If someone offers to perform even a simple medical procedure on you, without a medical education or the proper licenses, he will be committing a crime. It doesn’t matter if you waive his liability, or whether he provides a disclaimer. It’s a crime.

Similarly a gun dealer, a buddy, or an anonymous internet poster who provides a trust to you–even giving you a sample to copy or a form to complete yourself–is committing the crime of practicing law without a license. Unfortunately this is a common problem in the area of NFA gun trusts.

There are many reasons it is a crime to practice law without a license, such as:

• A person with no legal education has no basis on which to give you a competent or expert opinion on any legal matter.
• If they provide you a flawed or invalid solution, you have no recourse. The culprit has no law license to lose or professional discipline to face. Further, his own liability insurance will not cover criminal acts, so there may be little or no compensation for any damages you suffer by relying on this person’s advice–even if it’s just a blank form he implied was dependable. A lawyer who provides you bad service can face punishment and loss of his license, and his malpractice insurance could compensate you for any damages he has caused you to suffer.
• Someone offering a gun trust like a gun dealer has a conflict of interest. He is motivated by his desire to sell you a gun or silencer. He wants you to believe the transaction can be quick and simple so you are more likely to make the purchase. The gun dealer doesn’t want you to delay your purchase to research the issues. He will hustle you into using his quickie form without further thought about the long term implications for you and your loved ones. On the other hand, your lawyer has a duty of loyalty to you and no one else. It is your lawyer’s job to provide you protective and cautionary advice that no one else is willing to tell you. There are many ways this duty of loyalty could be undermined by a possible conflict of interest. For example, a gun shop could try to influence your choice of lawyer. We’ve seen this happen when a gun dealer has insisted on choosing the lawyer their customer uses for a trust. We’ve also seen a gun shop steer their customers to a lawyer married to one of their employees. We cannot stress enough the importance of detecting possible conflicts of interest on the part of those offering you legal advice.
• A gun dealer is or should be aware practicing law without a license, including blank gun trust forms, is a crime. If they do so, you must wonder what other laws they are breaking. Only patronize a gun dealer who obeys the law. Otherwise how can you assume your gun purchase is truly done in a lawful manner? The same gun dealers who improperly provide advice on trusts often are the same gun dealers involved in other legal problems concerning sales of Class 3 / NFA firearms. We do not know why they endanger their customers and their own businesses so recklessly.
• Finally, gun dealers, anonymous internet sources, and other laymen typically offer bad trusts for gun ownership. Many clients ask us to replace flawed trusts provided by gun dealers or prepared using Quicken WillMaker. These trusts consistently lack even basic protections crucial for you and your loved ones for the handling of firearms. Considering the points raised above, these trusts are poor quality because either the person who provided it doesn’t know any better, or he has no interest in your obtaining good legal advice elsewhere.

So be careful and help solve this problem. Many gun owners value their relationship with their gun dealer. Their gun dealer could be unaware an employee is unlawfully providing legal advice. Advise them of any problems you observe. If your gun dealer dismisses any concerns you express about practicing law without a license, you’ll know to find a new gun dealer.

Arsenal Attorneys serve gun owners only, and the Arsenal Gun Trust is our sole focus. Each client receives a personal consultation from one of our own in-house lawyers. No middle man is involved. We take as much time as is needed to help our clients make informed decisions. We provide you our own original solution prepared for you personally. We aren’t selling you someone else’s form to complete on your own. Our solutions are guided by our commitment to protect gun owners’ rights, privacy, and safety. We only serve clients where we are licensed to practice law, including: Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.