On Good Friday (April 10, 2020) the US BATFE released an industry letter announcing that gun retailers can offer curbside services to sell guns and ammunition.
The ATF is giving gun retailers a lot of flexibility in how they sell firearms, conduct NICS background checks, and deliver firearms and ammunition.
The ATF letter went on to say, as long as these services/activities are conducted on the gun retailer’s property, at the address listed on the federal firearms license (FFL), it’s all good.
Wherever business is conducted, the FFL licensee must have the authority to allow the ATF access for inspection. (The ATF also allows these activities at qualified in-state gun shows and events under normal circumstances, but given the limitations imposed because of the coronavirus, this is not an option at this time).
The ATF letter clarified further that these services can be conducted via a “drive-up or walk-up window or doorway,” or a table set up curbside, in the parking lot, or other exterior location on the premises.
Aside from the benefit of expediting gun sale transactions, it’s a good move to aid public health measures in regards to social distancing.
Gun shops have been bustling and can get crammed pretty tight with customers looking at and buying guns, and this will help alleviate that.
Anti-gunners are up-in-arms about the ATF’s decision – figuratively, of course, because anti-gunners don’t believe in possessing “arms” – and had an immediate reaction.
Their number one gripe is that hospitals are at critically low capacity due to the coronavirus, and cannot afford to give up bed space for injuries and death due to gun violence. This is always a good indicator of how anti-gunners view gun owners, as people who all go out and hurt/kill people with guns.
But despite the estimates in an 80 percent jump in gun sales from a year ago, there hasn’t been an uptick in gun homicides or accidental deaths.
The ATF’s decision makes a lot of sense, given that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) declared early in the onset of the coronavirus scare that firearms businesses are “essential services” to the American people and should remain open.
It’s confirmation that guns provide a basic necessity, in the form of security/protection – something gun owners know, but not everyone acknowledges.
It’s a great victory for the 2nd Amendment to have the DHS, ATF, and POTUS acknowledge the importance of firearms to the safety and security of the American people.
This is something that in the future, defenders of the 2nd Amendment can point to in court and say, “During this time of crisis, the US government declared that firearm ownership is critical to the US public.”
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