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Smithfield council creates commercial and home-occupation firearm business licenses after months of ATF consultation
Summary
The council voted to add a firearms and ammunition chapter to the Smithfield municipal code, creating conditional commercial and home-occupation licenses tailored to ATF Federal Firearms License (FFL) types; the measure aims to allow long-time residents to comply while restricting large-scale manufacturing.
After months of staff work with federal regulators, the Smithfield City Council on Dec. 10 approved an ordinance adding a new chapter to the municipal code to regulate firearm-related businesses.
City planner Brian (last name in transcript) told the council the new chapter aligns local business licensing with ATF Federal Firearms License types and creates both commercial firearm sales licenses and a limited home-occupation firearms license with a three-year conditional use to match federal FFL renewal cycles. "We worked with the ATF to make sure the wording was correct because a lot of this is fine-line walking when it comes to the Second Amendment," Brian said during the presentation.
Under the ordinance, commercial firearm businesses (sales, repair, pawn broker sales and certain manufacturing) remain conditional uses in the appropriate commercial zones. The home-occupation license allows limited activities — type 1 sales/repair, curio/relic transactions and narrowly defined light manufacturing such as CNC customizations, small-part production, laser engraving and 3-D printing — while excluding large-scale ammunition or firearm manufacturing operations from residential settings.
Chief Jeremy Hunt and other staff emphasized the ordinance is not intended to let hobbyists avoid federal licensing requirements. "None of this applies to personal creation or sales at all," Brian said, noting that a federal FFL is still required for regulated commercial activity and that the ATF conducts inspections and issues the federal license.
Council members discussed enforcement and resident compliance. A council member noted a longtime resident with an expiring FFL had come to the city seeking a lawful path to continue limited sale or auction activity; staff said the code change is intended to allow that resident and similar operators to obtain local business licenses and remain in compliance.
The ordinance creates: conditional-use commercial firearm business licenses (with types mapped to ATF license categories), a three-year conditional use period coinciding with ATF renewals, and a defined home-occupation firearms license with explicit limits on scale and activity. The city retains authority to revoke the local business license and coordinate with the ATF to address violations.
The council voted unanimously to pass the ordinance.
The most immediate effect is to provide a clear path for local residents and small-scale operators to obtain city business licenses that reflect federal requirements while limiting operations that city staff and the ATF consider inappropriate for residential neighborhoods. The city manager said staff will monitor enforcement and return to the council if adjustments are needed.
