Type 2 Federal Firearms License for the Pawnbroker

Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

The ATF requires a Type 2 federal firearms license if you are planning to buy and sell firearms as a pawnbroker.

First off, as you probably already know, the Gun Control Act of 1968 makes it mandatory to become licensed in order be involved in the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition, and to become engaged in interstate and intrastate commerce and sale of firearms.

Suffice it to say, all most anything involving the sale and manufacture of firearms and ammunition requires some specific type of license. And once you are licensed, you will be subject to specific regulations that must be followed exactly or else you could face fines and imprisonment. With that out of the way, lets look at the Type 2 federal firearms license for pawnbrokers.

The exact wording directly from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosive – aka ATF- states :

Type 02 – PAWNBROKER in firearms other than destructive devices.
(includes: rifles, shotguns, pistols, revolvers, gunsmith activities, and National
Firearms Act (NFA) weapons.)

As you may have noticed, there isn’t much difference between a type 2 ffl for pawnbrokers and a Type 1 FFL for firearms dealers. It’s just their way of further categorizing the licensees. One other important point is that the ATF has 3 distinct special occupational tax classes, also known as SOT’s. As a pawnbroker, you’ll have a class 3 SOT status, type 2 federal firearms license. The Class 3 just means that you’re a dealer of NFA (National Firearms Act) Weapons.

Like most firearms laws, this one is also governed by the Gun Control Act of 1968, and can be found in the United States Code (US Code) Chapter 44 – Firearms – Section 18 Title 923, specifically 18 U.S.C 923(a)(3)(B)

Title 923, section 18 (a) initially states:

)No person shall engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms, or importing or manufacturing ammunition, until he has filed an application with and received a license to do so from the Attorney General. The application shall be in such form and contain only that information necessary to determine eligibility for licensing as the Attorney General shall by regulation prescribe and shall include a photograph and finger-prints of the applicant. Each applicant shall pay a fee for obtaining such a license, a separate fee being required for each place in which the applicant is to do business, as follows

Part (3)(b) further states:

(3) If the applicant is a dealer—

(B) who is not a dealer in destructive devices, a fee of $200 for 3 years, except that the fee for renewal of a valid license shall be $90 for 3 years.

So in layman’s terms, all this basically means is that if you’re want to buy and sell firearms (but not destructive devices -DD type weapons), then you’ll need to pay an initial fee of $200 for a 3 year license. Afterward, you’ll only pay $90 dollars for a 3 year renewal. Piece of cake right?

So now that you know how much you’ll have to pay for a type 2 federal firearms license for pawnbrokers, you’ll need to fill out ATF Form 7 (5310.12) to apply for it.