An FFL number is the 15-character identifier the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assigns to every person or business it has licensed to deal in, manufacture, or import firearms or ammunition commercially, or to collect certain historically significant firearms. The characters are not random. They encode the licensee’s ATF region, county, license type, and expiration date, so another licensee or a law enforcement officer can read basic facts about the license straight off the number itself.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 923 – Licensing
What the 15 Characters Mean
Every FFL number is 14 digits plus one letter, laid out in six segments. Reading left to right:
- The first digit is the ATF region code. There are seven regions covering the United States and its territories. A “1,” for example, is the Southeast; a “9” covers Western states along with Alaska, Hawaii, and several Pacific territories.
- The next two digits are the district code, identifying the IRS district or campus of record tied to the license.
- The following three digits are the county code, taken from the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) code for the county where the licensee operates.
- Two digits after that give the license type, such as “01” for a standard dealer or “07” for a manufacturer.
- Then comes a one-digit, one-letter expiration code: a digit for the last digit of the expiration year, followed by a letter for the month, running A through L and skipping I so it is not mistaken for a 1. “6C” means March 2026.
- The last five digits are a unique sequence number distinguishing each license from every other one on file.
The first three characters and the last five are the two segments a licensee enters into the ATF’s online verification tool, which is why those two chunks are often written out separately.
What the License Type Digits Tell You
The two-digit license type is the part of the number that tells you what the holder is actually authorized to do. Federal regulation sets out the categories.2eCFR. 27 CFR 478.41 – General
- 01 — Dealer. The most common license. Retail gun shops, gunsmiths, and other commercial sellers of firearms other than destructive devices.
- 02 — Pawnbroker. Same scope as an 01, but for pawnshops that take firearms as collateral.
- 03 — Collector of curios and relics. A limited license for collectors of firearms the ATF has recognized as historically significant. It permits interstate receipt of qualifying firearms but does not authorize running a commercial firearms business.
- 06 — Ammunition manufacturer. Ammunition manufacturing, excluding ammunition for destructive devices and armor-piercing rounds.
- 07 — Firearms manufacturer. Manufacturing firearms and ammunition, excluding destructive devices.
- 08 — Importer. Importing firearms or ammunition, excluding destructive devices and armor-piercing ammunition.
- 09, 10, and 11. The dealer, manufacturer, and importer categories for destructive devices, ammunition for destructive devices, and armor-piercing ammunition.
Holders of a Type 07, 08, 09, 10, or 11 who want to deal in items regulated under the National Firearms Act, such as silencers, short-barreled rifles, and machine guns, also have to register and pay an annual Special Occupational Tax as a Class 1 importer, Class 2 manufacturer, or Class 3 dealer.
What the FFL Number Is Used For
The number is not just a filing tag. It appears at every regulated step of a firearm’s commercial life.
Background Checks on Buyers
Before transferring a firearm to any non-licensee, an FFL has to run the buyer through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), contacting the FBI’s NICS Operations Center or a state-designated point of contact.3eCFR. 28 CFR 25.6 The check screens out people federally prohibited from possessing firearms, including convicted felons, people under certain domestic violence restraining orders, and individuals adjudicated as mentally incompetent. FFLs are barred from running a NICS check for any purpose other than a proposed firearm transfer.
Interstate Transfers
Federal law makes it unlawful for an unlicensed person to transfer a firearm to someone who lives in another state.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The firearm has to go through an FFL in the buyer’s home state, where the buyer picks it up after completing ATF Form 4473 and passing a NICS check. Any interstate sale that ends with a private individual has to funnel through a licensee on the receiving end, and the FFL number is what identifies that licensee to the shipper.
Shipping
FFL holders can ship handguns and long guns to other FFLs through USPS, UPS, or FedEx. Non-licensees face tighter rules: federal law classifies handguns as nonmailable for private individuals through the U.S. Postal Service.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1715 – Firearms as Nonmailable A non-licensee can send long guns through USPS and can send handguns or long guns through UPS or FedEx, but only to an FFL, not to another private individual. Carrier policies add another layer on top of the federal rules.
Recordkeeping
Every FFL keeps detailed records of every firearm acquired and every firearm disposed of, and those records stay at the licensed premises for the life of the business.6eCFR. 27 CFR 478.121 – General Knowingly making a false entry, failing to record a transaction, or failing to maintain the records is a federal offense in its own right, and is one of the most common violation categories the ATF finds during compliance inspections.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide
How to Verify an FFL Number
The ATF runs an online tool called FFL eZ Check for licensees who want to confirm another licensee’s credentials before shipping firearms. You enter the first three digits and the last five digits of the number, and if the license is active and the data matches, the system returns the license number, expiration date, business name, trade name, premises address, and mailing address.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. FFL eZ Check Application Type 03 collectors and Type 06 ammunition manufacturers are excluded from the results. If a licensee has a Letter of Continuing Authorization on file while a renewal is pending, the tool shows the LOA issue and expiration dates as well.
FFL eZ Check is built for licensee-to-licensee verification, not for public consumer lookups. A buyer who wants to confirm a dealer is legitimate can ask to see the license, which every FFL is required to have available for inspection at the licensed premises.
When a Private Seller Needs an FFL
Not everyone who sells a firearm needs a number. Federal law reserves the licensing requirement for anyone “engaged in the business,” meaning someone who devotes time and effort to buying and reselling firearms as a regular course of business with the primary goal of earning a profit.9Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licenses Actual sales are not required to cross the line; the pattern and intent are enough. Selling from a personal collection, occasional hobby sales, or liquidating an estate through an auctioneer who never takes ownership of the guns generally sits outside the requirement. Dealing without a license when one is required is a federal felony carrying up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
The 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act broadened the statutory definition of “engaged in the business,” and a 2024 ATF rule attempting to clarify the new standard has been partially blocked by federal court injunctions and remains in litigation. The underlying statutory definition still applies, and the ATF continues to prosecute clear-cut unlicensed dealing cases.