Author Archives: Bryan McRee

Background Checks and SSN#’s

How many John Smiths are there in the United States? One would imagine a whole bunch! Background checks run on two main identifiers. Name and Date of Birth. So if John Smith with a DOB of 12/10/1982 goes to NCIC for a background check what are the odds that they look up the wrong John Smith? Fact is it’s pretty good. Here is an example.

Regular customer comes in and purchases a firearm. Now this state does not have any exception for carry permits so this customer is going to have a background check run before they can leave with the firearm. Keep in mind you have sold this customer a gun over and over with no issue. You enter in all the information and poof DENIED.

So you have two options. Send the customer away with the appeal paperwork in hand or based on your knowledge of the individual you can run them again except this time ask them to provide a social security number. This will help narrow down the John Smith with a DOB of 12/10/1982 WITH the SSN of 123456789 now we have a match and its a PROCEED. In this situation it is suggested that you print out both the denied and proceed and attach them to the transaction documentation in the event you have to explain why you did two background checks.

It is also not uncommon to “fat finger” something and get a denial. A wrong date of birth or even the spelling on a name can result in the wrong individual from popping up and getting denied. In situations where this happens run them again. Print out or document what you did different between the denied and proceed and keep it for your records.

This is one of the great features of EzOnlineFFL all the information is entered one time. If there is a mistake you correct it and resubmit it. No starting over, no entering the same information in another system.

Barcode Scanner and EzOnlineFFL

Using a 2D barcode scanner with EzOnlineFFL allows for accuracy as well as saving some time getting your customer in and out. While the only requirement is the scanner be a 2D scanner so that it can read the PDF-417 barcodes on the back of driver licenses which we will talk about more later.

Some of you have a point of sale (POS) that uses barcode scanners already and in some cases these scanners are 2D and will work fine with getting information into EzOnlineFFL; However each scanner has the ability to be customized and programmed differently which maybe a requirement of your POS. If this is the case we are more than willing to work with your POS to get the scanner programmed in a way where it will work with both EZ and your POS.

Where do I get a scanner?

We don’t sell the scanners directly. Follow the link below and you can purchase one from Amazon. This is the scanner we used to develop the software. We selected this one for it’s wireless features and it comes configured right out of the box. The scanner works better when connected to the included cradle however it does work (slower) when connected directly with Bluetooth and does require some configuration to swap between the cradle and Bluetooth.

Get a scanner here!

Once you have your scanner setup and working you can use it to enter serial numbers when acquiring items or to scan the back of your customers driver license and import all their information directly into the 4473. This really speeds up the process and prevents keying errors.

Be sure to keep the paperwork you get with your scanner. You will need the barcodes if you want to program the scanner to do other things down the road.

One thing to consider is while the information encoded on the back of the driver licenses is standardized the TYPE of information may vary from state to state. For example Georgia encodes almost everything from eye color to the driver license number, Philadelphia on the other hand does not encode the driver license number so this information has to be keyed in by the Dealer in the dealer section.

Barcode scanners also have post codes. These are keystrokes that are automatically entered after a barcode is scanned. Here is an example. If there are multiple fields the scanner can enter a TAB so you can scan from one field to the other. Another one is a CARRIAGE RETURN which is like hitting the enter key on the keyboard. So when you scan a barcode the form is automatically submitted just as if you hit the enter key. These can be programmed by the user.

LEEP / NCIC Background Checks

Once all the information from the customer and the dealer is collected we can send all that information over to your LEEP account for a background check. The best part of this process is there is no rekeying of information and its free. All the data is passed securely to the FBI and linked to your LEEP account.

To setup LEEP background checks is simple first you need a LEEP account. Follow the instructions in the video below.

Once a background check is run if there is not a qualifying event you will get a proceed right away. If the request goes into “RESEARCHING” we will check every minute to see if there is a change of status. If the request goes into “DELAY” we will check every 30 minutes to see if there is a new response.

If the request is in either researching or delay and an update is made we will send the primary account holder AND the user who did the transfer an email letting them know of the new status.

Once the transaction gets a final status the 4473 will automatically be updated.

All LEEP transactions can be viewed by logging into your LEEP account.

Yes, it’s that easy….

FFL Address Changes

No matter if you are a brink and mortar or a home based FFL there may come a time where you will have to change your address.

Changing your address can be simple as moving to a bigger location in the same town or as complicated as changing states. What I can tell you is this, we have done both!

If you are moving cities or states you need to get a new business license and check your zoning.

A change of state or city will require you to get a business license in the new area. You will also need to make sure the zoning laws allow you to have a gun business in the new area. Trust me, the ATF will check zoning requirements and in some cases these may restrict your business or not be an issue at all. The ATF will follow the zoning requirements for your area. This requirement can be done before you file your ATF paperwork and trust me it’s worth doing first!

Complete the ATF From 7 (5310.12)

Yes I know, I know you have to re-due this form to start the address change process best part is you don’t have to do anything except fill out the form and send it in and there is not cost associated with a change of address. We filled ours out, printed it and sent it in via priority mail with a tracking number. SUPER IMPORTANT.. once you an confirm it’s been received you can call or email and they will confirm the receipt.

Give it a few days (10 or so) before you start calling around to see the status of your address change. This process does not take long however there can be some lag when it hits your local ATF office. Be nice and stay on them. You can email the Federal Licensing Center at FFLC@atf.gov at any time and ask questions. They are quick to respond and very helpful.

There will be an interview

The ATF will come and do an interview at your new location. This is very informal, they will check your identification, check your business license and take the time to review the procedures for doing background checks and other procedural stuff pertaining to the sell of firearms. In my situation the Agent was clear, this was not an inspection. However I took it as an opportunity to ask questions, show off my storage and inventory and discuss “what if” cases. Mine took about two and a half hours, mostly because we talked a lot.

Once the agent submits their final report and that report is approved by their Supervisor they will authorize the powers that be to issue you another paper FFL at your new address. It took about six business days to receive mine in the mail.

Getting your new paper license is just the start, you now have to update all your wholesalers with the new license. Last thing you want to happen is for them to ship a firearm to the wrong address. We hope they have checks in place to ensure this does not happen but we also want to do our part.

NEVER POST YOUR FFL ONLINE… Individuals will download it alter it print out a new one and purchase firearms with your LICENSE… this is no good. Protect your physical copy and keep it off the internet. Share it with confirmed vendors on secure sites and vie email to confirmed parties.

What about my SOT???

Don’t worry we got you. In our case our SOT expired just before the address change. We reached out to the SOT office and they quickly responded stating for us to pay for the renewal at the old address and once the FFL license was approved and showing in ezCheck (Or on EzOnlineFFL’s list) you can submit a ATF Form 5630.7 to change the address and email it to SOT@atf.gov and they will get you a new one sent out with your new address. If you change locations your FFL number will change depending on what IRS region you land in.

Other Considerations

  • Make sure where you are moving allows for NFA items if appealable.
  • Remember if you have abandon your current FFL’s location you can’t have firearms shipped there.
  • If your FFL is still valid you can still do dealer to dealer stuff and ATF eForm stuff.
  • Once your new license is issued and your old license revoked you are now in ATF License limbo. Most vendors will not ship you a firearm until they get the physical copy of your license. Is what it is.

Doing your best to pre-game this process will make all the difference. As always if you have a question let us know.

Correcting mistakes on the 4473 and or the 3310

We are human. We are going to make mistakes. It is going to happen. In the FFL business while mistakes do happen once we identify the mistake we need to fix them correctly and put steps in place to ensure they do not happen again. All while maintaining our ATF compliance.

Recently an issue came up with a client. This client uses a separate point of sale (POS) for their daily transactions and EzOnlineFFL on the backend to maintain their A&D. During a inventory the client realized they were missing firearms. In my Forest Gump voice “this is a bad thing”. So upon further research they determined that the guns were sold in the POS however one here and there did not make it onto the 4437 creating the illusion that the guns were still in inventory when in fact the customer had paid for them and left.

So we are posed with a few questions and considerations.

  • We know the firearms went to a legitimate person who passed a background check.
  • The missing firearms simply need to be added to the existing 4473’s which would take them out of inventory and resolve the descrpancy.
  • All 3310’s needed to be updated and resubmitted.

And all of this has to be done by the letter of the ATF because no one wants to get in trouble. So what did we do, we contacted our IOI and explained the situation. Believe it or not in this circumstance they were understanding and very accommodating. The IOI was grateful that an inventory was done and that the issue was identified during the in-house inventory and not during an ATF visit. The IOI did say that if they had discovered it during an inspection that it would have resulted in a write up but were glad that an effort was being made to fix the problem and not cover the problem up.

So what was the solution? Turned out to be pretty easy.

  • We downloaded all 4473’s and 3310’s as they are currently in EzOnlineFFL. These documents are labeled our “Originals”
  • Once all originals were collected and secured we added the missing firearms to the appropriate transaction. Taking careful care to ensure each firearm landed where it was supposed to go.
  • Once all the transactions were confirmed correct we added the original documents to each corresponding transaction and labeled them originals as the new ones are now the corrected copies.
  • The client printed out the originals and the corrected copies and combined them together for recording purposes.
  • Corrected 3310 were marked across the top as “CORRECTED” and resubmitted.

That is it! Disaster avoided. All the documentation matched what had happened and what was done to correct it and the clients inventory is now accurate.

Now, it has to be said. A good relationship with your local ATF personnel is paramount. In our experience we have a good interaction with our IOI’s however there has been cases where one was telling you to go right and the other was telling you to go left. In these situations find a contact and shoot off an email. Get a response in writing will always help.

Just remember the last thing you want to be accused of is deception in your record keeping. Be honest, and have that prof.

As always we are here to help.