You often hear our opponents speak of unlicensed dealers at gun shows. Here’s an example of what happens to unlicensed dealers, and why we suggest that another word for “unloosened dealer” is “felon.” You can be  private, unlicensed seller, making an occasional sale or trade, or liquidating a collection, but as soon as you have a “principal objective of livelihood and profit,” you’re committing a felony if you do not first obtain a Federal Firearms License.
And I’d note the guy charged here is among those class of people our opponents tell us have magical gun powers, and are the only ones who can be trusted with firearms. Clearly if he hadn’t been under the influence of the “Demon Ruger,” this never would have happened.
The news story describes $108,000 in deposits from 2008-2011 supposedly derived from his sales. Yeah, I think that might qualify as intending to make a profit.
***…as soon as you have a “ principal objective of livelihood and profit, ***
What if your ‘principal objective’ is to help undermine arguably unconstitutional ‘laws’ by exploiting the ‘loopholes’ enabling more people to buy ‘unpapered’ guns while making only enough ‘profit’ to cover the expenses of your ‘hobby’ (shipping, table fee’s, etc)?
That’s pretty much the language. Beyond that it’s what an AUSA can convince a jury of.