Make Your FFL Document More Functional

This is a simple guide to add a QR code and bar coding to your FFL - specifically linking to FFL eZCheck

Scan Your FFL

Most of us do this step as soon as we get our fresh new FFL in the mail. Once you've scanned the image in you'll need to edit the image. If you scan your FFL in as a PDF and don't have the ability to edit your PDFs you may want to switch that scanner to scan the FFL in as a JPG.

Creating the URL Link to EZCheck

This is the tricky part. The FFL eZCheck doesn't show you an obvious way to get to this but with a little investigation you can build the URL. Take the following example and insert the first number of your FFL number for the licsRegn field (replace the number 5 in this example URL); the second two numbers of your FFL number for the licsDis field (replace the number 42 in the example) and the last five numbers of your FFL number for the licsSeq field (replace 03293 in the example). This example URL is as follows: https://www.atfonline.gov/fflezcheck/fflSearch.do?licsRegn=5&licsDis=42&licsSeq=03293

Create Your QR Code

There are many free sources online for creating a QR code. I like http://www.barcode-generator.org and also goqr.me. These will let you paste in the URL you want to deliver when someone scans the QR code, and download the image of the code when you're done.

Edit the Scanned FFL

Use either Adobe Acrobat to edit the PDF or edit the JPG using a photo editing software. I suggest using pixlr.com - it's free and almost as good as Photoshop. You can insert the QR code image and place it in an out-of-the-way spot on the form; I like the bottom of the form where the "license card" is. You may have to resize this QR code image when you place it on the FFL - just be sure to resize proportionally - i.e. resize by grabbing the corner of the image not resizing the horizontal and vertical size separately... doing so will likely break the QR code.

Something, Something, Complete

So, this is the end result. I got a little fancy with this QR code and embedded our logo - if you do this just be careful not to make the logo too big. Also, when I copy this image into a PDF of our FFL I make embed a link to the eZCheck so people can either scan the QR code or just click on the image.