How to Get a Copy of Your FFL License or Request One From ATF

To get a copy of your FFL, you have two options. Reproduce your original license by photocopy or scan and certify the reproduction with your signature, or send a written request with $1 per copy to the ATF’s Federal Firearms Licensing Center. Self-certification is the standard approach because it’s free and immediate; the ATF route is what you use when the original is lost, stolen, or too damaged to reproduce.¹

Certify Your Own Reproduction

Federal regulation lets you reproduce your original license and then certify the copy yourself for use in transactions with other licensees.¹ “Reproduced” covers photocopying, scanning, or any other duplication of the original. Certification is your signature on the copy, confirming its authenticity. The ATF accepts handwritten signatures, stamped signatures, and auto-pen signatures for this purpose.²

Cost: nothing. Processing time: none. The regulation itself frames requesting copies from ATF as the alternative “instead of making a reproduction of the original license,” so self-certifying is the default the rule contemplates.¹

Sending the Copy to Another Licensee

Once you have a certified reproduction, you can send it to the other FFL by mail, email, or fax. Scanned copies and faxed copies are both acceptable for licensee-to-licensee transactions.² When you scan or photograph the license, check that the name, address, license number, and expiration date are all clearly legible before sending. A blurry or cut-off image will hold up the transaction while the other side tries to verify what it’s looking at.

Requesting Copies From the ATF

If your original license is lost, stolen, or damaged past the point of reproduction, send a written request to the Federal Firearms Licensing Center. The regulation does not require a specific form. Your request must include:¹

Your name as it appears on the license
Your trade name, if any
Your address as listed on the license
The number of copies you want

The fee is $1 per copy. Pay by cash, money order, or check made payable to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and include payment with the request.¹

Where to Send It

Mail the request and payment to:

Federal Firearms Licensing Center
P.O. Box 6200-20
Portland, OR 97228-6200²

Older references may still show an Atlanta, Georgia lockbox. That address was decommissioned in 2019 when the ATF transitioned to Portland, and requests sent there will likely be lost.³

Following Up

The ATF does not publish a standard processing timeline for copy requests. To check on one, reach the FFLC by phone at (866) 662-2750 (toll-free) or by email at FFLC@atf.gov.⁴

If Your Information Has Changed, You Need an Amendment

A copy reproduces the license exactly as it stands. If your business name, premises address, mailing address, business structure, or contact details have changed, a copy of the old license is not what you need. File ATF Form 5300.38, the Application for an Amended Federal Firearms License.⁵ A certified copy showing an old address is useless for transfers, because the other licensee will see a mismatch and should refuse the transaction. Amend first, then copy the corrected license.

Some structural changes to a business may require an entirely new application (ATF Form 7) rather than an amendment. If you’re unsure which path fits your situation, the FFLC can advise you.⁴

If Your License Is Expiring, You Need a Renewal

A copy of an expiring license won’t buy you any additional time. Renewals go through ATF Form 8, Part II, which the ATF mails out roughly 90 days before your license expires. If you haven’t received the renewal application within 30 days of the expiration date, call the FFLC at (866) 662-2750.²

File the renewal before the expiration date and you can keep operating until the new license arrives. If the replacement is delayed past your expiration, the FFLC can issue a Letter of Authorization that serves as proof of your licensed status to other FFLs in the meantime.²

1
eCFR. 27 CFR 478.95 – Certified Copy of License
2
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide
3
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. New Mailing Addresses for Many ATF Registration Forms
4
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Licensing and Other Services
5
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application for an Amended Federal Firearms License (ATF Form 5300.38)