legal age to work

Question
I was wondering how old do you have to be to work in a gun store in Texas.

Answer
Hello Justin.

There are at least two sets of laws that apply to your question.

The first type of law is the federal firearms law which is the same for every state. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) is a division of the US government which enforces the federal firearms laws that pertain to firearms dealers including gun stores. The BATF laws are quite complicated and you can download the full document with the following link:

http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/2005/p53004/p53004.pdf

The following text is an excerpt from the BATF document:

(F4) May an employee of a licensed dealer, such as a manager or clerk, who is under 21 years of age, sell handguns and ammunition suitable for use in handguns for the licensee?

Yes, if the employee is not a prohibited person (e.g., a felon). However, to sell handguns, a person less than 18 years of age must have the prior written consent of a parent or guardian and the written consent must be in the person抯 possession at all times. Also, the parent or guardian giving the written consent may not be prohibited by law from possessing a firearm. Moreover, State law must not prohibit the juvenile from possessing the handguns or ammunition. [18 U.S.C. 922(x)]

So based on the current federal firearms law, a gun store employee would have to be at least 18 years old to handle and sell guns and ammunition. If they are younger than 18 then they would need written permission from a parent or legal guardian that is legally eligible to own a firearm, and they would need to carry this permission document with them at all times.


The second type of laws are labor laws which govern all employers and employees regardless of where they work or what business they are in. These laws exist at the federal, state, county, and city level and I do not live in Texas so I can't give you a detailed answer to this portion of your question.

A general rule of thumb is that employees under 18 are only allowed to work a certain amount of hours per week and on certain days and times. For example they are usually limited to part time hours and they are usually not allowed to work late at night or during school hours. Most gun stores would not have a problem abiding with these laws because the laws are the same for them as they are for McDonalds, Walmart, or any other store that hires kids or students.


A few other factors are not laws but they might effect a gun store's hiring decision. One factor is insurance: in some cases the gun store's insurance company may discourage or prevent them from hiring minors since this could increase the store's legal liability in the event of an accident. Another factor is security: younger employees are generally less experienced and thus it may not be safe for them to work behind the counter when there is a potentially increased chance of a robbery or shooting.


If you are interested in working for a gun store then I suggest that you stop by a few local shops and ask to talk to the owner or manager when they are not busy. They can tell you lot and it might just get you a really fun job.


Hope this helps.

Bob