PayPal
Gun Shop Software
Gun and tactical gear shop software helps businesses manage their day-to-day operations. Business functions include point of sale (POS) transactions, customer relationship management (CRM) and inventory management. Customers are subject to background checks, which must also be documented. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has specific requirements for gun shop software, which include having a compliant backup system.
Compare All Gun Shop Software
RetailSTAR
RetailSTAR
RetailSTAR POS Software by CAM is an on-premise POS solution for specialty retail shops such as clothing stores, shoe stores, sporting goods retailers, gift and hobby shops, and health food stores. RetailSTAR targets small to mids...Read more
Stratus Enterprise
Stratus Enterprise
Stratus Retail by Celerant Technology provides tools for point of sale (POS), inventory and order management, enterprise resource management (ERP), e-commerce, business intelligence, marketplace integrations (Amazon, eBay, Walmart...Read more
NCR Counterpoint
NCR Counterpoint
The NCR Counterpoint solution includes an e-mail marketing tool, integrated e-commerce, mobile alerting, built-in gift card and customer loyalty programs and hardware specifically designed for the retail environment. The NCR ...Read more
S2K Enterprise for Retail
S2K Enterprise for Retail
VAI’s is an independent software developer and the author of S2K Enterprise, an award winning cloud-based ERP solution utilized by customers operating across the distribution, manufacturing, specialty retail, and service sectors, ...Read more
OneStep-JV
OneStep-JV
OneStep by Business Control Systems is an on-premise point-of-sale (POS) solution that caters to brick and mortar retailers and provides the functionalities to process transactions, control inventory and purchases and more. The so...Read more
iVend Retail
iVend Retail
4,000+ customers in 45 countries are running iVend Retail by CitiXsys Americas Inc., an integrated suite of applications that delivers sales and operational tools for stores including e-commerce, mobility and more....Read more
Visual Retail Plus
Visual Retail Plus
Visual Retail Plus is an integrated system that gives retailers a single centralized location to manage Point of Sale, Inventory Management and more, all tailored to each retailer's unique needs. With more than 20 years in the ind...Read more
Software pricing tips
Read our Guns & Tactical Gear POS Software Buyers GuideSubscription models
- Per employee/per month: This model allows you to pay a monthly fee for each of your employees.
- Per user/per month: Users pay a monthly fee for users—normally administrative users—rather than all employees.
Perpetual license
- This involves paying an upfront sum for the license to own the software and use it indefinitely.
- This is the more traditional model and is most common with on-premise applications and with larger businesses.
Rated best value for money
Luminate Platform
Luminate Platform
Luminate Platform by Blue Yonder (formerly known as JDA Software) is a cloud-based supply chain management solution for large and enterprise companies. It serves clients across a variety of supply chain industries including automo...Read more
ReadySTORE POS
ReadySTORE POS
ReadyStore by UTC RETAIL is a cloud-based retail point-of-sale (POS) solution that offers a suite of applications to manage store operations. The solution caters to various industries such as pharmaceutical, manufacturing and food...Read more
Vogue Professional
Vogue Professional
Vogue POS is a small and midsize retail and wholesale business management solution featuring tools to track, manage and analyze business performance. Vogue offers real-time inventory control, reporting tools, customer management, ...Read more
Rapid Gun Systems
Rapid Gun Systems
RAPID Gun Systems is an on-premise and accessible through cloud Point-of-Sale solution for gun stores. It caters to firearm retailers and helps them manage compliance and gun store management process. It is suitable for both new a...Read more
Unified Commerce Platform
Unified Commerce Platform
enVista offers cloud-based retail management solutions that help users manage the daily operations of a single store or multiple locations in real-time. enVista's unified commerce software solutions are delivered as an integrated ...Read more
Popular Guns & Tactical Gear POS Software Comparisons
Buyers Guide
Last Updated: February 16, 2022The ultimate issue for a gun shop owner is security; the penultimate issue is compliance. Gun shops are heavily regulated at the federal, state and local levels, and costs for noncompliance are high. Much of the inventory has serial numbers which must be tracked under penalty of law.
We’ve created this guide to help gun shop owners understand the gun retail software market. You can use this guide to learn about different product features and benefits and then make an informed purchase decision.
Below are the topics we'll cover in this guide:
What Is Gun and Tactical Shop Software?
Common Features of Gun and Tactical Shop Software
Expected Benefits of Gun and Tactical Shop Software
What Is Gun and Tactical Shop Software?
Gun and tactical gear shop software helps businesses manage their day-to-day operations. Business functions include point of sale (POS) transactions, customer relationship management (CRM) and inventory management. In addition, gun shop owners must carefully track which items are ordered, received into inventory and sold. They are required to document and report lost, stolen and destroyed firearms. Customers are subject to background checks, which must also be documented. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has specific requirements for gun shop software, which include having a compliant backup system.
The other components: an accounting system, accounts receivable, accounts payable, general ledger and payroll, are more or less standard. However, it is very important that gun shops maintain accurate records on their vendors and purchases.
Common Features of Gun and Tactical Shop Software
While evaluating systems, gun and tactical gear shop owners should consider the following functions to meet their unique requirements:
| Federal Firearms Transaction Record (ATF 4473) | ATF Form 4473 must be completed when a firearm is sold over the counter or through the mail. The system should collect the information about the customer and provide the necessary form with an option to file it electronically. |
| National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) | The system should support running NICS checks through the appropriate state point of contact (POC) or through the FBI in states without a POC. |
| National Firearms Act (NFA) forms | The system should track which inventory items are subject to NFA reporting. For those items, it should complete the correct NFA forms when title is transferred. |
| ID scanning | The system should scan and retain ID information for customers. The POS should scan IDs and verify that the format of the ID is correct. It is impractical to validate the IDs against government databases. |
| ATF-compliant serial number tracking | Since 2008, the ATF allows the “bound book” list of firearm serial numbers to be maintained electronically. The system should maintain an ATF-compliant serial number list. |
| Lost or stolen firearm form | The system must handle lost or stolen firearms. The inventory value must be decreased. The system must also complete the correct notification forms and update the electronic bound book. |
| Destroyed firearm form | Similarly, the system must handle destroyed firearms. The inventory value must be decreased. The system must also complete the correct notification forms and update the electronic bound book. |
| Work orders | Many gun shops offer special services. Examples include repairs, bluing and engraving. The system needs to track the work orders, post deposits and notify the customer when the work is complete. |
| Special orders | The system should handle special orders. It should track deposits, integrate with order entry to place orders and notify the customer when the order is received. |
| Security camera interface | The POS system should integrate with the security camera system. A link to the video of each transaction should be stored with the transaction in the POS. |
| State and local forms | Compliance regulations vary from state to state and sometimes even within a state. The system must prepare all state and local forms as required. |
| Integrated backup system | The ATF has requirements for gun shop software. One is that the software must include an integrated backup system. Advanced systems will have a copy on premise and an additional copy stored in the cloud. |
| Ammunition database | Firearms have different options for ammunition. Some ammunition is more strictly regulated than others. The system should provide a list of options on hand and available for special order while enforcing policy and legal requirements. |
| Tax calculations | Some firearms are taxed differently than others. The system should correctly calculate the taxes and prepare tax filing information as required. |
Expected Benefits of Gun and Tactical Shop Software
Operating a gun shop is not easy, as there are many regulations and requirements that must be fulfilled. A retail POS software system helps users manage the documentation work for a gun and firearms retail business.
Below are some of the benefits of using POS software in a gun and tactical gear shop:
- ATF compliance management. On April 29, 2016, the ATF released the ATF 2016-1 compliance norms. Under the new regulations, gun and tactical gear retailers need to record both manufacturer and importer information while making any transaction. Since this is a regulatory requirement, many vendors have started offering ATF compliance management in their solutions. With this functionality, users can autofill some fields in their ATF form, thereby making the process easier for owners and customers.
- Repair and service requests. There are many challenges in providing repair and support services in the gun retail business. Users must create service requests, track resources and manage the complete invoicing. POS software helps users record customer repair requests, assign them to resources and then delegate them to people. POS software also allows users to create purchase orders for spare parts that are needed for repairs.
- Inventory management. Managing inventory is always a hassle—ask any business. Since there are concerns around safety with guns and tactical gear, discrepancies can lead to legal troubles. So, it’s essential for gun shop retailers to have a system in place that accurately tracks their inventory.
POS software allows users to track the status of their inventory in real time, from dispatch to the point of sale. Some products on the market allow users to create purchase orders based on stock levels and demand of products.