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Do I need a License to Buy and Sell Firearms?Q: What does it mean to be “engaged in the business of dealing in firearms”?
A: Under federal law at 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(21)(C), a person engaged in the
business of dealing in firearms is a person who “devotes time, attention
and labor to dealing in firearms as a regular course of trade or business to
predominantly earn a profit through the repetitive purchase and resale of
firearms.” In 2022, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) revised
this intent language to replace “with the principal objective of livelihood and
profit” with “to predominately earn a profit.”
Section 921, as amended by BSCA, defines the term “to predominantly earn
a profit” to mean “the intent underlying the sale or disposition of firearms is
predominantly one of obtaining pecuniary gain, as opposed to other intents,
such as improving or liquidating a personal firearms collection.” 18 U.S.C. §
921(a)(22). Section 921 explicitly provides, however, that the term “engaged in
the business,” as it applies to a dealer of firearms, does not include a person
who only “makes occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for
the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or who sells all or
part of his personal collection of firearms.” 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(21)(C).