People who hold federal firearms licenses, or FFLs, need to be on top of what the ATF is doing. In theory, they should be partners in combating criminals obtaining firearms, so communication is important.
Unfortunately, that hasn't always been the case. The ATF has long viewed itself as a willing opponent of gun rights, or so it seems from the outside.
Luckily, as the man sang badly, "The times they are a-changin'."
Now, the ATF is doing less-sucky things. For example, the new rules on suppressors.
And now we have a new alert system for FFLs.
ATF is extremely pleased to announce that we have completed a 5-month project to procure and install a new FFLAlert notification system and we will again be providing the FFL community with time-sensitive, official information to assist FFLs in the prevention of thefts of firearms, provide FFL related disaster preparedness information and other administrative notifications.
FFLAlerts will now be sent utilizing ATF's Broadcast Emergency Alert Communications Outreach Network (BEACON) system using the Everbridge platform. BEACON can transmit FFLAlerts with carefully selected information to a phone number through a text-to-speech voice message, a text capable number or an email listed for FFL responsible person(s). Notifications are sent between 10 a.m. Eastern Time and 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
Emails ATF FFLAlert will have an email address of [email protected].
This seems trivial, but it also seems like something genuinely intended to help FFLs, rather than screw them. After the Biden era, that's a welcome change, to say the least.
Look. I get it. This isn't the sexiest ATF story.
However, if they're going to spend my tax dollars, I'd rather they do it by offering information to help FFLs deal with impending disasters, thieves, or just what the latest reading the ATF has on something. It's much better than digitizing all of the records they're storing in their not-a-registration-database-but-totally-a-registration-database.
Tell me you disagree?
And since FFLs do actually need the administration notifications anyway, the harm from "this is how not to lose your inventory with Katrina II: Electric Boogaloo" is practically nil.
Couple this with what we've generally seen from the ATF since Robert Cekada has taken over and this is a much better agency. Why, if they keep this up, going to SHOT Show might not be considered a punishment detail by literally every attendee who doesn't work for the ATF. We just know it can't be fun for them. Not like it might be for the rest of the industry.
All in all, things are as good as they've ever been. I'm finally considering getting a dog, even, because he might not get shot by the ATF in a raid, at least until Cekada is out.
This is what it should have been like the whole time. We didn't have to agree with everything the ATF did, but we shouldn't have been forced to view them as the enemy. The agents at SHOT Show shouldn't be viewed as interlopers on our sacred ground or whatever. They should be seen as people who want to keep everyone safe and keep our guns in our gun safes.
That's not what has happened in the past, and likely won't in the future, but here and now? Here and now, it's pretty dope.
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