.
Out of state? Yep. Even to California. We gotta help them all we can.
In-state? Yep. You can even bring both parties in to do the paperwork.
Consignment sales? Yep. We're still working on the policy, but it's gonna be nice.
Used-gun sales? Yep. This is where the cool stuff is usually found.
Ammo sales: We will be selling all of the normal popular brands, just looking for a good supplier where we can pass along a good price.
Less-than-Lethal? We're looking into that. Probably stuff like Pepper Spray, Stun Guns, that kind of thing. Tasers are proving interesting.
Surplus? Probably some stuff, but not like you see in the SportsmansGuide where you can purchase a Swiss Artillery carrier.
SIze? We're approximately 800 square feet located in a retail "condo" in Herndon VA off of Center Street.
Opening? Hopefully Mid November for gun-related stuff and then after Thanksgiving for guns.

Are you open by chance? I'd love to come check out the new shop tomorrow while I'm in Herndon

Not open yet. Still doing some re-modeling, and waiting for the FFL to come through. If we get the FFL prior to Thanksgiving we will be happy campers, but it's looking like it's going to be the first week of December at the earliest.
Address is: 795 Center Street #4A, Herndon, VA 20170.
If you come by, we're underneath "Tina's Hair Salon". The sign will be up after we open. Herndon's Sign Approval process is 3 months long when you are in their "Historic" district.

How much will the transfer cost be?

Let us know when you get up and running. I drove by the other day just to see where you'd be. It's exciting to see a shooter-friendly business open up in Herndon! I've lived here 18yrs...hasn't been anything in town since the Pawn shop closed in what's now the Bestway shopping center.

Transfer costs are still being worked on, but they will be lower than any other storefront in the area.

NOVAArmament wrote:Transfer costs are still being worked on, but they will be lower than any other storefront in the area.

Have you considered transfer costs of $0.00?

Pondering the idea, it is zero cost to you, so its not like money is being lost. Yet what it is doing is bringing
traffic into the store. Somebody who might use you to transfer an AR-15 for $0.00 might buy some Ammo at the same time.
Maybe a new holster for a handgun transfer. Or see the sale on some firearm you have in your inventory and decide to
purchase it.

This is just a theory I've pondered...

alby wrote:

NOVAArmament wrote:Transfer costs are still being worked on, but they will be lower than any other storefront in the area.

Have you considered transfer costs of $0.00?

Pondering the idea, it is zero cost to you, so its not like money is being lost. Yet what it is doing is bringing
traffic into the store. Somebody who might use you to transfer an AR-15 for $0.00 might buy some Ammo at the same time.
Maybe a new holster for a handgun transfer. Or see the sale on some firearm you have in your inventory and decide to
purchase it.

This is just a theory I've pondered...

I thought the VSP charges $2.00 for the NICS background check, and then the usual deal is for transferring FFLs to charge a bit on top of that for their services.

It makes sense to me, in any case--gotta pay the employees/pay the rent/pay the bills somehow, and if all anyone ever did was $0.00 transfers, no money whatsoever would flow into the store. It is a business for profit, after all. Of course people will buy stuff of opportunity at the same time--holsters, snap-caps, ammo, etc.--but many people don't.

Say an FFL phones in (or internets in) a background check, and it takes 15 minutes for it to come back all-green. That's 15 minutes of an employee's time (hourly wage), 15 minutes of utilities, 15 minutes of rent that were spent waiting for that background check to go through. $0.00 (or even the $2.00 mandatory minimum) wouldn't pay for much of that.

kle wrote:
I thought the VSP charges $2.00 for the NICS background check, and then the usual deal is for transferring FFLs to charge a bit on top of that for their services.

It makes sense to me, in any case--gotta pay the employees/pay the rent/pay the bills somehow, and if all anyone ever did was $0.00 transfers, no money whatsoever would flow into the store. It is a business for profit, after all. Of course people will buy stuff of opportunity at the same time--holsters, snap-caps, ammo, etc.--but many people don't.

Say an FFL phones in (or internets in) a background check, and it takes 15 minutes for it to come back all-green. That's 15 minutes of an employee's time (hourly wage), 15 minutes of utilities, 15 minutes of rent that were spent waiting for that background check to go through. $0.00 (or even the $2.00 mandatory minimum) wouldn't pay for much of that.

What if why they waited that 15 Minutes you sold Beer? Popcorn? Put up a bunch of big screen tv's?
Turned the whole gun store experience into a place to hang out? Think of the margins you might earn
while customers getting $2.00 transfers are ordering hamburgers, drinks, and watching the game on tv...

Nobody says a gun store has to be the same ole, same ole... Its kinda like the Movie Theater business model.
The Guns and Transfers bring wallets in the door and you make your money from all the accessories you sell,
not the guns or transfers you are offering. And if people come and hangout to watch the 4-hr football game on
Sunday, trust me, they'll be consuming something.

Throw in some Hooters type girls to serve the goods. Load up the place with lazy boyz and such...
I'm just throwing some of these ideas out there, because I'm thinking about what I wish was available the
last time I tried to buy an AR-15 stripped lower and it took 90/mins for the approval to come back.
Standing and/or leaning against the glass case all day sucks. Then it sucks even more to get tired of waiting,
leaving, then being called 1/hr later that you can come get your stuff.

But if I could have walked in and said, "I'll take that AR-15 Lower", then popped my ass into a lazy Boy in front of
a football game with a beer and food, I'd be one happy ass camper. Telling my buddy that XYZ Gun store rocks and
that its the place to hang out and/or buy guns.


From what I understand, Guns have slim margin anyways. People like WalMart or Sporting stores squeeze margins for
small gun stores because the big guys can offset costs with the other stuff people are buying like coolers, tshirts, etc...
As such, why not turn a gun store into an entertainment zone? Hell, throw in some of those high tech simulator games.
Anything it takes to get and keep bodies in the store. Because the longer they are around, the greater chance you have
at selling them something. Put in a Lottery machine to bring in more people.

A sports bar with an FFL and a display case...I kinda like that idea. The BATFE would be crapping all kinds of bricks =)

Well, I do think there is something to be said for making a gun store more accessible to the general public. When people unfamiliar with the gun culture walk into a place and see a bunch of men in camo with guns strapped to their hips, it can be a little intimidating. I think that is one of the reasons Virginia Arms actually has a dress code for their sales staff.

i found the phone number for the new gun shop in herndon via google and called it twice yesterday (saturday) and no one answered. they didn't have an answering machine hooked up either.

i was ready to make the drive to herndon to see the new shop, but i didn't when i couldn't get through to anyone. is the place open yet?

i did a little digging and the phone number listed on google for this gun shop was once the phone number for a home off of whiele avenue. i assume the store owner had an FFL at home and later got a real brick and mortar gun shop.

flowmaster wrote:i found the phone number for the new gun shop in herndon via google and called it twice yesterday (saturday) and no one answered. they didn't have an answering machine hooked up either.

i was ready to make the drive to herndon to see the new shop, but i didn't when i couldn't get through to anyone. is the place open yet?

i did a little digging and the phone number listed on google for this gun shop was once the phone number for a home off of whiele avenue. i assume the store owner had an FFL at home and later got a real brick and mortar gun shop.

Hehe. I like the suggestions for serving hot food and alcohol and having the LaZboy recliners and such. However, probably not going to happen as Herndon's rules for restaurants / food vendors are entirely too annoying. We WILL have coffee though, and if I can work a deal with the Great Harvest Bread Company, or the Hispanic Bakery up the street, we might have something sweet and full of Carbs to accompany the coffee. No real place to just sit around though. Our shop's going to be full of things to sell.

$0.00 FFL transfers? Let's just say, reality precludes us from doing so. Our policy is still going to be the best in the area to the point where we're probably going to have to hire someone just to handle that part of the business.

No, we're not open yet and we've had some issues with Verizon on the subject of Voice Mail. That should be resolved by the end of the week. If you are still calling and not getting through, that's something we are going to have to fix. Most often one of us is there with the Contractor, so we are there. Our opening depends entirely on when we receive our FFL. The Showroom should be finished this week.

We are looking forward to meeting everyone. Hopefully I can have a start-up date soon!

Beer, Wings, and an onsite range... ???!!!???

a boy can dream, can't he....

Ok,

Phone lines should be fixed by Friday, at least that's what Verizon tells us.
Our bathroom is finished today, and the carpet goes down on Friday. We anticipate opening sometime late next week, early the week after. Once I have a firm date, it'll be announced.

Check out our website: http://www.novaarmament.com/

We look forward to finally meeting the fine people from this forum.
In the meantime, we can be reached via E-mail: nova.arms@gmail.com

Thanks!

I'll be sure to be in the day you open (and probably often after that, I work right down the road)