(Photo: ATF)

Welcome to a new era, folks. The era of drive-up gun purchases!

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ubiquitous social-distancing guidelines that have been instituted in response to the novel coronavirus, gun dealers have to change the way they do business to help slow the spread and “flatten the curve.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has decided, in a recent industry letter (see below), to allow FFLs to conduct drive-up or walk-up transfers provided they happen on the store owner’s property and in accordance with state and local laws.

“An FFL may carry out the requested activities through a drive-up or walk-up window or doorway where the customer is on the licensee’s property on the exterior of the brick-and-mortar structure at the address listed on the license,” said ATF in the letter dated April 10, 2020 (see letter below).

“An FFL may also carry out the requested activities from a temporary table or booth located in a parking lot or other exterior location on the licensee’s property at the address listed on the license, but any such activities must occur in a location where the licensee has the authority to permit ATF’s entry for inspection purposes,” it continued.

ATF says that gun dealers should exercise caution when selling outdoors and keep the bulk of their inventory and documents (Form 4473s) in the brick-and-mortar structure.

Gun dealers cannot sell on nearby property or space that isn’t listed on the FFLs license unless it’s at an in-state gun show or related event, adds the ATF. Simply put, gun shops can sell their wares outdoors so long as they do so on their property.

This letter comes on the heels of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to include the gun industry on its list of “critical infrastructure,” a move that the anti-gun lobby found repulsive.

“It is both shameful and nonsensical for the federal government to deem gun stores essential, a special privilege that millions of other shuttered small businesses can only dream about,” wrote John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, in a CNN Op-Ed.

“The argument for keeping grocery stores and pharmacies open during a pandemic is self-evident,” Feinblatt continued. “People need to be able to access food and medication in order to preserve public health, so it’s worth the risk of allowing people to congregate — while observing social distancing… This calculus clearly doesn’t apply to firearm sales.”

Well, maybe now that the ATF has green-lit drive-up gun purchases to hew to social distancing recommendations, Everytown can quit its caterwauling. Or maybe this will just enrage the Bloomberg-funded group all the more. Either way, who gives a rip. Gun stores are open for business — as they should be.