FFL Trust started from a simple frustration. The rules for getting a Federal Firearms License are public, but they are spread across a statute, a long set of regulations, ATF forms with their own instructions, and state laws that change every legislative session. Most of the plain-language material online is either years out of date or written to sell a course.
So we write the guide we wanted when we were looking: what the requirements actually say, what happens at each step, and where people tend to get stuck.
How the guides are put together
Every guide starts from primary sources. For federal rules that means the Gun Control Act (18 U.S.C. Chapter 44), the National Firearms Act, ATF’s regulations in 27 CFR Parts 478 and 479, and the current versions of ATF forms and their instructions. State guides start from state statutes and the agencies that administer them.
Where we include numbers, we say where they come from. License counts on this site come from ATF’s public listing of federal firearms licensees, and fees come from the forms themselves.
We also say plainly when something is unsettled. Firearms law has had an unusual amount of rulemaking, litigation and legislation in the last few years, and a guide that pretends otherwise does readers no favors.
What we are not
We are not ATF, and we are not affiliated with any government agency. We are not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation involves a criminal record, a complicated ownership structure, a denial or a revocation, talk to an attorney who handles firearms licensing.
We also do not sell application packages or “done for you” filing. The ATF application is free to download, and after reading these guides most people can complete it themselves.
Corrections
Rules change and we get things wrong occasionally. Each guide shows when it was last updated. If you find a mistake or a rule that has changed, we want to fix it.