Change to Virginia Arms Co FFL Transfer Policy

[Jamesb]

Informational Post Only. I did a search for Virginia Arms Co and did not see anything about this come up. Virginia Arms Co in Manassas has changed its FFL Transfer policy. They will only accept transfers from FFLs and have raised the price to $30.00 plus the $2.00 VA police check charge. Below is a copy of the new policy as it was emailed to me. They have not updated their website to reflect the changes.



Thank you for deciding to have your firearm transferred through the
Virginia Arms Company. Over the years, we have done thousands of
transfers, and we enjoy providing this needed service. The vast
majority of the transfers we have done have been smooth and pleasant for
all parties involved. Unfortunately, there have been a few that have
not gone as planned. I have seen our customers have their money stolen,
receive firearms that were misrepresented, and have even had the
misfortune of having firearms shipped to us that were illegal and had to
be surrendered to the ATF.

Some basic ground rules first. Please remember that we only provide
our transfer service to legal Virginia residents and active duty
military personnel that are PCS'ed to a base or station in Virginia (see
below). You can only arrange a transfer for yourself. You may not
arrange a transfer for someone else. If someone else is having the
firearm transfered, they must contact us to initiate the transfer. The
dealer sending the firearm may not arrange the transfer. Only the end
recipient of the firearm can arrange the transfer. We are not an
inspection station and will not return firearms that were misrepresented
by the seller. We will not allow inbound transfer firearms to be
immediately placed on consignment.

In the interest of streamlining the transfer process for all
involved, and for protecting our customers and our business, we are
implementing some changes to our transfer procedures. It is our belief
that these changes will speed and make the the transfer process more
efficient, and will ensure that our customers are better protected
against fraud and theft from unscrupulous sellers.

Effective immediately, Virginia Arms will fax our federal firearms
license (FFL) to other FFL holders ("dealers"). This does away with our
longstanding policy of only mailing our FFL. We will no longer allow for the arrangement of non-licensees (those without an FFL) to ship firearms to us for transfer. Our decision to only accept transfers from FFL holders will provide a measure of security to prevent the cases of fraud and theft that we have seen recently. I recognize that this will be unpopular with some, but has become a necessity for us to continue providing transfer services and is for the protection of all parties involved.

To arrange for a transfer, please send your request via email. Your
request must include the name, address, phone and fax number of the FFL
holder that is shipping the firearm along with the make, model and
caliber of the firearm and your phone number and email address. In many
cases, your shipper will have our FFL on file and can ship immediately,
but we must have this initial email so that we can be on the lookout for
your transfer. We reserve the right to refuse transfers if customers do
not request our transfer service in advance and instead have their
firearms delivered unannounced.

Most transferees are provided with tracking numbers for their
firearms, and in most cases you are aware that the firearm has been
delivered to our store before we are. We get dozens of firearms per day
and mountains of other gear. Firearms have an administrative process
that they must go through before they are available for pickup. We are
obligated to process guns for Virginia Arms as a first priority and
therefore transfer firearms are a second priority. We are required by
federal law to record all firearms within a short, definite time period.

Effective immediately, your transfer firearm will be available at
the start of the business day following it's delivery to our store. We
will always work to process it as quickly as possible and will notify
you as soon as it is ready, but DO NOT come to pick it up on the day it
is delivered unless Virginia Arms has notified you that it is ready to
be picked up. Our receiving department has to assign their resources by
priority and will not be able to process your transfer while you wait on
the day that it is delivered to our store. When your firearm is ready
to be picked up, we will most likely contact you via email, but we will
call if we can process your firearm at a time of day that is appropriate
for telephone contact.

We have very limited storage space for transfers. We can only store
your transfer firearm for 14 days. That should allow plenty of time for
coordination of schedules to pick the firearm up. If you require that
the firearm be stored for longer, you must arrange for the
seller/shipper of the firearm to store it and ship it so that it arrives
within a window of opportunity for you to pick it up inside the two week
period. This includes disabilities for multiple handgun acquisitions
by those that do not have a Virginia resident concealed handgun permit.
We will not store more than 3 firearms per transferee during this two
week period.

It has come to our attention that other shops that don't wish to be
bothered with transfers are sending their transfer business to our
store. We even have employees at other shops doing their transfers
through us. The volume has gotten so large that we have no choice but
to raise our transfer fee. Effective August 3, 2009 our transfer fee
will be $30 per firearm plus the $2 Virginia state police background
check fee per transaction. This fee is still very competitive and
coupled with our speed and efficiency will still make our process the
best value for your time and money. Outbound transfers will be $30 per
firearm plus actual shipping costs.

Finally, we are a gun store and we love guns. Law abiding
transferees have nothing to fear, but unfortunately, we have seen a
number of transfers that involve firearms and transferees that we don't
normally see and situations that don't make sense. We have a very small
window of opportunity to make sure that someone on the receiving end is
not trying to arrange for a straw purchase or other criminal activity.
We will not hesitate to refuse a transfer or report suspected criminal
activity to the proper law enforcement agencies.

In that same vein, we will not transfer firearms that are
manufactured in a fashion that makes them unsafe, nonfunctional or
unsuitable for use. This does not apply to collectible firearms. In
short, we are not interested in transferring Jennings, Bryco, Titan,
Lorcin, Cobra, etc. We can't recommend those firearms for good reason,
but if you feel you must own one, you must purchase it or have it
transferred elsewhere.

When you come to pick up your firearm, you will need to bring your
Virginia driver's license (or Virginia DMV issued ID card) that displays
your current residence address and a second ID. Thirty days have to
have elapsed since the issuance of an "original" or "duplicate" driver's
license. The second ID does not have to have your photograph, but it
must be a current legal document that bears your name and complete
address exactly as it appears on your driver's license. Some examples
of acceptable second IDs are: concealed handgun permit, vehicle
registration, voter ID card, imprinted bank check from checking account,
hunting or fishing license, most recent phone or utility bill, most
recent bank statement. This list is not all-inclusive, many things can
be used as a second ID provided they meet the criteria outlined. For
additional information, please look at the firearms section on the
Virginia state police website at http://virginiatrooper.org

If you are active duty military and are stationed in Virginia, you will
need to bring your home state driver's license, your active duty
military ID card and a copy of your current orders that PCS you to a
base in Virginia.

For all purchases and transfers of firearms that are classified as
assault firearms in Virginia, you will also need to bring a proof of
citizenship document. This is a Virginia law, and the code is very
specific as to what documents are acceptable for the proof of
citizenship document. Your choices are any one of the following:
current (unexpired) passport, or voting ID card, or birth certificate.
Virginia defines assault firearms as centerfire firearms having
folding/telescoping buttstocks and/or those that can have a sound
suppressor readily attached.

If you have a post office box displayed on your driver's license, please
call me before you come to the store, there are additional ID
requirements for that. Please feel free to call me with any questions
you may have. I can be reached at (703) 368-3949 ext 5.

[40shooter]

Thanks for the information, It's very useful.

[flowmaster]

they don't do transfers on so called saturday night specials. gun snobs at work, turning down good FFL transfer business.

not everyone can afford a sig, so they buy a hi point. people strapped for cash will buy a jimenez or a cobra instead of a ruger, but they won't be transferring them to this place. i know a guy on another forum who has over 12,000 documented rounds through his jimenez ja22, but apparently this guy won't reccomend this style of blowback cast pistols.

i had an H&R revolver sent there and they still transferred it. the thing looks straight saturday night special. its vintage, probably from the 20s or 30s, but its a tiny, inexpensive rimfire pocket gun. maybe he transferred it because its not made by one of those aweful "ring of fire" companies.

[jdonovan]

they don't do transfers on so called saturday night specials. gun snobs at work, turning down good FFL transfer business.

Its a business owners perspective to service, or not service the market. If the shop is running 30+ transfers a day with their current policy, I really don't think they are looking for more transfer business.

Firearm owners get all in a huff when their rights are trod upon, but then we seem to grant no such freedom for others to exercise theirs. If you don't like the shops' policies, then you are free to take your business elsewhere.

We don't know what the back story on the policy change is, however, I was in the shop a few weeks ago asking about doing a transfer and both the clerk, and shop owner indicated that they were having SIGNIFICANT problems on a recurring basis with certain lower cost firearms and transfers from non FFL's.

[LFS]

...
Firearm owners get all in a huff when their rights are trod upon, but then we seem to grant no such freedom for others to exercise theirs. If you don't like the shops' policies, then you are free to take your business elsewhere.
...

Exactly. If you have a problem with this, your beef should be with the 1968 gun control act, not Virginia Arms.

[zephyp]

...
Firearm owners get all in a huff when their rights are trod upon, but then we seem to grant no such freedom for others to exercise theirs. If you don't like the shops' policies, then you are free to take your business elsewhere.
...

Exactly. If you have a problem with this, your beef should be with the 1968 gun control act, not Virginia Arms.

My beef is with the gubment.

[flowmaster]

my beef is with virginia arms co not transferring guns i like. i've taken my business elsewhere. they could get $32 per transfer from me, but apparently they don't need it.