I graduated gunsmithing school in '94 after being a mechanic and service advisor for 17 years. I spent 7 years in the firearms industry. I'm fed up with the paperwork, the politics, the regulations, the ATF, the stigma and the misinformation that plagues this industry. It seems that gun dealers are being targeted(excuse the pun) by everything from million mom marches to the media. I'm tired of being the 'heavy'. I have embarked on a new endeaver thats utilizes my skills from both industries....welding and firearm instuction. Have I done the right thing ?

Sure. Save the firearms for a hobby. You can pick the people you want to deal with and lose the headaches of the rest.

I can see by the replies, that I could be a bomb maker for a militia and nobody would really care one way or another!
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If you are stigmatized, it is by the brainwashed sleepwalkers.  Given the paperwork and ATF hassles, you have probably made your life simpler.  Continue the gun work, just do it for friends under the table.  There are so few good gunsmiths any more, most have found other things to do for the same reasons you cite.

Are you going to weld or teach welding, and are you interested in underwater welding?  Can you do welding sculptures for lawns?

I would prefer doing tile work.

Tired of the paperwork, the politicians, the regulations, the Feds..........sounds eerily similar to my old job.

I say you did the right thing.

You can use the skills you have accquired in the past and be your own boss.  

Stay with the gunsmithing thing though.  

We've got to have a smithy on the new frontier!