FFL EzCheck

Rob Boudrie

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I emailed the ATF and confirmed that there is no API for http://fflezcheck.gov . Perhaps they should get busy writing one so they can say "Working an a regulatory compliance API" instead of "Hanging around" when DOGE shows up and asks their software people wtf they are up to, but not tell them they are working on REST.

So, the only logical step is to download the entire FFL database with a nightly cron job so my application can query that directly. The ATF provides this, and includes all FFL types except 03's and 06's. So far, so good.

So, when I go to download there is a bogus FFL number that does not confirm to their numbering convention. The FFL for Sin City Cerakote in Henderson, NV is listed as 98800301VD06947. This is also expressed as 9-88-003-01-VD-06947. The fifth field, "VD" in this case, and should consist of a digit followed by a letter (A-M, excluding I) to encode the eggspiration date.

I reported this to the ATF using the supplied trouble report link. It will be interesting to see show they respond.

Some interesting trivia from the ATF ffl list downloaded (downloaded list excluses 03s and 06s):

More manufacturers (07) than dealers (01) in the DPRM:

Code:
mysql> select licType,count(*) from atf_ffl where premise_state='ma' group by licType order by licType;
+---------+----------+
| licType | count(*) |
+---------+----------+
| 01      |      270 |
| 07      |      288 |
| 08      |        9 |
| 09      |        1 |
| 10      |        8 |
| 11      |        4 |
+---------+----------+
6 rows in set (0.03 sec)

Dealer in DDs is Type 09 and MA has exactly one:

Code:
mysql> select licType, license_name, business_name, premise_street, premise_city, premise_state, premise_zip from atf_ffl where premise_state='ma' and licType=9;
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
| licType | license_name          | business_name | premise_street        | premise_city | premise_state | premise_zip |
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
| 09      | CENTRAL EQUIPMENT LLC |               | 34 BARSTOW ST UNIT 2A | MATTAPOISETT | MA            | 02739       |
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
1 row in set (0.05 sec)


Manufacturer of DDs is type 10:

Code:
mysql> select licType, license_name, business_name, premise_street, premise_city, premise_state, premise_zip from atf_ffl where premise_state='ma' and licType=10;
+---------+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+----------------------------+------------------+---------------+-------------+
| licType | license_name                          | business_name                  | premise_street             | premise_city     | premise_state | premise_zip |
+---------+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+----------------------------+------------------+---------------+-------------+
| 10      | BROWN, DAVID                          | NORTHBORO SMALL ARMS           | 261 WEST ST                | NORTHBOROUGH     | MA            | 01532       |
| 10      | TEXTRON SYSTEMS CORPORATION           | TEXTRON SYSTEMS                | 201 LOWELL ST              | WILMINGTON       | MA            | 01887       |
| 10      | CYALUME TECHNOLOGIES INC              | CYALUME TECHNOLOGIES           | 96 WINDSOR ST              | WEST SPRINGFIELD | MA            | 01089       |
| 10      | FOSTER-MILLER INC                     | QINETIQ, QINETIQ NORTH AMERICA | 358 2ND AVE                | WALTHAM          | MA            | 02451       |
| 10      | RAYTHEON COMPANY                      |                                | 350 LOWELL STREET          | ANDOVER          | MA            | 01810       |
| 10      | ELECTROMECHANICA INC                  |                                | 13 INDUSTRIAL DR UNIT 2R   | MATTAPOISETT     | MA            | 02739       |
| 10      | COLLINGS FOUNDATION, INC              | AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM       | 137 BARTON RD              | STOW             | MA            | 01775       |
| 10      | GENERAL DYNAMICS MISSION SYSTEMS, INC | GDMS                           | 400 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS ROAD | TAUNTON          | MA            | 02780       |
+---------+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+----------------------------+------------------+---------------+-------------+
8 rows in set (0.07 sec)
 
Last edited:
Just saying that being a Manufacturer of Destructive Devices, and the only one that's not a large corporation, is interesting.
I thought you knew something about his operation.

I found the Collings Foundation one interesting. If a FFL 10 makes a destrictive device and destroyes it, but never transfers it, do they owe a $200 tax to transfer it to themselves?

Next time I am at their museum, I'll ask about their manufacturing facility. They probably load their own tank ammo.
 
I emailed the ATF and confirmed that there is no API for http://fflezcheck.gov . Perhaps they should get busy writing one so they can say "Working an a regulatory compliance API" instead of "Hanging around" when DOGE shows up and asks their software people wtf they are up to, but not tell them they are working on REST.

So, the only logical step is to download the entire FFL database with a nightly cron job so my application can query that directly. The ATF provides this, and includes all FFL types except 03's and 06's. So far, so good.

So, when I go to download there is a bogus FFL number that does not confirm to their numbering convention. The FFL for Sin City Cerakote in Henderson, NV is listed as 98800301VD06947. This is also expressed as 9-88-003-01-VD-06947. The fifth field, "VD" in this case, and should consist of a digit followed by a letter (A-M, excluding I) to encode the eggspiration date.

I reported this to the ATF using the supplied trouble report link. It will be interesting to see show they respond.
I download the excel from Federal Firearms Listings | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

I could not find the business you reference above. In fact the sequence number 06947 does not hit any FFL in NV, at least as of the january database.

Now the place I download from does not pretend to update more than monthly. I am curious if the text file they make available at fflezcheck really does update daily like the filename implies. The fact that it has a bogus entry in it, not found in the other database is concerning.
 
I download directly from the ATF. And yes, it does update daily ( confirmed via Linux diff). The files are of the following format:

1738782010810.png

From a download at 2/2/25 14:01UTC-04:

This appears to be more current that the downloads at Federal Firearms Listings | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, however that version includes the 06 (ammunition manufacturer) FFLs which is lacking in the ExCheck download.

76307 lines, the first of which is blank.


A bogus line followed by a legit line:

Code:
98800301VD06947CORRADO, ASHLEY MICHELLE                          SIN CITY CERAKOTE                                 3028 MONROE PARK ROAD                             HENDERSON
604027016F12015GUN OWNER'S ACTION LEAGUE INC                                                                       287 TURNPIKE ROAD SUITE 115                       WESTBOROUGH

The "6F" in the line for the GOAL FFL represents expires 6/1/2026
The "VD" in the load for SIN CITY CERAKOTE is bogus as it has a "V" where a digit is required

Interestingly, this bogus entry is not included in the downloads at Federal Firearms Listings | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

The file is trivial to fetch via a "wget" command, however, you have to provide a complete FFL number (borken up by fields) in POST, like this:

Code:
wget --post-data "licRegn=#&licDist=##&licCnty=###&licType=##&licXprdte=##&licSeqn=#####" http://fflezcheck.atf.gov/FFLEzCheck/fflDownload?action=download --output-documnt ffl.txt

# - represents digits in various fields in FFL license number, in order.

wget is standard on Linux and can be installed on Windows.
 
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I download directly from the ATF. And yes, it does update daily ( confirmed via Linux diff). The files are of the following format:

View attachment 961447

From a download at 2/2/25 14:01UTC-04:

Some of the other sources may have obtained info via FOIA and contain 03/06 FFLs. The downloadable version I get from atf.gov does not include 03/06 licenses.

76307 lines, the first of which is blank.


A bogus line followed by a legit line:

Code:
98800301VD06947CORRADO, ASHLEY MICHELLE                          SIN CITY CERAKOTE                                 3028 MONROE PARK ROAD                             HENDERSON
604027016F12015GUN OWNER'S ACTION LEAGUE INC                                                                       287 TURNPIKE ROAD SUITE 115                       WESTBOROUGH

The "6F" in the line for the GOAL FFL represents expires 6/1/2026
The "VD" in the load for SIN CITY CERAKOTE is bogus as it has a "V" where a digit is required

The file is trivial to fetch via a "wgent" command, however, you have to provide a complete FFL number (borken up by fields) in POST, like this:

Code:
wget --post-data "licRegn=#&licDist=##&licCnty=###&licType=##&licXprdte=##&licSeqn=#####" http://fflezcheck.atf.gov/FFLEzCheck/fflDownload?action=download --output-documnt ffl.txt

# - represents digits in various fields in FFL license number, in order.

wget is standard on Linux and ca be installed on Windows.
I wonder if their FFL is recent and will show up in the February listing from where I download. I am familiar with the encoding. Occasionally when I play out the rope with scammers I get box photoshopped FFLs where they don't know how to encode information... All licenses expire on the 1st of the month for example. So the encoding tells you and the date is on the license. When they don't match...
 
If anyone wants the download script and Python code, the MySQL table create script and Python code to import the data PM me. Only condition is no public ridicule of my coding style.

That "strange" entry does not seem to show up in other downloads or via FFL EzCheck. There is a website that appears to be for that business (sincitycerakote.com) AWS servers but does not respond. My guess is that it may be an internal code for a terminaed FFL hat leaked into the released file.
 
Last edited:
I emailed the ATF and confirmed that there is no API for http://fflezcheck.gov . Perhaps they should get busy writing one so they can say "Working an a regulatory compliance API" instead of "Hanging around" when DOGE shows up and asks their software people wtf they are up to, but not tell them they are working on REST.

So, the only logical step is to download the entire FFL database with a nightly cron job so my application can query that directly. The ATF provides this, and includes all FFL types except 03's and 06's. So far, so good.

So, when I go to download there is a bogus FFL number that does not confirm to their numbering convention. The FFL for Sin City Cerakote in Henderson, NV is listed as 98800301VD06947. This is also expressed as 9-88-003-01-VD-06947. The fifth field, "VD" in this case, and should consist of a digit followed by a letter (A-M, excluding I) to encode the eggspiration date.

I reported this to the ATF using the supplied trouble report link. It will be interesting to see show they respond.

Some interesting trivia from the ATF ffl list downloaded (downloaded list excluses 03s and 06s):

More manufacturers (07) than dealers (01) in the DPRM:

Code:
mysql> select licType,count(*) from atf_ffl where premise_state='ma' group by licType order by licType;
+---------+----------+
| licType | count(*) |
+---------+----------+
| 01      |      270 |
| 07      |      288 |
| 08      |        9 |
| 09      |        1 |
| 10      |        8 |
| 11      |        4 |
+---------+----------+
6 rows in set (0.03 sec)

Dealer in DDs is Type 09 and MA has exactly one:

Code:
mysql> select licType, license_name, business_name, premise_street, premise_city, premise_state, premise_zip from atf_ffl where premise_state='ma' and licType=9;
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
| licType | license_name          | business_name | premise_street        | premise_city | premise_state | premise_zip |
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
| 09      | CENTRAL EQUIPMENT LLC |               | 34 BARSTOW ST UNIT 2A | MATTAPOISETT | MA            | 02739       |
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
1 row in set (0.05 sec)


Manufacturer of DDs is type 10:

Code:
mysql> select licType, license_name, business_name, premise_street, premise_city, premise_state, premise_zip from atf_ffl where premise_state='ma' and licType=10;
+---------+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+----------------------------+------------------+---------------+-------------+
| licType | license_name                          | business_name                  | premise_street             | premise_city     | premise_state | premise_zip |
+---------+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+----------------------------+------------------+---------------+-------------+
| 10      | BROWN, DAVID                          | NORTHBORO SMALL ARMS           | 261 WEST ST                | NORTHBOROUGH     | MA            | 01532       |
| 10      | TEXTRON SYSTEMS CORPORATION           | TEXTRON SYSTEMS                | 201 LOWELL ST              | WILMINGTON       | MA            | 01887       |
| 10      | CYALUME TECHNOLOGIES INC              | CYALUME TECHNOLOGIES           | 96 WINDSOR ST              | WEST SPRINGFIELD | MA            | 01089       |
| 10      | FOSTER-MILLER INC                     | QINETIQ, QINETIQ NORTH AMERICA | 358 2ND AVE                | WALTHAM          | MA            | 02451       |
| 10      | RAYTHEON COMPANY                      |                                | 350 LOWELL STREET          | ANDOVER          | MA            | 01810       |
| 10      | ELECTROMECHANICA INC                  |                                | 13 INDUSTRIAL DR UNIT 2R   | MATTAPOISETT     | MA            | 02739       |
| 10      | COLLINGS FOUNDATION, INC              | AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM       | 137 BARTON RD              | STOW             | MA            | 01775       |
| 10      | GENERAL DYNAMICS MISSION SYSTEMS, INC | GDMS                           | 400 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS ROAD | TAUNTON          | MA            | 02780       |
+---------+---------------------------------------+--------------------------------+----------------------------+------------------+---------------+-------------+
8 rows in set (0.07 sec)
Hey, I know one of those type 10s...
 
I thought you knew something about his operation.

I found the Collings Foundation one interesting. If a FFL 10 makes a destrictive device and destroyes it, but never transfers it, do they owe a $200 tax to transfer it to themselves?

Next time I am at their museum, I'll ask about their manufacturing facility. They probably load their own tank ammo.
They would be an 02 SOT payer, so they would manufacture tax free.
They would need to record the acquisition and disposition (destruction) in their A&D as required by law.
They also more than likely hold a type 20 federal manufacturer of explosives license as well.
 
I found the listing for Cyalume interesting as doing a quick google search just brings up the glowsticks and why the hell does a company making glowsticks need a license to make DD. Looking through their website though they apparently make some 40mm grenade ammo (CyMuntion) for training and also marking.
 
I just did a new download and compared it to the one from this morning.

- Numerous small changes, modifications to FFL phone numbers and license expiration dates on the ones I checked
- The strange "funny entry" for Sin City Cerakote is gone. Gone, not corrected.
- No other entries have that form of formatting error
- But no response to my bug report to the ATF
 
Dealer in DDs is Type 09 and MA has exactly one:

Code:
mysql> select licType, license_name, business_name, premise_street, premise_city, premise_state, premise_zip from atf_ffl where premise_state='ma' and licType=9;
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
| licType | license_name          | business_name | premise_street        | premise_city | premise_state | premise_zip |
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
| 09      | CENTRAL EQUIPMENT LLC |               | 34 BARSTOW ST UNIT 2A | MATTAPOISETT | MA            | 02739       |
+---------+-----------------------+---------------+-----------------------+--------------+---------------+-------------+
1 row in set (0.05 sec)
This is interesting. My duty gun was purchased at this company when it was in Millis. It was a cop shop strictly selling equipment/supplies to PDs. My chief told me that allegedly one of their principals outfitted his POV and was involved in some hinky stuff stopping cars, etc. At that point, all our business transferred to AAA Police Supply in Dedham and I was led to believe that Central Equipment went out of business. I guess not.
 
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