How to Verify an FFL Before You Ship a Firearm: Certified Copy, eZ Check, and Red Flags

How do you verify an FFL before you ship a firearm? If you sell guns online, that question comes up on almost every transfer order. Federal rules still center on a certified copy of the receiving dealer’s license. ATF’s FFL eZ Check tool can help you check the license number and status, but it does not replace that certified copy. Below: what the regulations say, what eZ Check is for, red flags before ship, and where Automatic FFL fits. General ops guidance for online sellers, not legal advice. For edge cases, talk with a firearms attorney.

Start with the certified copy

27 CFR 478.94 requires a licensed dealer (or manufacturer or importer) that sells or otherwise disposes of firearms to another licensee to verify the identity and licensed status of the receiving licensee before the transfer. That verification is established by the receiving dealer furnishing a certified copy of their license, plus any other means the sending dealer decides are necessary.

27 CFR 478.95 explains how that copy is made. The receiving licensee can reproduce the face of the license and certify the reproduction, or request additional certified copies from the Chief of the Federal Firearms Licensing Center. An uncertified scan or photo is not what the regulation describes.

Narrow exceptions in the same section:

• Once a receiving dealer has given you a certified copy for the current license term, they generally do not need to send another during that term.
• Returning a firearm to a licensee does not require a new certified copy.
• A multilicensed business organization may give you a certified list of its locations (name, address, license number, expiration) rather than a certified copy of each license.

Keep the certified copy with your records. Match license number, trade name, premises address, and expiration to what the buyer named at checkout before you print a label.

What ATF eZ Check is for (and what it is not)

ATF FFL eZ Check is a useful check. Merchants use it to confirm that a license number appears in ATF’s data, that the license looks current, and that premises information lines up with what the receiving dealer sent. Automatic FFL can attach an ATF eZ Check link to supported platform orders when you enable FFL information on orders, along with the license number and expiration.

It is not a substitute for the certified copy.

In May 2026, ATF published a direct final rule that would have added eZ Check as an alternative verification method under §478.94 (91 FR 24357). That same rulemaking stated current law clearly: the regulations at §478.94 still require the licensee to first obtain a certified copy, and do not permit using eZ Check as a substitute for that copy.

Effective July 6, 2026, ATF withdrew that direct final rule after adverse comments (91 FR 40879). The eZ Check substitute never took effect. Certified-copy verification under existing §478.94 remains the rule. Treat eZ Check as a verification aid after you have the certified materials the regulation requires, not as permission to skip them.

Red flags before you ship

Resolve these before the firearm leaves:

1. Expired license date on the certified copy or dealer record.
2. Mismatched license number, trade name, or phone vs. what the buyer selected.
3. Wrong premises address. For ordinary dealer-to-dealer commerce, ship to the receiving FFL’s licensed premises. Collector licenses (type 03) sit outside the usual transfer-dealer path.
4. Uncertified copy (no licensee certification under §478.95).
5. Stale copy after renewal. Get a fresh certified copy or updated certified list if expiration changed.
6. Missing certificate data when your SOP requires it.
7. Dealer refuses the transfer (business policy can still block the order).

License type matters. Automatic FFL’s docs enable types 1, 2, and 7 by default (minus a big-box list), aligning with common dealing privileges in 27 CFR 478.41. Collectors (03) and ammo manufacturers (06) are outside ordinary transfer-dealer defaults.

The 45-day language is limited

§478.94’s closing sentence says a transferor who already has the certified information required by that section may sell or dispose of firearms to a licensee for not more than 45 days following the expiration date of the receiving dealer’s license.

That is a limited continuation window for a sending dealer who already holds the required certified information. It is not open-ended permission to ship to expired licenses, and it is not a rule that “expired on eZ Check is fine for 45 days.” Automatic FFL does not extend or shorten that window.

Renewal is separate. Under 27 CFR 478.45, file ATF Form 8 Part II before expiration to continue. ATF’s Current Licensees page says Form 8 Part II is mailed about 90 days before expiration; contact FFLC if you have not received it 30 days before. If it was postmarked before expiration, the licensee may request a Letter of Authorization (LOA) so distributors have evidence operations may continue while renewal is pending.

If eZ Check shows expired and the dealer claims a timely renewal is pending, that is a counsel and compliance-policy call. Do not treat the 45-day clause as a green light on its own.

A practical order of operations

1. Collect the buyer’s chosen dealer at checkout (dealer selection, not a home address for the firearm).
2. Obtain a certified copy, or rely on one you already hold for the current term, or a certified multilocation list where that exception applies.
3. Match license number, trade name, premises address, and expiration to the order.
4. Open ATF eZ Check as a secondary check on number and status.
5. If anything is expired, mismatched, uncertified, or missing under your SOP, hold the ship.
6. Keep the certified materials with your records.

Automatic FFL’s role is operational. It adds dealer selection at checkout so the firearm routes to a licensed dealer rather than straight to the buyer. On supported platforms it can put license number, expiration, an ATF eZ Check link, and an FFL certificate link (when available) onto the order. Certificate links on orders are included only while the certificate is valid and unexpired, per the product documentation. None of that replaces your duty under §478.94 to obtain a certified copy when the regulation requires it, and none of it is a compliance guarantee.

Free lookup, then a trial if you want checkout

To research dealers before you ship, create a free Automatic FFL account (or sign in). You can search dealer data updated from ATF, open eZ Check from FFL numbers, mark enabled or preferred dealers, and see which dealers have certificate data on file.

To put dealer selection into checkout on BigCommerce, WooCommerce, or Magento / Adobe Commerce, start a 30-day free trial. You are not charged until the trial ends; cancel before then if you do not want to continue. Plans start at $99/month after the trial.

• BigCommerce app
• WooCommerce plugin
• Magento / Adobe Commerce

Questions: 469-207-1149.

Sources

• 27 CFR 478.94 · 27 CFR 478.95 · 27 CFR 478.45 · 27 CFR 478.41
• ATF Current Licensees
• 91 FR 24357 (May 6, 2026 DFR) · 91 FR 40879 (July 6, 2026 withdrawal)
• Automatic FFL documentation · dealer database