The definitive answers on selling ammo / bullets you make

[unfy]

Links are kinda from different sources, but ... yeah.   I may update this later if I come across more 'affirmative' links.

So, selling ammunition is a known Class 6 license.  Most folks know this.

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/manufacturers.html

Q: Is a person who reloads ammunition required to be licensed as a manufacturer?

Yes, if the person engages in the business of selling or distributing reloads for the purpose of livelihood and profit. No, if the person reloads only for personal use.
[18 U.S.C. 922(a) (i) and 923(a), 27 CFR 478.41]

Livelihood and profit.  Fun phrase.  Good luck debating that.  Basically if you're making it to sell on purpose... good luck with trying to argue that it's not livelihood.  And if you sell enough batches of stuff, you're bound to be hard pressed to explain it away.

Sell reloads ? Class 6, gotcha.


But what about, say, Unfy Plated Boolits (TM) ?  Or you got a bunch of lead you cast into boolits and wanna get rid of ?

http://law.justia.com/cfr/title27/27-2.0.1.2.3.4.1.1.html

27 C.F.R. § 478.41   General.
Title 27 - Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms

CFR = code of federal regulations

§ 478.41   General.
(a) Each person intending to engage in business as an importer or manufacturer of firearms or ammunition, or a dealer in firearms shall, before commencing such business, obtain the license required by this subpart for the business to be operated. Each person who desires to obtain a license as a collector of curios or relics may obtain such a license under the provisions of this subpart.

So, above, we see the manufacture of ammunition needs a license.... knew that already.... but what about components ? Like Unfy Plated Bullets (TM) ?


http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/921

18 USC § 921 - Definitions

USC = united states code

(17)
(A) The term “ammunition” means ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellent powder designed for use in any firearm.

So... ammunition means not only fully assembled rounds, but the components there in.  Doesn't look good for Unfy Plated Bullets (TM).


GIVEN THE ABOVE, SELLING BULLETS YOU MAKE REQUIRES A LICENSE

The Class 6 license costs all of $30 for 3 year period.  $10/year, not bad.

http://www.atf.gov/files/forms/download/atf-f-5310-12.pdf


Now for the nastier bit.

ITAR / DDTC.

First, the definition of ammunition and such from these fine folks:

http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/regulations_laws/documents/official_itar/2012/ITAR_Part_121.pdf

CATEGORY III—AMMUNITION/ORDNANCE
*(a) Ammunition/ordnance for the articles in Categories I and II of this section.
(b) Ammunition/ordnance handling equipment specifically designed or modified for the articles controlled in this category, such as, belting, linking, and de-linking equipment.
(c) Equipment and tooling specifically designed or modified for the production of defense articles controlled by this category.
(d) Components, parts, accessories, attachments and associated equipment specifically designed or modified for the articles in this category:
*(1) Guidance and control components for the articles in paragraph (a) of this category;
*(2) Safing, arming and fuzing components (including target detection and localization
devices) for the articles in paragraph (a) of this category; and
(3) All other components, parts, accessories, attachments and associated equipment for the articles in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this category

Category I items are basically small arms (rifles/pistols).  So ammo for rifles / pistols is covered as per (a).  Then, with (d)(3) - components of (a) are covered as well.  Now, for what it's worth, these different Categories and their contents are considered 'defense articles'.  Why ? I dunno, guess it was their way of using a generic term instead of "widget".

Yup, Unfy Plated Bullets (TM) are covered under these guy's definitions of 'ammunition', too.  Whee!


Now that we know what the ITAR calls ammunition... lets see if we need to register with these fellas.

http://www.pmddtc.state.gov/regulations_laws/documents/official_itar/2012/ITAR_Part_122.pdf

§ 122.1 Registration requirements.
(a) Any person who engages in the United States in the business of either manufacturing or exporting defense articles or furnishing defense services is required to register with the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. For the purpose of this subchapter, engaging in the business of manufacturing or exporting defense articles or furnishing defense services requires only one occasion of manufacturing or exporting a defense article or furnishing a defense service. Manufacturers who do not engage in exporting must nevertheless register.

(b) Exemptions. Registration is not required for:
(1) Officers and employees of the United States Government acting in an official capacity.
(2) Persons whose pertinent business activity is confined to the production of unclassified technical data only.
(3) Persons all of whose manufacturing and export activities are licensed under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.
(4) Persons who engage only in the fabrication of articles for experimental or scientific purpose, including research and development.
(c) Purpose. Registration is primarily a means to provide the U.S. Government with necessary information on who is involved in certain manufacturing and exporting activities. Registration does not confer any export rights or privileges. It is generally a precondition to the issuance of any license or other approval under this subchapter.

See, I'm not sure where the bold'd phrase in (a) came about.  But for a gov't body that deals with imports/exports... insisting you register even if you don't do either importing nor exporting seems dubious at best.  But regulations are regulations.... gotta love laws not written by Congress (where's my copy of the Constitution again ?).

So... yup, you have to register with these folks.  Yay, more bureaucratic red tape.  Lets see what registering entails.

§ 122.3 Registration fees.
(a) A person who is required to register must do so on an annual basis upon submission of a completed Form DS–2032 and payment of a fee as follows:
(1) Tier 1: A set fee of $2,250 per year is required for new registrants or registrants for whom the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls has not reviewed, adjudicated or issued a response to any applications during a 12-month period ending 90 days prior to expiration of the current registration

There are a couple other tiers and a few other points, but basically the $2,250 is the low end number.  Sweeeeeet!  I wonder what would happen if Lincoln, Omaha, Bellevue, or Wahoo started charging these kinds of numbers.


You gotta pay around $2,260 a year in Federal gov't fees just to get started.

The Class 6 license aint so bad... and the requirements there in are about standard business practices anyway.

The DDTC requirements have a slew of paper work stuffs that ya gotta keep and a bunch of other crap that will burden ya down pretty quick.  I'm not gonna start to list those... they aint friendly either.


Oh, and then you'll prolly want a 1 or 2 million dollar insurance policy for your Unfy Plated Bullets (TM).  Afterall, if bkoenig double charges his 300 weatherby magnum, slaps an Unfy Plated Bullet (TM) on top of it....  and it explodes in his face... he could blame poor Unfy.  I'm sure 1-2M insurance policies are cheap, too.


And the local business license ?

And then how about local city zoning stuff ? You're manufacturing stuff.

And how about the EPA ? I'm sure they'd have something to say about lead fumes.

Is it just me or is starting an intentionally small business about impossible in the USA these days ?


edit: cleaned up some grammar and slight clarification.  Also added the local business license.

[NENick]

I need a hug after that. Now what if I wanted to start a pillow making company? Same kind of bull****.

[NENick]

I bet if you went straight to china with this, they would probably have a factory and 10,000 loyal employees waiting for your wheels to touch down at no cost at all.

[bkoenig]

Is it just me or is starting an intentionally small business about impossible in the USA these days ?

And that's no accident.

[unfy]

Trading your bullets for stuff is possible work around for this.  Maybe.  Depends on how you go with the word 'profit'.

But if you frequently trade 1000 bullets for stuff and then sell that stuff or something, I imagine it'd be frowned upon.

Also not entirely sure how '10k Unfy Plated Bullets (TM) traded for a metal mill' would look.

[unfy]

I need a hug after that.

That's half of the point of the original post.  Digging all that info up was not fun either... ugh... heh.  Particularly DDTC stuff... that's nice and hidden out of plain sight.

The more important half was to finally put an end / answer to the questions concerning the topic.