Firearms Retail: System Solutions automates compliance, records using Microsoft Dynamics AX

Imagine keeping your books in a bound ledger - every transaction meticulously recorded in a thick tome from the office supply store. Or, consider the risk of a customer rethinking their purchases as they slog through mandatory written forms.

That is classic firearms retail. That bound book is no tradition, it is a requirement of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). So is an FBI-compliant background check. And on any day, a firearm retailer may expect a federal or state audit about a gun purchase, or to aid law enforcement in tracking a gun.

So just as paper persists in this industry, so does the need for automation - speed for customers, accuracy in paperwork and background checks, all while minding the laws of the land.

System Solutions LLC has released the Microsoft Dynamics AX version of the Firearms Bound Book and Electronic Form 4473, which replaces the manual Firearms Bound Book system and provides electronic processing of ATF Form 4473 and the FBI NICS background check. It allows Dynamics AX to track serialized firearms and general inventory from receipt through sales, holds, layaways, returns, and more. The solution had previously been available for Dynamics RMS.

To understand the significance in labor savings and regulatory requirements, we must first understand the requirements.

The first is an ATF-compliant bound book (also known as the firearms acquisition and disposition record). This is a permanently-bound book maintained at the retailer's premises, recording firearm purchases ...