So, after much thought and some serious discussions with my wife and some friends, I have decided to pursue getting my FFL.  

I will be located in northern Bergen County.  This will be a side hustle so hours will be on a by appointment basis and I will try and accommodate clients as best I can.  I will be doing transfers, compliance, consignment, and hopefully will transition into some full build/custom work.  I will also offer shipping for those that sell and need to ship to a buyer FFL to FFL and will try and keep that as reasonable as possible as it can get extremely pricey.  

I am planning and hoping to chronicle my journey thru the paper work and red tape that NJ and federal agencies require for such an undertaking.  I will try and update weekly, more often if necessary.

My first order of business was finding space.  As I'm sure most are aware, finding a landlord that is "firearms friendly" can be a challenge in this state.  Given I'm in Bergen County, finding someone willing to allow a small firearms business to come in with reasonable rent is even harder.  Well, thankfully, I believe I have found such a place.  It's a small office with just enough room for a desk, a safe, and a few chairs.  Easy to secure as there are no windows, cameras on the outside already.  Really, just a nice spot.  I contacted the owner and he is comfortable with my usage and had me call the town  to be sure it would work with them.  It does.  I took my wife there and we looked at the space and it is a very well maintained building.  Clean community restroom and most importantly...  no bugs. So, as soon as I hear back from the owner I will be signing a lease and getting things moving along.  

I have filed for my LLC and that should be finished up within a week or so.  

Thanks to all that stop by and please, wish me luck.

Good luck.

Have you set your rates yet for services? Are there other dealers near that area? Keep in mind the order of permission to sell is property owner, local government, NJSP, then ATF. You'll fill that safe quickly, especially from people that procrastinate picking up their items and those that don't have permits yet.

Good luck widdle buddy! Here’s to your success!

18 minutes ago, PK90 said:

Good luck.

Have you set your rates yet for services? Are there other dealers near that area? Keep in mind the order of permission to sell is property owner, local government, NJSP, then ATF. You'll fill that safe quickly, especially from people that procrastinate picking up their items and those that don't have permits yet.

Working on rates now.
There will be a fee for folks that want to use my safe as storage. 
I'm a relatively nice guy but not one that likes to be taken advantage of.  35+ years in service businesses has taught me how to define my limits.  

Best wishes.

Best of luck!

Definitely interested to hear about the paperwork/processing end.

How long ago did you start the application process?

Also, is the FFL anchored to the location you're working in, or is it anchored to you (meaning that you can move to a new location if business expands exponentially)?

Hope everything we discussed on the phone helps you - best of Luck!

JT

Just now, JT Custom Guns said:

Hope everything we discussed on the phone helps you - best of Luck!

JT

Thank you! 
It was great finally chatting with you. Your advice definitely solidified some things. 

1 hour ago, 124gr9mm said:

Best of luck!

Definitely interested to hear about the paperwork/processing end.

How long ago did you start the application process?

Also, is the FFL anchored to the location you're working in, or is it anchored to you (meaning that you can move to a new location if business expands exponentially)?

Until I sign a lease and get approved locally I can’t really start the application process. I’ll probably sign tomorrow. 
 

After that, it’s roughly 3-6 months depending on how NJSP and ATF are able to get everything lined up for inspections. 
 

FFL stays with the residence. (This is incorrect phrasing but I hope you get what I mean) If I move, I would have to re-apply. 

Awesome!! 

 

In couple years me and the wife are moving... her idea.. but I told her I need a detached large work shed for my FFL!! Haha

1 hour ago, Bully said:

FFL stays with the residence. (This is incorrect phrasing but I hope you get what I mean) If I move, I would have to re-apply. 

You can use multiple addresses.

1. "Premises Address" as listed on your license (you can receive firearms here, AND all dispositions must occur ONLY here)

2. "Mailing Address" as listed on your license (you can receive, but not dispose of firearms here)

3. Other addresses not listed on your license (you can receive, but not dispose of firearms here)

ETA: If you have your home listed as the Premises Address, you're wasting your time with another location. If it is your Mailing Address, moving is just a matter of a COA, not a new license.

35 minutes ago, PK90 said:

You can use multiple addresses.

1. "Premises Address" as listed on your license (you can receive firearms here, AND all dispositions must occur ONLY here)

2. "Mailing Address" as listed on your license (you can receive, but not dispose of firearms here)

3. Other addresses not listed on your license (you can receive, but not dispose of firearms here)

ETA: If you have your home listed as the Premises Address, you're wasting your time with another location. If it is your Mailing Address, moving is just a matter of a COA, not a new license.

Thank you Paul for the clarification. 

Good luck on your endeavor here Chris!

Congrats and good luck with your new venture.  Looking forward to reading the updates 

In touch with the landlord and should have the lease in hand tonight or tomorrow morning.  I'll look it over, sign, and the work really begins on Monday with the town.  

Best of luck. NJ can always use another FFL.

Is Loretta going to come to the grand opening?

7 hours ago, brucin said:

Best of luck. NJ can always use another FFL.

Is Loretta going to come to the grand opening?

I would be happy to have her.

I will be signing the lease tomorrow morning.  

I guess that this is where the worrying stops and the work begins.  

Kind of a big-ish day today...

I went to the building department and applied for my zoning permit. I spoke with the zoning official this afternoon and he seems to think I should be all set in a few days. 
I dropped the lease off at the location and am going to swing by this evening and give them my security and first month’s rent. My buddy is going to meet me there with a tape measure and we’ll come up with a game plan to get some rudimentary benches built. 
 

Zoning application fee - $75

On 2/27/2020 at 8:48 AM, Bully said:

There will be a fee for folks that want to use my safe as storage. 

Yep - just make sure that's out in front first - Some people here have had issues with a FFL suddenly charging to hold something in their safe without disclosing that there would be charges...

2 hours ago, Krdshrk said:

Yep - just make sure that's out in front first - Some people here have had issues with a FFL suddenly charging to hold something in their safe without disclosing that there would be charges...

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement...  

In other news, first month and security are all in.  Keys in hand.  My wife and I along with a good friend took a look at the space with fresher eyes and decided on what we're going to do in there to make it mine.  I'm psyched to have a wife like I do that puts up with my incessant crap and craziness and friends like I have.  Truly a blessing.

Bully GunWorks is on the way.  

LLC came thru today.  
I'm an actual "business".  Kinda weird for me, honestly.  I never thought I'd get here.  

LLC fee - 304
+ 75
Grand total so far - 389

3 hours ago, Bully said:

LLC came thru today.  
I'm an actual "business".  Kinda weird for me, honestly.  I never thought I'd get here.  

LLC fee - 304
+ 75
Grand total so far - 389

Congrats and remember....keep every single receipt for tax time.  
you gonna share with us the design ideas?

10 hours ago, NJSigfan said:

Congrats and remember....keep every single receipt for tax time.  
you gonna share with us the design ideas?

Right now I'm figuring that out.  

Again, I'm blessed to have a buddy that's willing to help out and he's a hella woodworker to boot.  So, I have two rooms.  One will be the storage area.  The other will be my office where I'll conduct all business.  I will keep it similar to what it is now, gray walls and 80's era carpet.  That's fine.  I will be hanging some non-firearm art and have a neat cabinet for displaying some stuff.  Minimal, basic, clean and tidy.  

Having mine for about a year and a half, I would say think about incoming transfers.  You'll have guns show up when your not there.  Some need signed for some not.  Something to think about.  Good luck!

44 minutes ago, blksheep said:

Having mine for about a year and a half, I would say think about incoming transfers.  You'll have guns show up when your not there.  Some need signed for some not.  Something to think about.  Good luck!

Thank you.  I'm already working on that.  Trying to get it all figured out.  Thankfully the UPS and FedEx hubs are close by.

Awesome.

Nothing "official" but I did order business cards...  That's something I guess.  I'm still waiting on Wyckoff to get back to me with my zoning permit.  Hopefully today.  Then I can get the ball rolling with NJSP and ATF.  

So... 

The zoning permit is in hand!  I can now call NJSP and ATF and get the paperwork ball a'rolling.  
My buddy and I moved the safe and some other extraneous furniture in this weekend.  Moving a safe onto the second floor of a building is truly NOT fun.  
Signs are on the doors in the building.  Lights have been upgraded to LED.  Printer is in and seems to be working (hand me down freebie).  Filing cabinets are in place.  I'm heading to Best Buy to look at computers now.  But wanted to check in and fill in the blanks from the weekend and today.  

You're on the fast track so far. Hope you don't wait too many months for the NJFL and FFL to be issued.