Want an FFL?

It's easy. Just fill out this form:

ATF F 5310.12 (Form 7) — Application for Federal Firearm License (FFL)

You have to send a copy of your completed form to your local police chief or sheriff. You also have to certify that you conform to all local laws and regulations, so if your community bans home businesses, forget getting an FFL unless you can find and afford a suitable commercial zoned site. You also must intend to be operating a for-profit business - hobbyists are not invited.

(Individuals and collectors CAN get a "C&R" license, with similar paperwork - and then can only get "curio and relic" guns - not anything modern.)

Then fill out this one:


ATF F 5330.20 — Certification of Compliance - stating that you are a citizen of the USA. Why this is duplicated on the "Form 7" is beyond me.

Then fill out two FD–258 fingerprint cards for every "responsible person":

Get some 2″ x 2″ passport pictures for every "responsible person":

Send them some money. For a garden-variety FFL, it's $200.00.

Once all this is done, you can expect to wait up to 60 days to get your paper license. It's good for three years. If you violate any of the thousands of (illegal) gun laws on the books, expect at the least crippling lawyer bills, if not free room and board courtesy of Uncle Sam.

The ATF website is innocent of any links to the form to renew an FFL, so I had to inquire of my local office in Milwaukee. Lucky for me, the renewal process omits photos and fingerprints.


And the antis still complain it's too easy to get hold of guns...