Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing FFL Holder vs Firearm Repairs

I have a casual acquaintance who left his hunting rifle with a FFL holder for repairs. The FFL holder/gunsmith also had a retail outlet and pawnshop. Unfortunately, the FFL holder/shop owner died unexpectedly a few weeks ago. My friend is telling me the widow claims he cannot retrieve his firearm from the business unless another FFL holder is involved. To me, this sounds like a bit of a scam on the part of the estate of the FFL holder.

Is it? Or am I just ignorant of the law?

If it is entered in his book with your name as owner, there should be no need to ship to another FFL holder. Now, whether or not she needs an FFL to log out and return firearms he was holding for repairs may be another matter.

You first need some factual information. I would contact ATF directly and ask an agent what would be required in this case. There are provisions in the law for exactly this event, so reading the regulations on the ATF site would be helpful. The executor of the estate should have already done this.

If the estate will not comply with the applicable regulations then there is the option to file a lawsuit or claim against the estate if it goes into probate.

But the lesser of two evils may be just to simply ask around and see if a friendly local FFL would act as an intermediary for the estate for $25. The administrator of the estate should have done this already.

Local shops step in to handle estate liquidations all the time if none of the heirs are up for it.