I'm obtaining an FFL as a sole proprietorship/DBA. I'm using unused office space in my family's business. Is there any additional insurance, aside from what is already on our building/company that I am legally required to have?

Insurance is not a prerequisite for getting an FFL.

Your existing insurance company may or may not like the fact you are getting ready to operate a firearms business out of an existing space they already insure.  You may want to touch base with them.  Insurance companies can be hot and cold when it comes to insuring gun dealers...almost as bad as credit card processing companies!

This will be a pretty low volume operation, mostly just doing transfers for friends.

No insurance is required, federally speaking--your state, county, or city may have insurance requirements, but you'd need to check with them.  Insurance that you may want to have, that may or may not be already present with the existing family business insurance, would include:

• Inventory - to replace any inventory you have (including guns you've received, but haven't transferred out yet) in the event of theft, fire, or other loss


• Premises liability - If a customer trips on your doorstep and injures himself, for example


• General liability - If a gun you sold is used in a crime

Again, existing insurance may or may not cover any or all of these--your best bet is to check with your insurance agent and see.

Wait, so if an FFL sells a firearm to an individual, who passes the gov't background check, and then does something illegal with it, the FFL can be held liable?

We can be sued for anything.

You can be sued.  The plaintiff may or may not win, but even if you "win", it costs significant legal fees to make that happen.  If you have insurance, you call the insurance company, and they handle the defense.  In some (far-fetched) cases, the suit might even be appropriate.  If your customer tells you that he intends to commit a crime with the gun, even if he passes the NICS check, you're probably better off not completing the transaction.

For just one example of such a lawsuit, Gander Mountain sold a gun to a person who turned out to be a straw purchaser.  That gun was used to ambush and murder two firefighters.  Gander Mountain is being sued because, the suit claims, they should have known it was a straw purchase (I don't believe the suit has any merit, but nonetheless it's ongoing).  Here's one news article about it: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/05/20/gander-mountain-sued-over-gun-used-in-firefighters-deaths/.

How ridiculous our society has become.

What if you had a lawyer draft an End User Agreement for the purchaser to sign...could you be liable then?

Possibly, for at least two reasons.  First, disclaimers of liability are not always enforceable.  Second, that wouldn't do anything about potential liability to third parties (people harmed or killed using the gun you sold, for example).