ATF Allowing Drive-Thru Gun Purchases To Maintain Social Distancing

By Dan Zimmerman via TTAG

That sound you hear in the distance is thousands moms and their supporters in the media crying out in horror.

In a bid to minimize personal contact while accommodating the crush of Americans who are still buying firearms at a record pace, our friends at the ATF have authorized gun stores to sell firearms through drive through windows. This is not a late April fools joke

As is more likely to be the case, gun sellers will also be allowed to set up tents or kiosks outside their stores to minimize personal contact and keep the retail traffic moving.

According to USA Today . . .

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, in new guidance to federally licensed firearm retailers, said Friday that dealers can provide drive-up or walk-up service to reduce health risks posed by the coronavirus.

The guidance was issued, the ATF said, in response industry questions about how business transactions could be restricted following the declaration of a national health emergency.

Licensees “may carry out the requested activities through a drive-up or walk-up window or doorway where the customer is on the licensee’s property, on the exterior of the brick-and-mortar structure at the address listed on the license,” the ATF said in a Friday bulletin.

The move was made at the request of the National Shooting Sports Foundation in an effort to expedite background checks and make the firearms sales process as safe for both gun retailers and customers as possible given COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.

As the ATF’s guidance letter lays out . . .

(1) An FFL may carry out the requested activities through a drive-up or walk-up window or doorway where the customer is on the licensee’s property on the exterior of the brick-andmortar structure at the address listed on the license.

(2) An FFL may also carry out the requested activities from a temporary table or booth located in a parking lot or other exterior location on the licensee’s property at the address listed on the license, but any such activities must occur in a location where the licensee has the authority to permit ATF’s entry for inspection purposes. Whether the FFL has the authority to permit such entry, and whether a location constitutes the FFL’s property, is likely to be a factspecific inquiry. An FFL carrying out the requested activities from an exterior table or booth should maintain its inventory and records securely in the interior of the brick-and-mortar structure and ensure that the records of each firearms transaction are stored in the interior.

(3) An FFL may not carry out the requested activities from a nearby space that is not located on the licensee’s property at the address listed on the license, unless such activities are at a qualified in-state gun show or event, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 923(j) and 27 C.F.R. § 478.100, or other provision of federal law.

(4) An FFL may conduct non-over-the-counter firearm sales to unlicensed in-state residents who are exempt from NICS requirements in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 922(c), 27 § C.F.R. 478.96, and ATF Procedure 2013-2.

You can read the ATF’s full letter here.

We haven’t seen any reaction yet from Shannon Watts, Kris Brown, John Feinblatt, or any of the rest of the leaders of the gun-grabbing community, but we hope they have a nice Easter weekend.

UPDATE:

The gun grabbing community isn’t taking this well.