Firearms Orders & FFL Dealers
Selling firearms online has an extra step that other products don't: the gun has to ship to a licensed FFL dealer, not straight to the customer's door. On WooCommerce, that part of checkout is handled by the CloudFFL for WooCommerce plugin, and CloudFFL OS works alongside it.
A firearm may only be shipped to a valid FFL dealer for the buyer to pick up after passing a background check. This is federal law, not a preference. Always confirm the receiving dealer before a firearm leaves your shop.
What the plugin handles at checkout
The CloudFFL for WooCommerce plugin lives on your WooCommerce site and manages the firearm side of checkout:
- It lets the customer find and choose their FFL dealer during checkout.
- If the customer isn't ready to pick a dealer, it can place the order in an Awaiting FFL status so it isn't shipped yet.
- It attaches the chosen dealer's information to the order.
What CloudFFL OS does with it
When a firearm order comes into CloudFFL OS, it reads the FFL details the plugin attached and brings the dealer onto the order. If the order is marked Awaiting FFL — meaning no dealer is chosen yet — CloudFFL OS imports it but holds it back from fulfillment, so a firearm never ships before a dealer is confirmed.
Reading the dealer details from the plugin into CloudFFL OS is rolling out now and depends on a small update to the WooCommerce plugin. Until that's in place on your store, the order still imports and is held when it's awaiting an FFL — you'll just confirm the dealer in CloudFFL OS before shipping. Your CloudFFL specialist will let you know when automatic dealer details are live for your store.
Your fulfillment step
For any firearm order, confirm the receiving FFL on the order in CloudFFL OS, then fulfill and ship to that dealer. Pair this with your normal bound-book and disposition steps in CloudFFL OS to stay compliant.