Am I a Manufacturer?

Q: I have a gunsmithing business that I started when I retired, and I now specialize in building custom bull’s-eye and combat/carry .45s. During a recent inspection, the ATF inspector told me I will have to get a manufacturer’s license, collect excise tax and file an excise tax report quarterly. I only assemble pistols from commercial components—about 10 to 12 per year. Am I considered a manufacturer? If so, at what point does the definition apply?
A: Yes. Based on the above scenario, you would need a manufacturer’s license. A manufacturer’s license is required when a person intends to make a firearm for the purpose of sale or distribution. Generally, a person engaged in gunsmithing requires only a dealer’s license (Type 01), but there are circumstances in which a gunsmith might require a manufacturing license. Generally, you should obtain a license as a manufacturer of firearms if you: 1) perform operations that create or alter firearms (in the case of alterations, the work is not being performed at the request of customers; rather the person who is altering the firearms is purchasing them, making the changes and then reselling them); 2) perform the operations as a regular course of business or trade; or
3) perform the operations for the purpose of sale or distribution of the firearms.

Q: What are the requirements for dealers to store or have their personal firearms in their place of business—that is, their FFL address? Do the firearms have to be logged into the A&D book, and does an ATF Form 4473 have to be completed and a NICS check run every time the firearms are removed from the store? How can an FFL owner sell a personal firearm as a nonbusiness transaction?
A: If a firearms dealer has personal firearms on his or her licensed premises, they should not be intermingled with firearms held for sale. Such firearms should be segregated from firearms held for sale and identified as such (for example, by attaching a tag reading “Not for Sale”). Personal firearms that are segregated from firearms held for sale and that are identified as not being for sale need not be entered in the dealer’s records.
A licensee may sell a firearm from his or her personal collection, subject only to the restrictions on firearm sales by unlicensed persons, provided the firearm was entered in the licensee’s bound book and then transferred to the licensee’s private collection at least one year prior to the sale. When the personal firearm is sold, the sale must be recorded in a “bound book” for dispositions of personal firearms, but no ATF Form 4473 is required.

Q: What should we as dealers tell our family about how to handle our records and inventory in the event we pass away and still have a valid FFL? As a sole owner—my business is not an LLC or corporation—I would like to know exactly what to tell my son to do with my bound books and related items.
A: In situations where an FFL operating as a sole proprietorship passes away, a surviving spouse or child may secure the right to carry on the same firearms or ammunition business at the same address shown on, and for the remainder of the term of, a current license. In order to secure this right, the person or persons continuing the business shall furnish the license for that business for endorsement of such succession to the Chief, Federal Firearms Licensing Center, 2600 Century Parkway N.E., Atlanta, GA 30345, within 30 days from the date on which the successor begins to carry on the business.
If it is decided that the firearms business will be discontinued, the surviving spouse or child shall within 30 days furnish to the Chief, Federal Firearms Licensing Center, notification of its discontinuance.
Also, when discontinuance is absolute, the records shall be delivered, within 30 days following the business discontinuance, to the ATF Out-of-Business Records Center in West Virginia or to any ATF office in the division in which the business is located.