According to Firearm Chronicles
U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) has started a phone outreach program to Federal Firearms License holders (FFLs) because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). In an email obtained by AmmoLand News, ATF Field Management Staff Deputy Chief Kyle Lallenstack ask Industry Operations Investigators (IOIs) to start calling FFLs and engage in “outreach” to meet inspection targets. The email references the need for social distancing protocols as well as dealing with state-mandated business closures and stay at home orders. Lallenstack states that the ATF foresees these restrictions on personal contact lasting weeks, if not months.
The email reads: “We recognize that in-person contact during inspections and outreach initiatives will likely be severely constrained for weeks if not months, and that limited in-person contacts IOIs must engage in as the crisis continues (e.g., responding to FFL thefts) must employ maximum safety protocols to limit the potential exposure of industry, the public, and the IOIs.” The target of these phone calls will be firearms stores that the ATF has not inspected in years. The IOIs will need to inform the FFL holders that the phone conversation is strictly voluntary. Gun rights advocates who have seen the emails worry that FFL holders that refuse to speak over the phone to the ATF IOI will be moved to the top of the inspection list once inspections resume. There is also no way for the FFL holder to verify the person they are talking to is an actual ATF employee and not someone trying to get information on the firearms stored at the business.