"And yes, I think it was perfectly honest."
Applying for a federal license to buy and sell guns when you have have absolutely no intention whatsoever to buy and sell guns (merely to obtain them for yourself at a discounted price) is honest. In your opinion.
Well we disagree. I think it's a lie. I think it's dishonest.
The guy with the FFL "is" buying and selling guns. He's just got a very small customer base, very low overhead, and low profit. That's called "competition".
The notion that someone has to have a "physical storefront" isn't REQUIRED as a condition of law for doing business for ANY other business. There are literally tens of thousands of people doing various businesses out of their homes and garages--especially with the advent of the internet (E-Bay springs to mind) EXACTLY this way--part-time, low overhead, and smaller profit margins. So for the BATF**Ks to require this for FFL's is ridiculous.
So, yes---it's perfectly honest and legit--and you're wrong.
And as to disagreeing, it seems that a number of other folks on this thread agree with me and not you.
Few had "absolutely no intention" thus. Most that far into the hobby do buy, and sell. The Type 03 FFL limits the "sell" part in a way that's rather confusing & risky, and having a Type 01 just eliminates that concern.
I doubt anyone obtained one with the express intent "I will NEVER EVER sell".