november 4, 2019 | 3 Min Read

If we had to pick two items in our pawnshop that we pay the most for, those two items would be jewelry and firearms. These two items just hold their value really well, particularly in firearms.

If you’re looking to get some quick cash - pawning one of your firearms might be the answer. It’s fairly easy to do, and can get you the cash you need quickly.

So what’s the difference in pawning a firearm and pawning any other item?

Let’s take a look.

do all pawnshops pawn firearms?

Not exactly. To pawn, buy or sell firearms as a business you must be a Federal Firearms Licensee. This means that you have contacted the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) to apply for a Federal Firearms License (FFL) and the ATF approved and issued you the license. Remember that this license is only for businesses who want to sell firearms, customers who want to pawn, buy, or sell firearms to a pawnshop are not required to be licensed in any way in the state of Alabama.

That’s the legal side of it.

For the most part, however, the majority of pawnshops obtain this license so that they can deal in firearms. It’s very rare that you find a pawnshop who doesn’t deal in firearms at all, but it does happen.

How will I know if a pawnshop pawns firearms?

Apart from just asking the shop if they pawn firearms, you can always look for either their license hanging up in the shop, or a showroom with a gun case full of handguns. If you see one of these two, you definitely can pawn firearms there.

can i pawn a gun at pocket pawn?

Absolutely! We have all the necessary licenses and storage capabilities to safely pawn your firearm at Pocket Pawn!

will i get a lot of money for my firearm?

Like with any other item, the amount of money you get depends on the value of your firearm. We always base our loan values on what the item retails for brand new. We also take into consideration the used value as well, just in case it’s a rare item that sells for a lot of money secondhand.

how do i find out what a pawnshop will give me?

Finding out how much we can loan on your firearm is a super simple process! Just bring your firearm into the shop and we’ll be glad to tell you the loan or buy value. ***Important*** Please make sure that your firearm is unloaded before bringing it into the shop.

is it different from pawning anything else?

Pawning a firearm can be A LOT different than pawning any other item. Let’s take a TV for example. If you pawn your TV, you’ll have 30 days to come pay the amount you borrowed plus a service charge in order to redeem it. Before your pawn due date, you can swing by the shop, pay the redemption price, and head home with your TV the same day.

it’s a little different with firearms…

When pawning firearms, the first part of the transaction is exactly the same. It’s when you come to redeem your firearm pawn that things change a bit.

When you come to pickup your pawned firearm, you’ll be asked for a few extra steps:

You’ll be asked for a valid state ID with your current address.
You’ll be asked to complete a criminal background check.
You’ll have to pass the criminal background check to get your gun back.

will I have to do a background check?

Yes. Every person who pawns a firearm and comes back to redeem it will be required by law to complete a criminal background check. This is required in order to verify that the person who pawned the gun is legally able to own a firearm.

How long will the background check take?

The criminal background check is a one page form that we provide for you to complete and sign. It takes most people 5-10 minutes to complete the check, and another 5-10 minutes for us to submit the background check. The waiting period on an answer from the ATF can vary from a few minutes to a few days.

Why would the ATF make me wait a few days?

Whenever the ATF needs to research a background on an individual, they can place your background check on hold for up to 3 business days. We cannot prevent this from happening, and the ATF does not give us answers on why a person is delayed.

what happens if the atf denies me?

If for any reason the ATF denies you on your criminal background check, we are legally not permitted to give you your gun back. If this happens you do have a few options:

You can submit a deny appeal to the ATF to question the decision.
You can pay your pawn completely down, and wait on the ATF’s final decision after an appeal.
You can sell us the firearm outright.

Keep in mind that as a pawnshop, we don’t want to keep your gun from you, but we also cannot legally give a gun back to someone who cannot pass a criminal background check.

Wrap-up

Not all pawnshops will loan on firearms. Each pawnshop who sells firearms has to be licensed to do so, and some pawnshops just choose not to pawn, buy, or sell firearms because they want to deal in certain types of merchandise. Getting a loan on your firearm is easy! Just make sure it’s unloaded, then bring it by the shop for us to make you a quote! You can expect us to base our loan value on what the firearm sells retail for. Also, pawning a firearm is a little different from pawning other items. When you pick the firearm up, you’ll be required to complete and pass a criminal background check. This process takes anywhere from 5-20 minutes.

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