As we go into our 9th year as an FFLGuard client, we wanted to take a minute to reflect, and tell you how grateful we are for the services you provide. When we got our FFL over 12 years ago, it was not until our very first ATF inspection that we truly realized that the “white book” the ATF gives you in NO WAY prepares you or educates you for the terrifyingly microscopic level of scrutiny you will face during an audit. While we made it through, we realized that we didn’t know what we didn’t know. A few months later we met the FFLGuard Team, they explained their services, and we could not sign up fast enough! Nine years later and we are still a very happy client. The HelpDesk, the monthly client calls, and all of the resources FFLGuard offers have played a huge part in the development of our in house compliance program. While we don’t drink the ATF Koolaid, it is nice to hear an IOI say “thank you for making my job easy” after the inspection. FFLGuard provides us with the resources, knowledge and confidence to sell guns everyday, knowing that if we don’t know the answer to something, FFLGuard will. The annual investment is a small price to pay to know someone has your back against a system that does not.
FFLGuard is the single most important service at Jim’s Firearms. Compliance can be tricky to navigate at times, but the team at FFLGuard always takes good care of us and keeps us on track. They present a Best in Class model and a list of steps to maintain in good standing with ATF. Not only are they there for typical “what do I do here” scenarios but also their presence during an audit is a massive relief.
Their team of experts are always ready to lend a hand through the Help Desk or by putting in a phone call or email; they are the reason I can sleep easily at night knowing that they always have our backs. There is no way a business of our size could operate without the help and support of FFLGuard.
Their team of experts are always ready to lend a hand through the Help Desk or by putting in a phone call or email; they are the reason I can sleep easily at night knowing that they always have our backs. There is no way a business of our size could operate without the help and support of FFLGuard.
Without the guidance, support, and expertise of the FFLGuard Personnel, my business and the livelihood of all my employees could have been jeopardized and possibly ended.
FFLGuard has provided our store with top-notch services. They’ve represented us in the courtroom and in our dealings with ATF and we can say first-hand they are trustworthy and talented. We’ve achieved peace of mind through our implementation of the FFLGuard Law Plus Guidelines at our store and are catching potential violations that might have gone unnoticed before. Because of our success with internal controls, we have opted to open another store which has been a success! We are proud to participate in FFLGuard and highly recommend them.
FFLGuard has been a valuable resource for us correct the issues we had and avoiding others in the future. While we had always done our best to operate in compliance with the regulations, it is often hard to find answers and to sort out all of the conflicting information that is out there. Thus, we knew we had issues to get straightened out, but we were unsure how to go about doing it. FFLGuard accomplished this goal for us. At our most recent inspection by ATF, they commented how they could tell almost to the day when we started implementing the FFLGuard Law Plus Guidelines, and we would have had many violations had we not done so. Not surprisingly, the inspection went great, ATF praised our efforts, and we owe much of our success in this regard to FFLGuard and its representatives and knowledgeable lawyers.
My first ATF inspection without FFLGuard was like being in front of one single “judge, jury, and executioner” who was deciding whether or not I was worthy of a FFL. I was completely at the mercy of someone who seemed to only be interested in putting me out of business – regardless of how cooperative and honest I was. To make things worse, my ATF inspector was teaching a trainee the ropes that day, so the inspector went out of her way to find even the slightest thing wrong at my store. I didn’t know the answers to the questions posed to me by the inspector, and I had this ongoing, gnawing feeling that something was really wrong. It felt like I was being setup for failure. Whether it is reality or just my gut feeling, it certainly seems that if ATF catches one mistake, then they are looking to take away your license.
FFLGuard gave me the tools and know-how to keep my business in compliance – something few ATF inspectors take the time to do. Having the lawyers at FFLGuard at my side on the day of my ATF inspection would’ve brought down my stress levels dramatically. I will never be in a compromised situation like that again, and have signed on with FFLGuard as a way of protecting my family’s inheritance and securing their future. FFLGuard can deal with the ATF for me while I do what I do best, and that is to just plain sell guns!
FFLGuard gave me the tools and know-how to keep my business in compliance – something few ATF inspectors take the time to do. Having the lawyers at FFLGuard at my side on the day of my ATF inspection would’ve brought down my stress levels dramatically. I will never be in a compromised situation like that again, and have signed on with FFLGuard as a way of protecting my family’s inheritance and securing their future. FFLGuard can deal with the ATF for me while I do what I do best, and that is to just plain sell guns!
We started our relationship with FFLGuard approximately three months before we opened our doors for business. I don’t say this lightly, but it was one of the best decisions we made.
Being new to the firearms industry, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Our FFL was issued during the COVID lockdowns, and the on-site application visit that the ATF normally conducted for new FFLs was suspended. This automatically triggered an onsite compliance inspection within our first year of operation. As you may recall, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order emphasizing “five deadly sins” for FFLs during this same period of time. To make a long story short, this became "the perfect storm" for us. Despite our best efforts, with new staff and a huge learning curve, we ran afoul of a couple of the “sins” that triggered a revocation hearing.
FFLGuard’s training, guidance, and legal representation proved to be invaluable. They were immediately in contact with us and provided a game plan for their representation at the revocation hearing. Chris, Bryan, Mike, and the entire team was professional, knowledge and downright impressive! The bottom line is that we prevailed at our hearing, we were successful in retaining our FFL, and we will continue to utilize FFLGuard’s services for best practices, training tips and legal representation (although hopefully we will not need this service) into the future.
Joe D. Preston, General Manager
The Powder Room Shooting Range & Training Center, Panama City Beach, FL
By becoming an FFLGuard client, we can afford legal representation and have the peace of mind knowing that our lawyers know the rules and regulations that apply to us FFLs. This puts me on equal footing with ATF.
The FFLGuard ‘eblasts‘ alone are worth their weight in gold, as they constantly clarify and reinforce the need to stay on top of all important nuances of ATF regulations.
