11th Cir. Pattern Jury Instr. (Criminal) O34.1

18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(1)(A)

It’s a Federal crime to be in the business of dealing in firearms without a

Federal license.

The Defendant can be found guilty of this crime only if all the following

facts are proved beyond a reasonable doubt:

(1) the Defendant engaged in the business of dealing in firearms;

(2) the Defendant didn’t have a Federal license; and

(3) the Defendant acted willfully.

A “firearm” is any weapon designed to, or readily c onvertible to, expel a

projectile by the action of an explosive. [The term includes the frame or receiver of

any such weapon and any firearm muffler or silencer. “Firearm frame or receiver”

means that part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or

breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward

portion to receive the barrel.]

A person is “engaged in the business of dealing in firearms” if the person

regularly purchases and resells firearms with the principal objective of livelihood

and profit. “Livelihood” includes both making a living and supplementing one’s

income. Some things that are not the “business of dealing in firearms” are

occasionally selling, exchanging, or purchasing firearms for one’s own personal

collection or selling all or part of one’s own personal collection.

A “dealer” is any person “engaged in the business of dealing in firearms,” at

wholesale or retail, even if that’s not the person’s primary business or job.

In determining whether a Defendant had the principal objective of livelihood

and profit, you may consider all of the circumstances surrounding the transactions,

including: the quantity a nd the frequency of sales; the location of the sales;

conditions under which the sales occurred; Defendant’s behavior before, during,

and after the sales; the price charged; and the characteristics of the firearms sold.

The Government need not show that the Defendant actually made a profit, so long

as the Defendant’s principal objective was livelihood and profit.

The Government must prove that the Defendant knew that [his] [her]

conduct was unlawful, but it doesn’t have to prove that the Defendant actually

knew [he][she] was required to obtain a Federal license to engage in the business

of dealing in firearms.

[Proof of a profit motive isn’t required if the Defendant deals regularly in

firearms for criminal or terroristic purposes.]