September 23, 2000
ls-903
ATF WEB PAGE TO PREVENT USE OF FRAUDULENT FIREARM LICENSES
The Treasury Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) will announce eZ Check - an online Federal firearms license authenticator web page that federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) can use to make sure that guns are shipped to other licensed dealers. In addition, ATF will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to require FFLs to verify the license by using eZ Check or calling ATF's National Licensing Center, and reporting invalid licenses to ATF.
"Our goal is simple - to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and our youth," said Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers. "It is imperative that our Nation's children experience a childhood free of the threat of firearms violence . FFL eZ Check and ATF's other programs aimed at reducing illegal firearms trafficking and firearms violence are steps toward that goal."
FFL eZ Check is the latest of ATF's many approaches to reducing firearms trafficking, this one involving the firearms industry in the prevention of violent crime. Under current Federal law, licensed dealers are only permitted to ship firearms to other licensed dealers. In recent incidents individuals have altered copies of Federal firearms licenses to illegally acquire and supply firearms to criminals and young people by mail and the Internet. With FFL eZ Check, a Federal firearms licensee can verify the legitimacy of the licensee with whom he/she is doing business with before shipping or disposing of the firearm.
A user can access FFL eZ Check through ATF's web site and is given a series of prompts to verify the information shown on the license. If any piece of information on the license does not match the information on the screen, FFL eZ Check will instruct the user not to complete the sale and to contact ATF's National Licensing Center. Federal firearms licensees without Internet access may call ATF's National Licensing Center at (877) 560-2435 to obtain a verbal validation of the license.
ATF Director Bradley A. Buckles added, "eZ Check is an innovative cyber-tool to help reduce illegal access to guns by criminals, juveniles, and gun traffickers. With these steps, the firearms industry and ATF will be better able to prevent illegal market gun transactions and help keep our streets safer."
For more information about ATF visit: http://www.atf.gov/
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