Operating a firearm shop is no easy task and shouldn’t be taken lightly. For those in the firearm industry, it’s important to be aware of, and prepared for, the most critical threats to gun stores and pawn shops that sell firearms. There are several different safety steps you can implement to keep you and your store safe, both from government regulations and paperwork issues, as well as immediate threats, such as break-ins. Learn how E4473 plays a role in protecting your business from these potential issues. Keep your shop safe with E4473 One of the biggest threats to firearms sellers is customers manually completing the necessary paperwork. When you use paper versions of Form 4473—done by hand and stored in a file cabinet—the risk is too high for that paperwork to get lost, damaged in a potential fire, and/or simply take up too much physical space. Moreover, with a high possibility of human error, paper forms leave your gun store vulnerable to potential fines by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for a store’s inability to adhere to standard ATF regulations. With the E4473 app, it’s out with the old, paper-based forms and in with our all-inclusive digital application that simplifies—and protects—the lives of both firearm retailers and customers alike. Eliminating any room for error, E4473 is 100% compliant with ATF regulations, offers easy-entry NICS submissions, and provides bulletproof data security. Perfect for pawn shops, small gun shops, e-commerce firearm stores, and large retailers alike, you’re protected at every step. If the ATF should ever audit your business, E4473’s customer support team will stand by you before, during, and after the audit. Other potential threats to firearm retailers In early May 2021, President Joe Biden called for federal gun safety regulation measures. Two bills to strengthen background checks for those purchasing firearms have recently passed in the House of Representatives. Despite these new developments, The Washington Post predicts Congress will not pass new national legislation, but only time will tell if the current president’s efforts will further complicate things for firearm retailers and owners. How else to keep your store safe A more immediate threat to gun and pawn shops are physical break-ins. Burglaries remain a serious cause for concern for firearm retailers. To best protect your store, 24/7 surveillance, security arms, and other such related devices are imperative to keeping your wares safe and sound and saving you the time, hassle, and money lost. According to The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), criminals specifically look for stores with a “lack of adequate perimeter and site security measures,” like fences and exterior lighting. They also target buildings with little to no security considerations, such as “smash-resistant doors, gates, glass, security grills and gates, exposed perimeter walls, and easy roof access.” Both inside and outside of your building, you must also consider the following: Types of locks Alarm systems Lack of and/or outdated security cameras and/or systems Inferior firearms storage inside your store, including lack of highly secure cases, safes, cable locks, and storage rooms While physical protection, like alarms and cameras, are of the utmost importance, you must also determine where your weak points are, or as the NSSF refers to it, “a site-specific threat analysis and vulnerability assessment,” in addition to what you and you and your team will do on the off chance that a break-in occurs. Both you and your team members will be grateful after having developed a “crisis response action plan,” should you find yourself in this situation. If you haven’t signed up for an E4473 demo yet, contact us today! Let us show you how to protect your store and make your customers happy with E4473.
It’s no secret there’s a shortage of ammunition and firearms. Unfortunately, this shortage has triggered a retail frenzy over the past 18 months. Nearly 40 million guns were purchased legally in 2020, and another 4.1 million were bought in January. U.S. gun sales in January surged 60% to 4,137,480. This makes it the largest single month since figures started to be recorded in 1998. The gun sales industry has become an example of the double-edged sword effect—the basic rule of supply and demand. The less guns, ammo, and supplies that are available, the more people will be lined up to grab any and all inventory as soon as stores stock up. Moreover, without inventory, most shops cannot compete to drive customers into stores. So, where does this end, and what can pawn shops expect in firearm sales through 2021? First off, what happened? Short answer, 2020 happened. Let’s be frank: What didn’t go wrong in 2020? First, COVID-19 hit full force in early 2020, shutting down businesses, manufacturing plants, retail stores, and so much more. By our estimation, this lit the match to cause one serious chain reaction in the firearm industry. Next, our country found itself caught in the midst of a political war. It was the perfect storm. This media-driven “molotov-cocktail” hit the country hard. The minute stores opened, ammunition was swept off the shelves. Firearm application submission went through the roof. More than 21 million gun background checks were conducted in 2020 – up 60% from 2019. All while firearm and ammo manufacturers were still shut down. The end result – one of the largest shortages we have ever seen. Shortages are lightening up. The good news is most of the manufacturers and distributors have stepped up. As of April 2021, we are seeing signs of inventory coming down the pipeline. Companies, like Ruger and Smith & Wesson, have come forward to ensure their customer’s new processes are in place and that product is coming. While it may take some time to restock circulation, we can all sleep a little easier knowing that firearms and ammunition manufacturers are doing their part to make more inventory available in the very short term. This scenario would likely put the general public at ease and in turn decrease the instant demand for guns, ammo, and supplies once again bringing balance to the firearm industry. A shift in power For gun stores, pawnshops, and firearm customers the not-so-good news is a major shift in power has taken effect. One of the largest most controversial items on the forefront of the Biden Administration’s docket is gun control. We may very well in fact be in the midst of firearm history as we know it. In March of 2021, a bipartisan coalition in the House of Representatives passed two bills to close what they refer to as “loopholes” in the gun background check system. Additional major changes are mounting from the Biden Administration aiming to appoint a new Director of the ATF as well as working to pass more restrictions and laws around manufacturing guns, purchasing guns, and yes simply owning guns. Should these reports have any truth and beyond that new laws put into place, this will surely impact the firearm industry as a whole. To what level we can’t exactly say at this moment. We might assume this could make it more difficult to purchase and possess guns and ammunition in the United States. This could push the American consumer market to continue to line up around the block awaiting retail distribution deliveries. The long and the short of the barrel If trends are telling us anything, like a pawnshop or any firearm retail store, it’s more important than ever to stay informed of ATF compliance and offer customers the ability to legally purchase a firearm in the most convenient ways possible. With demands seemingly increasing through 2021 and lines to purchase becoming longer, retailers should aim to find ways to better serve their customer base. Streamlined digital solutions like the E4473 integration will prove largely valuable to keep things quick, simple, and law-abiding when it comes to gun sales. For more information on E4473 and how we are working to digitize a 360-degree firearm selling experience, check out our website! Sources: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/02/10/this-is-how-many-guns-were-sold-in-all-50-states/43371461/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-initial-actions-to-address-the-gun-violence-public-health-epidemic/ https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/gun-background-checks-2020-record-firearms
What is Secure Digital Storage? For anyone who is in business today, data is one of the most important assets. It’s also one that criminals are only too happy to steal. Or try to. Because of that, protecting your data needs to be a high priority. Putting a lock on your storeroom office isn’t enough. Having passwords on employee computers isn’t enough. Having a firewall on your network isn’t enough. And hoping that nobody will be interested in your data is definitely not enough. So what does secure digital storage look like in 2021? Let’s look at four factors. Security Protocols For Secure Digital Storage For firearms dealers, the customer data collected on Form 4473 needs to be captured and then stored securely. Gun and pawnshop owners need to understand the sensitivity of the information they work with and take responsibility for their role in keeping it safe. If they’re using security protocols that aren’t compliant and stringent, including both document and storage encryption, they are putting their customer data at risk. Stringent security protocols include: Keeping firewalls up-to-date Organizing users by security level Proper key management Continuous monitoring and auditing Thorough staff training that doesn’t create unnecessary roadblocks to doing their work Secure E4473 Online Account Creating a secure E4473 online account is the easiest way to keep your data safe. Our 3-step account setup includes an admin email account verification and remote login security. Our system allows you to have complete control who can access your data at an employee level and protects your data from being accessed locally on office computers and in age-old filing cabinets. Not to mention our system allows for remote secure login from any computer that has internet access so that your account can be monitored even when you’re not in the office. Strict Password Protocols Few people remember this now, but in 2013 Adobe had a data breach caused by weak password protocols. It was big and embarrassing. Weak passwords are an easy way into your records and therefore are a very important part of overall data security. “According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, compromised passwords are responsible for 81% of hacking-related breaches.” Among other things, secure passwords are long, but not necessarily complex, and should be protected by hashing before they’re stored. Make sure any system you use has strict password protocols. Protection From Cyber Attacks Effective protection from cyber-attacks requires continuous monitoring of hacker’s actions and constant upgrades to your security protocols based on this knowledge. Sophisticated protection includes identifying the user’s network, device, and actions. Even the rate at which they are typing can be an important indicator of potential fraud. E4473 is the first solution on the market to offer ATF-compliant Digital Storage. Our goal is to increase the safety and security around firearm transactions while helping to alleviate errors and time wasted. When you use E4473, you can have confidence that you are using the most up-to-date protocols for secure digital transactions and storage.
Do legal gun purchasers have a right to anonymity? In light of the second amendment, that would seem to be a rhetorical question, but some gun control lobbyists have been arguing for years that making records of gun owners public will reduce crime. Personal identity protection and the storage of private data are critical issues for firearms dealers and their customers. Currently, gun ownership privacy is still protected by the federal government and Congress has enacted privacy-protective legislation in order to preserve second amendment rights. The 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act did several important things related to private personal data: It repealed certain recordkeeping requirements for the sale of ammunition. It prohibited the ATF from centralizing or computerizing firearms purchase records. It reduced criminal penalties for recordkeeping offenses from felonies to misdemeanors. It forbade the ATF from keeping a registry directly linking non-national firearms act firearms to their owners. Form 4473 and Privacy Most of the private information that a firearms dealer collects is on ATF Form 4473. Currently, the information gathered on this form is protected and its transfer is highly restricted. In addition to completing the 4473, FFLs must also record the sale in their transaction log. A dealer must keep this log the entire time he is in business and is required to surrender the log to the ATF when he retires. Form 4473 contains the customer’s name and address, the background check transaction number, the gun’s serial number, and answers to questions about his or her eligibility to purchase a gun. The dealer must keep the Form 4473 for twenty years and is subject to inspection by the ATF. Many believe this record-keeping system creates an informal national firearm registration and that makes 2A supporters cautious. While it is not centralized, it is important to note that the information of a gun purchaser is held by the retail dealer. Since licensed sellers, manufacturers and importers are responsible for recordkeeping, private data is only as secure as the storage and maintenance systems in which it’s held, which is something to think seriously about if there are concerns about personal identity protection for firearms transactions. Personal Identity Protection Now and In the Future Beyond the Federal level, states vary considerably in how they prioritize privacy and regulations. Recently, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia introduced the “Gun Owners Privacy Act” (GOPA) which would prevent the government from unlawfully compiling and storing data from background checks on gun owners and further strengthen Federal regulations. Because firearms are a divisive topic in the United States it’s difficult to predict what regulations, or lack thereof, will come into play in the future. What gun owners and FFLs can do now, is ensure that their privacy and that of their customers is protected. The best way to do this is with secure electronic transactions and storage that guarantee 100% compliance such as E4473. E4473 eliminates the liability and hassle of paper records. It offers unmatched data security & consumer personal identity protection and operates with a five-star security protocol, including document encryption, storage encryption, and two-factor authentication. E4473 provides bulletproof security and privacy, reducing liability for FFLs, and providing a better experience for customers.
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