doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What's the latest on importing a gun with a Form 6

A good friend has been given two nice drillings from his grandfathers Estate in Germany. How does he get them here? He has just received his Form 6 from ATF but is not clear on his next steps. 15 years ago I got a form 6 and had a gun sent right to my FFL from the UK. I suspect it's all different now. FYI we are in NJ. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Unless the regulations have been changed any FFL holder can do an "occasional" importation of firearms even without a import license. I did this on a couple of shotguns under a dealer friends license a few years ago and it went without a hitch.
However; There may be export requirements that have to be met in the country they are being exported from.
Jim

Call the NRA, they have experts who can help.

bill

Bill,
One of the German Gun Collectors Assn.'s Directors has a company that specializes in importing sporting arms from Germany.This company is:
4-M Firearms Import Service
Fritz A. Berendsen
4357 Highborne Dr.
Marietta, Ga 30066
Tel. 1-770-971-3098
The advice given above is, of course, true, but the above company is well aware of any German requirements in addition to the US ones.Please note that I have no interest, financial or other wise, in the above company. I am interested in your friend being able to aquire his grandfather's drillings. As a grandfather, myself, I understand his grandfather's feelings.Unless the drillings are exported(to your friend),they must be turned over to a hunting license holder by sale or otherwise, or either destroyed or deactivated ( which is essentiality destruction).For your friend's grandfather's last wishes to be unfullfilled would be terrible. Once your friend recieves his grandfather's drillings, there are members of this board and the German Gun Collectors Assn. that will be more than happy to help him be able to shoot and be able to use them.
Mike

Thanks guys! I appreciate your help. BD PS--Daryl--thanks for the email!

Unless something has changed recently, you--even without an FFL--can be the recipient of a firearm you import. You do need someone with an FFL to sign the form, and you need to do the required paperwork with your FFL dealer after the gun arrives. But the gun can come directly to you. Mine (from the UK) arrived at my very small, rural post office in Iowa. The postmistress collected fees as indicated on the paperwork, and I walked out the door with the gun.

That's federal. New Jersey, IIRC, requires everything to go through an FFL and then only to the holder of a firearms purchaser ID card (which they don't have to issue to anyone they don't feel like issuing it to). (Depending on the recipient's town of residence in NJ, it might be easier just to move to PA.) It most definitely is NOT Iowa.

Are the drillings in question, perhaps, 1898 or earlier? Provably so? If so, they are antiques in the good 'ole US of A and can ship direct to said friend.

DDA

Not in good ole New Jersey. No special treatment for pre-1899 antiques. One more reason to move to PA. I left NJ almost 50 years ago and have never looked back.

The transaction still "goes through" an FFL, just like any interstate shipment of a firearm. The only difference is, the gun can be delivered directly to the person who's buying it--and who is then responsible for going to the FFL holder who signed the form 6 and completing the paperwork. If the state in question requires some sort of gun owners' card, then obviously you'd be in violation of state law if you were to receive a gun without having the required card.