It is with a heavy heart that I must announce effective immediately BP Tactical Services is suspending the bulk of services we offer.
As some of you may have read in this thread: (link removed)
The State Department has in its infinite wisdom instructed I.T.A.R to "redefine" what it considers "Manufacturing" as it pertains to "Defense related products".
Just about every operation a Gunsmith performs is now considered "Manufacturing" according to I.T.A.R and as such is mandated to "register" with them to the tune of $2250.00 annually.
I had serious concerns regarding this and had the "Guidance" document reviewed by an I.T.A.R Attorney and a couple of Compliance Officers that I know. Their consensus is unanimous, I MUST register to continue in the business I am in.
Financially this is a prohibitive burden at this time, especially for a part time business. Add the fact that I am taxed on the business at nearly 40% and I would have to work 4-5 months of the year for free just to stay within the good graces of Federal regulations.
This I cannot and will not do.
Most of you will think "Screw em, just keep doing what your doing on the DL". Trust me, I have had the same thought. However running afoul of these regulations carries tremendous penalties, fines can be as steep as $1,000,000.00 not to mention Club Fed time.
The risk is not worth the reward.

Any work I have in house currently will be completed but once that is concluded, operations shall be suspended.
There are rumors from reliable sources that the fee structure may change and regulations may get scaled back, but they are only rumors and who knows what a time line may be.

I would like to say "Thank You" to all.

Bert

Quoted:
Not meant to be sarcastic at all. Gunsmithing must not be very lucrative at all. If (approximately) $2k/year in addition cost causes a business to close. Don't get me wrong, this sucks....the more gunsmiths the better! I'm just surprised at the amount of the fee causing people to get out/shut down.

Quoted:
Thank you for the support guys.
This really sucks for us. I have worked very hard to build a successful business in an industry that is very difficult to do so.
I would like to think that we are damn good at what we do and always treated customers well at a fair price.

Like the quoted post above shows, financially at this time I cannot bear this additional cost. As noted between tax liabilities and this new additional fee would mean I would need to work 4-5 months for free just to stay in the good graces of the Feds.
As I operate on a part time basis I just cannot bear nor justify the expense.
This decree by the DDTC affects every single Gunsmith in the nation, of which the majority are small part time operations such as myself.
To tell you the truth, good 'Smiths don't do it for the money, we do it because we genuinely enjoy what we do. The 'Smiths that make a comfortable living from strictly 'Smithing are very few and far between. When I was full time the best year I had was about $24k after taxes etc. $2250.00 from that is a substantial whack and not many businesses can afford a 10% hit.
I am truly sorry to have to make this decision but at this time the risk outweighs the rewards.

Thank you so much to my loyal customers and friends, hopefully this thing gets turned around but until then, I will be suspending the bulk of my operations.


Sincerely and with deep regrets


        Bert, AKA "BP Tactical Services"



Welkommen to Gun Control by Regulation.