ATF Renewal Interview

[BMoore]

I got a surprise visit yesterday from the ATF to conduct my 3-year renewal interview. This is the first time they have ever showed up unannounced. Luckily, I was working from home yesterday and had some time between meetings when the inspector showed. Beyond that, it was the easiest interview I've had so far. He confirmed that I had my acquisition records from the past 12 months, ran down the checklist and that was it. Took about 30 minutes, most of which was just casual conversation.

I hear so many horror stories. I guess I've just been lucky. This marks my 4th interview, all with different inspectors, and all have been pleasant and cordial. If I ever had a question, I would not hesitate for one second to reach out to any of these inspectors.

[displayfireworks1]

Glad it went well. They change Inspectors each time . The ever changing face of the ATF or something along those lines. When they just show up like this , it seems like there some correlation to the distance you are from the regional office. Curious approximately how many miles are you from the regional local office? This happen to me once. I heard a knock, I looked out the window and saw a woman with clipboard , I'm thinking this some BS and didn't answer. Usually when I hear a knock I look out the window , if you don't have a pizza or a subpoena in your hand , I don't answer the door. LOL She called and we made an appointment.

[BMoore]

Glad it went well. They change Inspectors each time . The ever changing face of the ATF or something along those lines. When they just show up like this , it seems like there some correlation to the distance you are from the regional office. Curious approximately how many miles are you from the regional local office? This happen to me once. I heard a knock, I looked out the window and saw a woman with clipboard , I'm thinking this some BS and didn't answer. When I hear a knock I look out the window , if you don't have a pizza or a subpoena in your hand , I don't answer the door. LOL She called and we made an appointment.

Yeah, I understand it's policy that you never get the same inspector twice. I'm about 85 miles from the regional office and he did tell me I was the only thing he had scheduled for the day so it would have been a long wasted trip had I not been around. Usually when I'm working from home and busy I ignore knocks at the door assuming it's either a solicitor or Amazon delivery. It was really a stroke of luck that I was home and available.

[displayfireworks1]

To be honest , what good has ever come from a random knock at your door. I can't imagine an ATF Inspector from Pennsylvania driving 85 miles without calling first or having the appointment prearranged. There are just too many license in my state to waste unnecessary driving. I live less than 20 miles from the Pittsburgh regional office. In my situation since 2003 when this all started , that situation I mentioned was actually the first time I had a random unannounced visit. When we finally did meet, I apologized for not answering the door on her previous visit. I guess it something we should all expect at renewal time. Maybe it was stereotypical on my part , but I did not expect and older female with a clipboard to be from the ATF. Hey, The ever changing face of the ATF , right.

[ETnepa]

I got my first knock on the door too recently with my 3 year renewal coming soon. Also a new face. I have an indoor magazine with a 50lb weight limit and the lady said in 17 years working on the job she has never seen this type of magazine. Unfortunately, she took up over 3 hours of my time. She took pictures of my invoices showing weights then a few days later she called to say I went way over 50lbs. I guess she misplaced her photos and created her own weights. Luckily in the end I was just barely under 50lbs and all was good. I did get a violation for not recording an annual inspection in my DSMTs but now i know.

[joewad]

I've never received an unannounced visit but whenever one of my 1.3 vendors receive their ATF reviews they email their customers that they've showed up and be prepared for a possible visit. And will furnish you additional copies of documents if required.

[displayfireworks1]

I've never received an unannounced visit but whenever one of my 1.3 vendors receive their ATF reviews they email their customers that they've showed up and be prepared for a possible visit. And will furnish you additional copies of documents if required.

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That is a first I ever heard of a distributor doing that. It is a good thing.

[displayfireworks1]

I got my first knock on the door too recently with my 3 year renewal coming soon. Also a new face. I have an indoor magazine with a 50lb weight limit and the lady said in 17 years working on the job she has never seen this type of magazine. Unfortunately, she took up over 3 hours of my time. She took pictures of my invoices showing weights then a few days later she called to say I went way over 50lbs. I guess she misplaced her photos and created her own weights. Luckily in the end I was just barely under 50lbs and all was good. I did get a violation for not recording an annual inspection in my DSMTs but now i know.

I had one of those 3 hour visits from a new person back in the mid-2000's when all of this was relatively new . He had a bottle of water he kept drinking from as he talked, at about 2 hours the bottle was empty. Even though it was empty he still kept trying to drink from it. Normally I would pick up on that social queuing and offer someone more water. Not this time , I remember thinking I'll thirst him out. He went another hour and kept hitting that empty bottle.