Gun Store Recomendations

I know that the mailing address on a drivers license issue has been covered in a previous thread; but I need a FFL/ Gun shop recommendation in the Hampton Roads area where they actually know how to read the form 4473 (Background Check Form); including the instructions for section 20 B. "alternate Documentation" http://www.atf.gov/forms/download/atf-f-4473-1.pdf

I recently bought a gun at the Richmond gun show by using my Virginia driver’s license (with a mailing address), CHP with my home address and my apartment lease; but the FFL there doesn’t have a store and only works gun shows. I explained my situation to the guy at Davisons Discount Firearms in Norfolk as I might need a FFL transfer in the future and he understood the form correctly, but unfortunately his selection of in-store guns was greatly depleted due to the recent gun rush. He was also a nice guy, which is somewhat rare in the gun business. So I am looking for a store in the Hampton Roads area that:
1. Is stocked
2. Has employees that know how to read.
3. I would also prefer to give my money to nice friendly people who appreciate the business, but I know that often isn’t an option.

PS If no such store exists in Hampton roads I would be willing to go as far as Richmond for purchases.

Green Top just north of Richmond, or Degoeffs sort of east of Richmond - with the weight on Green Top.

As for finding a stocked gun store (guns or ammo) - good luck! The internet, fast phone calls with credit card in hand, and a willingness to pay transfer fees may be your only bet for quite some time. Know what you are looking for, and how to tell the difference between NIB and LNIB.

stay safe.

skidmark said:

Green Top just north of Richmond, or Degoeffs sort of east of Richmond - with the weight on Green Top.

As for finding a stocked gun store (guns or ammo) - good luck! The internet, fast phone calls with credit card in hand, and a willingness to pay transfer fees may be your only bet for quite some time. Know what you are looking for, and how to tell the difference between NIB and LNIB.

stay safe.

Click to expand...

Greentops is your best bet and as Skid said, good luck looking for stocked.

Item three knocks DeGoffs out.

3. I would also prefer to give my money to nice friendly people who appreciate the business, but I know that often isn’t an option.

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I quit dealing with them 40 years ago.

peter nap said:

Greentops is your best bet and as Skid said, good luck looking for stocked.

Item three knocks DeGoffs out.



I quit dealing with them 40 years ago.

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peter i think its different management now than 40yrs ago a lot has changed since then , Neal(owner), Joe(his son), and Gray(manager?) are all good to deal with. have only ever got marginal service from one guy who didn't stick around there very long. Tim(now at CSA) had to save him from Kim as the defconKim countdown had started. luckily nuclear winter was averted.

67GT390FB said:

peter i think its different management now than 40yrs ago a lot has changed since then , Neal(owner), Joe(his son), and Gray(manager?) are all good to deal with. have only ever got marginal service from one guy who didn't stick around there very long. Tim(now at CSA) had to save him from Kim as the defconKim countdown had started. luckily nuclear winter was averted.

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Neal is Rodney's son and as I recall he was as big a D6&k as his father.....but, I am working an a statute of limitations on grudges:lol: Maybe 45 years:uhoh:

Come to think of it, it was Neal that started the initial trouble. North American Arms Mini Derringers went through a phase when 3 out of 4 of them were out of time. I was looking at one and cocked it to see if it locked up. Neal said "Please don't cock the firearms". I said "I want to make sure it's in time before I buy it", Neal said "Please don't cock the firearms"....

that started a discussion with Rodney that required I go to church two weeks in a row.

I did buy a NAM that day....at a place in Goochland called Va. Muzzleloaders and haven't been back to DeGoffs since.
The poor fellow at Va. Muzzleloaders didn't last long either. He was a retired Farmer who was always drunk. One day apparently he passed out drunk and died of the heat in the store

Nope, I'm wrong...I bought it at Greentops that day. The one at Va Muzzleloading was aew years later. Memory is getting bad.

There may be another gun shop opening up soon in Henrico County......a little birdie once told me....

Is it not possible to buy your gun from Greentop for example and ask that they transfer it to a store in Hampton that knows how to process the paperwork correctly?

Try Winfree Firearms in Grafton (http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=12842181).

I've been doing business there for a while, and have been treated very well.

If you call, ask to speak with Susan or Bill.

There's also Gadsden's Guns in Hanover Co.
http://www.vaguntrader.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/489167#Post489167

The owners are good people......

There's also these two in Culpeper:
Immortal Arms
We are by appointment...please don't just "drop" by, we may be out on the range and unable to assist you.

http://immortalarms.com/

and

Hansohn Brothers
http://store.HansohnBrothers.com

and this one:


DK firearms
at: sales@dkfirearms.com
based in Milford, VA (between Richmond and Fredericksburg in Caroline County). We operate on an appointment only basis out of our Milford location, and travel to most of the gun shows in Virginia.


The the above are owned/run by VCDL members or I wouldn't tell you about them.

I got my gun at Degoeffs and had a very good experience there. Oddly enough, I lived just upstairs of Rodney for a year so I can see how he could have put someone off of the store while he was working there. Fortunately, he no longer works there to my knowledge.

GDBaum said:

I got my gun at Degoeffs and had a very good experience there. Oddly enough, I lived just upstairs of Rodney for a year so I can see how he could have put someone off of the store while he was working there. Fortunately, he no longer works there to my knowledge.

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Rodney owned DeGoffs and is no longer with us.

Wait a minute... the FFL does NOT have a store and only sells at gun shows? That's illegal! It's a condition of the license that one have a regular brick-and-mortar storefront with regular business hours, a local business license, occupancy permit, and zoning approval. Sounds like a complaint to BATFE to me.

user said:

Wait a minute... the FFL does NOT have a store and only sells at gun shows? That's illegal! It's a condition of the license that one have a regular brick-and-mortar storefront with regular business hours, a local business license, occupancy permit, and zoning approval. Sounds like a complaint to BATFE to me.

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I could probably name half a dozen gun show dealers who don't have a brick and mortar storefront.

Revolver armorer is in Suffolk. Heard good things about them.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

peter nap said:

Rodney owned DeGoffs and is no longer with us.

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Were there two Rodneys, maybe his grandson? The one I lived above was something like in his late 20s. He said his family owned the store and that he worked there for a time.

EDIT: I'm currently living in the apartment that the Rodney I knew had. I checked one of the letters we still get that are addressed to him. His name's Rodney Atkinson.

GDBaum said:

Were there two Rodneys, maybe his grandson? The one I lived above was something like in his late 20s. He said his family owned the store and that he worked there for a time.

EDIT: I'm currently living in the apartment that the Rodney I knew had. I checked one of the letters we still get that are addressed to him. His name's Rodney Atkinson.

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The Rodney and person who opened and owned DeGoffs, would be ten years older than I am and I left half a century behind over a decade ago.

Mark at Immortal Arms is top notch. To borrow a phrase from my Grandfather.... 'He's good people'....

Marco said:

There's also these two in Culpeper:
Immortal Arms
We are by appointment...please don't just "drop" by, we may be out on the range and unable to assist you.

http://immortalarms.com/

Click to expand...

richarcm said:

Is it not possible to buy your gun from Greentop for example and ask that they transfer it to a store in Hampton that knows how to process the paperwork correctly?

Click to expand...

Well, yes it probably is, if you are willing to pay the shipping and a handling fee, plus go through another background check. And presuming they are willing to take up the time to do so, as opposed to you taking it with you because they are pretty well up on all the ins and outs of the 4473 process, seeing as they do (used to do?) so many every day.

Why not just start out early in the morning so you arrive at Green Top about when they open. If you run into a delay you have the whole day to visit The City With The Largest Collection of Second Place Trophies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREUrbGGrgM :uhoh:

If the delay extends past closing time, just think of it as a second opportnity to visit River City http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s60hOgqLFGg . I'm sure with 3 days notice we could find a few folks to meet you for lunch.

stay safe.

Here's who I've used in VA BH, sane and friendly:

Coastal Gun Works LLC
5003 Admiral Wright Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Office (757) 496-6694
Fax (757) 819-0644
www.coastalgunworks.com

Why Gun Store Employees Are So Rude

I have often wondered why so many gun store employees are so rude. I have heard all of their excuses. I think that the main reason is that they are armed and everyone knows it. I know that this violates the “an armed society= a polite society” saying. But think about it, dealing with the general public if a shoe salesman had they type of attitude problems that many gun store employees have they would be getting knocked out at least once per week.

I know that high demand also plays a factor, they have so many customers willing to spend so much money that they really don’t need your business. Additionally you usually are dealing with a low paid hourly employee and not the owner. These uneducated, often lower class employees think that they have more knowledge than guns smiths, NRA instructors, and life long collectors combined. They will often condescend to such people as if they are complete idiots. I am not sure if they get a commission off of the sale, but many certainly act like they don’t. The sale is a disturbance to their day. Again I go back to them being armed as the primary reason for their rudeness. Kind of like LEO, most are polite, but if they choose to be @#$%^ they can. Incidently my only encounters with LEO's in this area have been positive. Chesapeake police used their cruiser to push my car into a parking lot when it broke down at an intercection. Where I am from they just would have called a tow truck. VA Bch police seem ok as well, never have had any interaction with them. OCed past them a couple of times no issues.

I have met some decent gun shop employees and owners. But I would say that they only comprise about 25% of the business. The rest are like those that I described above.