Tax stamp question?

[Electrician Mike]

I asked this question in a thread over in general but it went unanswered.

Lets say I meet with, who I think is a reputable class 3 dealer, and purchase a FA weapon. I pay the 15k+ asking price, and the transfer fees. We fill out all the proper paperwork, using my existing trust, and are now playing the waiting game. While waiting, something serious happens to the dealer (as in Ponca City recently) all guns, including mine, are seized by the ATF/local police/whoever.
What is going to happen to my gun, my already paid money and my pending tax stamp in a situation like this?

I do not currently have this happening, although I have been shopping/looking for some FA guns. I would have never even thought of something like this happening, but it just did. There is one person who has already posted on this forum to be in this exact situation, and I am sure there are probably more. This just really got me thinking about what could happen after I hand over a large amount of money and then have to wait on the approval for 3 months. A lot can happen in 3 months.

 

[338Shooter]

If it is bought from out of state you are looking at more like 4-6 months. It will require a form 3 or 4 from the owner/dealer that has it now then a form 4 from your dealer here to you. If you buy one from in state then it would be a form 4 directly from the person that has it. If you could find an individual that had what you wanted in OK then you'd avoid the dealer.

If it did end up happening to you like you laid out I'm not sure what your recourse would be. I'd start by hiring an attorney.

 

[Shoot Summ]

You don't pay until you get the gun, you might pay the initial deposit, but not the full amount. The Dealer has no idea if your paperwork is going to clear.....

 

[Profreedomokie]

It was in Blackwell,not Ponca City,

 

[CAR-AR-M16]

You don't pay until you get the gun, you might pay the initial deposit, but not the full amount. The Dealer has no idea if your paperwork is going to clear.....

I do not know of too many C3 dealers who are going to lay out $15K of their own money to buy an MG for you. What if you "change your mind"? Then they are out all of the money. I would bet that the vast majority of C3 Dealers will have you pay whoever has the MG the full amount and then have it transfered to them. If your paperwork doesn't clear it is still your gun, you just cannot take possesion of it. The C3 would hang on to it (it is still registered to him at this point) while you put it up for sale. When you find a buyer the C3 would then transfer this out to the buyer. The C3 is not going to do any of this for free though.

As to the OP's initial question, I would think you would have to get an NFA savy lawyer involved to resolve this.

 

[Electrician Mike]

Thanks for the replies. I know what forms and the time frames involved, I have done my homework on all that, was just curious about that specific situation. I have talked with 2 different dealers, and both guns I am considering are in their current inventory, inside the state of OK. Both seem to have operations very similar to the one in Ponca City or Blackwell or wherever it was, everyone gets the point as to who I was talking about. One person has already spoken up about his gun being seized, and I am sure there are more. Looks like if something like this were to happen, your already very expensive machine gun could wind up costing you a lot more.
If there is a dealer out there that will just take a deposit until the stamp is approved please let me know who it is. I have yet to find one. I would love to just give a small deposit and hang on to the rest for a while. I have a couple of NFA items pending right now, I check my bank every day hoping my checks have cleared, both are paid in full just waiting on the approvals so I can pick them up.
Any of us could be in the same situation if, while waiting for our approvals for anything NFA related, something was to happen to the dealer which would cause him to loose his license. The people I have talked to say the transfer could not legally go thru, and no one knows what would happen next.