Retail background checks slipped 2.3% in September while NFA checks doubled. The week also brought a new federal suit against New Mexico's waiting period, a straw-purchase indictment, and another PTR sales reorganization.
A Springfield shop sold a suppressor in the time it takes to run a background check - the first real retail read on ATF's October 9 guidance. Week one taught dealers that the federal paper moved, but the compliance load did not.
Red, green or gold: Lodestar Technology has put the choice of reticle color into the LNK9 lineup. The LNK9 now comes in three new optics configurations, with a 2 MOA Green, Red or Gold Dot reticle. The new options give owners more say over the sight picture, while keeping the features, performanc...
Smith & Wesson's $160 million purchase of Savage Arms puts two major long-gun lines under one roof. A practical growth playbook for independent FFL dealers: audit your supplier concentration, lock terms while two reps still compete, and make sure local buyers can actually find you.
ATF stopped enforcing NFA registration for suppressors, SBRs and SBSs on October 9, but state law never moved. New Mexico's waiting-period fight and Montana's felony statute show what that costs dealers at the counter.
Q3 2026 retail data shows firearm units down 7.8% while revenue held nearly flat - a mix shift toward lever-actions, premium handguns and suppressors that changes what dealers should stock and how customers find them.
Customers searching for an FFL dealer near them compare stars, recency and replies before they ever compare transfer fees. A practical review playbook for gun shops, including the FTC rule that governs how you may ask.
A Florida prosecutor says unregistered SBRs and suppressors are not automatically contraband, ATF imposters are calling gun owners, and an Indiana gun counter cracked a five-year forged-expungement scheme. What each one means at your transfer counter.
Bank access and the licensing threshold are the two Q4 costs a dealer cannot control, and the two that decide which shops are still standing to take the transfer.
Every transfer, sale and shipment between licensees rests on one question: is that FFL real and current? Here is how the ATF lookup actually works, what it returns, what it cannot tell you, and how customers use it to judge your shop.