Blue Payment Agency's New Internet FFL Program Allows Gun Dealers to Accept Credit Card Payments for Federal Background Checks
WINDHAM, Maine, March 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Online firearms sales in the United States are skyrocketing, and a new entrant to the firearms processing space, Blue Payment Agency, wants to ensure that licensed dealers are able to perform the essential background checks that make us all more safe.
BluePaymentAgency.com, an online credit card payment gateway company, wants to ensure that the federally licensed dealers that perform background checks are able to accept credit cards online.
According to Blue Payment Agency, they recently entered the firearms payments arena so that online dealers can serve not only the second-amendment community, but the country as a whole.
Without the ability to accept credit cards for online sales and the criminal background check that goes with it, Blue Payment Agency feared that the entire FFL to FFL transfer system could erode.
When a federal firearms licensee sells a gun on the internet, what happens next?
Blue Payment Agency's sales staff describes the need they fill this way. "When an internet customer purchases a gun online, their background is not checked at time of purchase. Why? Because the only way to safely sell a firearm is through a face-to-face transaction, with a check through National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) performed by a dealer with a federal firearms license (FFL)."
But, if the only way to sell a gun safely is face-to-face, and licensed online gun dealers do everything correctly, how are the background checks performed?
Blue payment agency described this hypothetical transaction.
"A buyer, let's say Mary from Texas, wants to purchase a small-caliber revolver for target practice and vermin control at her ranch. While she was growing up, she and her father always shot a Colt Diamondback 22LR. Mary searched online and found a 1967 Colt .22, with a blued finish and walnut grips for sale on GunBroker. The only problem? The dealer is 1,500 miles away, in Orange County California. How will the online FFL dealer get the gun to her, make sure it is delivered only to her, and also ensure that she passes a federal background check?
The answer lies in how firearms are sold online in the United States. When Mary makes her purchase, via credit card, she must then choose another federally licensed dealer near her to have her vintage Colt 22LR shipped to. She cannot choose to have it shipped to her home, her work, or anywhere else. It must be securely delivered to another FFL dealer, who must then perform the required checks on Mary, meet her face-to-face, and then only when she is cleared for purchase can the firearm be transferred to her control, in person.
This process takes place thousands of times each month across America, but there is one friction point that makes it difficult for many dealers trying to do things the right way. That friction point, or challenge, according to Blue Payment Agency, is the ability to accept payments for online firearms sales by credit card.
Online firearms dealers must deal with the misconception that guns are shipped to the buyer – like a plain vanilla e-commerce purchase. But, as outlined by Mary's story above, internet gun purchases are shipped to a federally licensed firearms dealer, who must then perform a federal background check on the buyer before transferring the firearm face-to-face. Online gun dealers are heavily regulated by the ATF and are known for their cautiousness and attention to detail.
Payment processors often do not care about this detail and generally consider legal, licensed online gun sales through FFL dealers to be a violation of their terms and conditions.
This is why, Blue Payment Agency of Windham, Maine is now working to assist FFL dealers so they can accept credit card payments online for these vital background checks and transfers.
Blue Payment Agency's website promotes fast, easy approvals for online firearms dealers and affordable gun merchant accounts that work with shopping carts like WooCommerce, Shopify, and Shift4Shop, along with niche platforms like AmmoReady and GunBroker.
Details on Blue Payment Agency's online credit card processing program for gun dealers can be found on their dedicated FFL page at https://bluepaymentagency.com/fast-affordable-firearms-credit-card-processing/
Media Contact:
Alex Roy
844-253-9769
[email protected]
SOURCE Blue Payment Agency, Inc
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