This may not be the case. FFL's are required by the ATF to follow all state laws. In our current environment it is not unthinkable to see the ATF regs being interpreted to go bad for a out of state FFL who knowingly violates Mass law.
-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
-
Be sure to enter the NES/MFS May Giveaway ***Canik METE SFX***
Rant - Collectable Arms & Ammo
- Thread starter viabl
- Start date
This may not be the case. FFL's are required by the ATF to follow all state laws. In our current environment it is not unthinkable to see the ATF regs being interpreted to go bad for a out of state FFL who knowingly violates Mass law.
The catch with selling a pistol to an out of state resident is that it has to be transferred through an ffl in the purchasers state of residence. Unfortunately, in MA, that puts the pistol under the auspice of the AG/EOPS list, which limits the firearms that can be transferred to residents. Now, if the MA FFL changes it's mind about the pistol being transferrable, it gets shipped back to CA&A, who then has to deal with refunds, re-entering it in their books, etc, etc. Overall a large amount of risk for a very small amount of profit.
While it sucks that NH shops won't sell pistols, even if there's a willing MA FFL to receive it, their business, their profits, their choice.
Well apparently someone might have lied to me in another thread lol. Maybe not, but they said you were sold out as of a few days ago. I got to stop spending money but I may just have to swing by tomorrow. There goes another $250.
When in doubt, call, email or contact us through facebook. We have yet to ever run out of 7.62x39
Yeah that's what I thought. I was really shocked/surprised when someone said that as I've yet to hear that you ran out of x39 ammo. Thanks for the prompt response. You guys are great.
Not really. Most NH dealers don't stock MA compliant crap absent a few exceptions which I'm not going to name here. So rather than dealing with the risk of bounced transfers etc, they opted to avoid the problem altogether.
-Mike
Looks like I'll be heading up to Merrimack, NH this weekend for a case of Golden Tiger. Can you please confirm the price?
Do you still have any Tulammo .223 posted a short while back?
With the C&R Mass residents can purchase a C&R pistol or rifle in NH or any free state. Collectable has become my favorite shop over the last few years for C&R items, and ammo, as they have always treated me right. Now that I'm moving to Merrimack in May, I'm definitely going to need a bigger safe being five minutes away from them.
my bad, shelves with the 7.62x39 cases were empty when I left. good to hear they've got more.
Last edited:
It depends on how you interpret that little chunk of US code. (there's not a lot of case law on it because BATFE seems to ignore it most of the time. ). I have a lot of data to back this up that I'm not willing to share at the moment at the risk of showing "our hand" if you catch my drift.
That having been said, if a remote doesn't want to send something into MA I can't say that I blame them at all. Even just from an administrative end, even a single bounced transfer can be a nightmare of whining by the ignorant customer (who didn't know what they were doing when they asked for a transfer) and lost money. It's quite obvious to me that the OP did not do his homework.
-Mike
Not sure what happened at Collectable but the OP seemed to be throwing a tantrum because he couldn't buy what he wanted.
I personally know a number of people in various gun shops in NH where sales of handguns to MA residents is not allowed.
Its not because in the gun shops in question have anything against the people of MA, its because the various levels of restrictions on guns MA imposes on their citizens. MA has a variety of state and even city restrictions.
Just about every gun shop in NH can tell you of incidents where MA residents have purchased hand guns and sworn that the hand gun in question is legal to buy/own in MA (only to find out when the gun was delivered to the FLL in MA that it was no legal to purchase/own!!}
Then the purchaser bad mouths the NH gun shop for not knowing all the MA gun purchase rules and regulations and asks to NH seller to take back the weapon and refund the money.
If any NH gun shop has sold and been "burned" on a sale based on a MA residents assurance on what is legal, I can see why setting up a no MA sales policy is simply an easier store policy to establish.
These policies aren't because the NH gun shops have any issues with the MA residents, its because of the rules and regulations the MA government has imposed in the state on their residence.
That may seem cold and judgmental but the cost in time, irritation, accusations and problems created by the MA transactions in no anyway equates to what little profits are made by the NH gun shops.
In the OP case, it seems that he saw something in the shop he wanted that he couldn't find or buy in MA, is pissed because he couldn't buy it so he is trashing their name and their shop.
He couldn't get his way, so he bad mouths the shop instead of accepting the fact he lives in a restrictive state and NH gun shops can't cater to his every whim and gun buying desires.
My advise is to him is to suck it up and deal with the realities of being a MA resident!.
I've visited and bought at "Collectable" a number of times and have always found them to be great people, fair, square and reasonable.
They go really out of their way to assist their customers, and provide great deals and customer service,
The OP comments are way off base and just sour grapes in my opinion!
I personally know a number of people in various gun shops in NH where sales of handguns to MA residents is not allowed.
Its not because in the gun shops in question have anything against the people of MA, its because the various levels of restrictions on guns MA imposes on their citizens. MA has a variety of state and even city restrictions.
Just about every gun shop in NH can tell you of incidents where MA residents have purchased hand guns and sworn that the hand gun in question is legal to buy/own in MA (only to find out when the gun was delivered to the FLL in MA that it was no legal to purchase/own!!}
Then the purchaser bad mouths the NH gun shop for not knowing all the MA gun purchase rules and regulations and asks to NH seller to take back the weapon and refund the money.
If any NH gun shop has sold and been "burned" on a sale based on a MA residents assurance on what is legal, I can see why setting up a no MA sales policy is simply an easier store policy to establish.
These policies aren't because the NH gun shops have any issues with the MA residents, its because of the rules and regulations the MA government has imposed in the state on their residence.
That may seem cold and judgmental but the cost in time, irritation, accusations and problems created by the MA transactions in no anyway equates to what little profits are made by the NH gun shops.
In the OP case, it seems that he saw something in the shop he wanted that he couldn't find or buy in MA, is pissed because he couldn't buy it so he is trashing their name and their shop.
He couldn't get his way, so he bad mouths the shop instead of accepting the fact he lives in a restrictive state and NH gun shops can't cater to his every whim and gun buying desires.
My advise is to him is to suck it up and deal with the realities of being a MA resident!.
I've visited and bought at "Collectable" a number of times and have always found them to be great people, fair, square and reasonable.
They go really out of their way to assist their customers, and provide great deals and customer service,
The OP comments are way off base and just sour grapes in my opinion!
Last edited:
I support Keith and his shop. I have bought over 20 guns from Keith since he opened the store. And thousands of dollars of Ammo. It is the best gun shop anywhere. Massachusetts residents are not his target customer base. There are other gun shops that won't even sell you ammo if your are from Massachusetts. The OP should move to NH if he doesn't like the laws in the state he lives in. But having said that, please don't move because we don't need more drama queens and whiners from Massachusetts moving here. We need to thin the herd that is already here.
Collectable Arms & Ammo is hands down my favorite shop and go-to FFL. I have bought several firearms there, and thousands of rounds of ammo. Massachusetts has a restriction on many things regarding firearms, and the list is always growing or being altered. It is the polar opposite in NH. I can go buy a handgun with standard 15rd magazine any day of the week, as long as I pass a NICS check. Keith and Alec are a New Hampshire firearm dealer who base their store on what New Hampshire people want, not Massachusetts. If you live in MA and want to expand what you can buy to be similar to what is available in NH, I suggest you change the laws. If not, feel free to move over the border.
After reading the OP and Keith's reply I think we have it covered...
I'll just throw in that Collectible is a great shop, and I look forward to spending money there this year.
Posted from my car phone.
I'll just throw in that Collectible is a great shop, and I look forward to spending money there this year.
Posted from my car phone.
fencer
NES Member
Epic fail. So to summarize, you didn't bother to call or email the shop to ask if they would transfer a handgun to Mass and drove up instead.
When you found out they would not transfer to Mass, you made a scene in his shop, and acted like a spoiled little kid. I would have physically removed you from my store.
Then you jump on NES and call the guy an A-hole and a D-Bag.
No wonder you have not been back to this thread. That is pretty weak sauce. I'd say you owe the shop a public apology. Man up and do the right thing.
Collectable reportedly is fixin' to come out with a new window display around Easter time to replace the well-known current edition (examples below).
Last edited:
Yup in all cases!
I have yet to buy a gun from them, but they have been very nice and helpful when I've been there and they know that I'm from MA! I also have a C&R, so if I find something C&R and want it, it's a straight-forward transaction with no worries about transfers. It was Chief Glidden back in 1999 who told me that if I ever wanted older handguns, the only legal way to get them would be with the C&R FFL. I followed his advice with no regrets!
Yup. OP failure, not the store.
When MA FFL decides that they can't/won't do the transfer, the headache falls back on the NH FFL. Business decision to NOT have those problems . . . and a wise decision IMNSHO.
Yup.
I don't blame them. If I were in their shoes I would do the same thing.
There is no perceived aggravation, it's real. When you have people who are dumber than a box of rocks (like most MA gun buyers are) and can't fight their way out of a paper bag, the remote then has to absorb the agita/costs of a bounced transfer when the buyer FAILED to do their homework. (which probably happens 9 times out of 10).
Let's say a guy walks into my shop. I'm joe typical NH gun shop owner that only knows a little about MA law but I normally don't have to conern myself with it too much. I have a bunch of handguns for sale. A guy comes in and says:
"hay can I buy dat I am from MA"
"Do you have a dealer in MA I can transfer it to? I can't sell handguns directly to MA residents."
"Yeah my budday in marlburrah runs pudlickers gun shop, I buy stuff all the time hed probably transfer it in no problem"
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yeah he's cool, never had trouble there, been doing business with him for years. "
Sounds legit, so I take the guys money. Guy buys gun. Gives me the number/etc for pudlickers, Leaves store, and I get ready to transfer it to pudlicker's.
Now, 3 things can happen.
1. I call up pudlickers to do the inbound and it turns out that the owner is an ******* and absolutely refuses to do an inbound transfer. Now I'm stuck here with a gun that this guy paid for that I can't sell to anyone else until I call back the buyer to tell him it failed and give him his money back. I just wasted an hour of my time (or whatever it took) to bounce the sale and draft a check or issue a credit to the guys credit card. Lost opportunity cost of not being able to sell that handgun for whatever interval of time between when it was sold and when I went to go send it to pudlickers. Fail.
2. I call up pudlickers and the guy is rude but more or less tells me "just to send it down and hes faxing over a copy of his FFL and to just fax him one. Ok fine, I do that, he does that in reverse. I mail him the gun. Then pudlickers receives it. Then the rude bastard at pudlickers calls me and goes OH MY GAWD I CANT TRWANSFAH THIS TO HIM ITS NOT MASS COMPLYAINT ZOMG WHADDYA TRYIN TO DO ****FACE GET ME THROWN IN JAYLE???" *hold phone away from ear while rude bastard rambles on and on about mindless compliance bullshit* "Ok, sir, just send it back to me please. I'll cover the cost of shipping". That's like 2 hours wasted, DAYS of opportunity cost. Money wasted on shipping. I can't wail the customer with a restock fee because then he'll be running his mouth on the internet about how badly I treated him, blah blah blah, etc.
(ETA: There are about THIRTY variations of this #2 scenario, but for brevity's sake I'm not going to get into them all here, but the end result part of it is always exactly the same. )
3. Pudlickers swaps FFLs with me and gleefully accepts the transfer and doesn't bitch, transfer goes fine. Nothing dramatic happens.
Out of these three, the third one is the LEAST LIKELY to happen.
Now I know what you're saying- Well you could have called puclickers when he was in the store! Maybe. Maybe the guy that works there doesn't answer the phone. Maybe, because I'm joe typical FFL, I'm not expecting any kind of problem doing a transfer because 99% of all transfers are pretty much flawless victories, easy crap to do. (Remember as an NH FFL there are like 45 other states that are easy to send handguns in and out of, and MA is one of the 5 that aren't. )
So, to revisit... as an NH FFL, unless you're parterned with an MA FFL to do inbounds and you both know the score.... (and you've had "the talk" about what is or isn't acceptable to send) it's a shitty business proposition to send guns into MA,. the land where gun dealers have to operate off of rules that are best described as coming out of the byzantine empire.
Summary Version: Read the OPs rant.
Summary Response: "This is why we can't have nice things."
What the OP has posted is THE EXACT REASON why NH dealers will not send stuff down here, even if it is clean. Whiners always cost dealers money. The reason has very little to do with the law itself. It's administrative
problems!
-Mike
Last edited:
What mike said. OP is so butthurt he belongs in shackles.
I have had nothing but great experiences at this shop. They may not care about MA customers, but sometimes, that is a good thing:
They recently had a pile of old 20 round Colt AR mags on their shelf. Just a pile of mags. No price listed, no 'Preban' label (because they don't care up there). I ask how much, and they were $10 each.
So as not to be a D-bag, I only buy a few. Bring them home, do some research, and all evidence points to them being pre-1970 vintage. I went back several times over the course of 2-3 weeks, buying a few at a time until I had pretty much bought all of them.
They could have easily sold these for 2-3X the price to MA residents who would have gladly paid through the nose.
I don't blame them one bit for not wanting the hassle of selling handguns to residents of this commie hellhole.
They recently had a pile of old 20 round Colt AR mags on their shelf. Just a pile of mags. No price listed, no 'Preban' label (because they don't care up there). I ask how much, and they were $10 each.
So as not to be a D-bag, I only buy a few. Bring them home, do some research, and all evidence points to them being pre-1970 vintage. I went back several times over the course of 2-3 weeks, buying a few at a time until I had pretty much bought all of them.
They could have easily sold these for 2-3X the price to MA residents who would have gladly paid through the nose.
I don't blame them one bit for not wanting the hassle of selling handguns to residents of this commie hellhole.
This is suppose to be the new Easter poster. It is from Collectables facebook page. Its not up yet, maybe in the next two weeks...
I've been to the shop on a number of occasions when MA people have identified themselves and visited.
Even though they know the MA people can't buy 99.99% of the things in the store, they still take the time with them to answer their questions about various guns and deal with them in a respectful way. According to the owners, many times people from other states stop by just to see the window posters and then come in to comment in a positive way about the outside displays.
Yes I guess the shop could have a "MA" section of preban stuff and charge MA people through the nose, but they don't believing in over charging.
Glad you got the deal on the mag!
