The U.S. FFL Landscape, 2014–2026

November 1, 2026 · 8-minute read

The number of federal firearms licensees in America has barely moved in twelve years. Almost everything underneath that number has. APB360 has loaded 62 of the ATF’s public FFL listings since April 2014, tracking more than 240,000 distinct licenses along the way. Here is what they show.

+1.8%

Total licensees — 76,107 in April 2014, 77,469 in October 2026.

+136.2%

Type 07 manufacturers — from 9,479 to 22,390.

−17.7%

Type 01 dealers — from 54,601 to 44,939.

A flat line with a hump in it

The total climbed slowly into 2017, slid to 76,902 by Jul 2020, then rose by 5,285 in two years to a peak of 82,187 in Jul 2022. It has since given back 4,718 of those licensees (−5.7%), though October’s +318 was a small step up.

Active licensees in each ATF listing we loaded. The axis starts at 74,000 to show the shape of the change. Gaps are months we did not load.

View every listing as a table

Listing	Licensees
Oct 2026	77,469
Aug 2026	77,151
May 2026	77,515
Mar 2026	77,321
Dec 2025	77,243
Sep 2025	77,613
Jun 2025	78,351
Apr 2025	78,363
Nov 2024	78,795
Jul 2024	79,693
Jun 2024	79,539
May 2024	79,749
Mar 2024	80,362
Nov 2023	81,408
Jun 2023	82,109
Jul 2022	82,187
Apr 2022	81,835
Nov 2021	81,403
May 2021	79,868
Sep 2020	77,368
Jul 2020	76,902
Feb 2020	77,310
Dec 2019	77,597
Sep 2019	77,992
Aug 2019	78,317
Jul 2019	78,531
Jun 2019	78,786
Oct 2018	80,082
Aug 2018	80,235
Jun 2018	80,295
Dec 2017	80,187
Nov 2017	80,367
Sep 2017	81,327
Aug 2017	80,419
Jul 2017	80,190
Jun 2017	80,486
May 2017	80,392
Apr 2017	79,982
Mar 2017	80,019
Feb 2017	80,183
Jan 2017	80,012
Dec 2016	80,153
Nov 2016	80,176
Aug 2016	80,008
Jun 2016	79,608
May 2016	79,447
Apr 2016	79,296
Mar 2016	79,125
Feb 2016	79,117
Jan 2016	78,881
Dec 2015	78,867
Nov 2015	78,998
Aug 2015	78,933
Jul 2015	78,818
Jun 2015	78,790
May 2015	78,613
Apr 2015	78,351
Mar 2015	78,175
Feb 2015	78,057
Jan 2015	77,993
Dec 2014	77,921
Apr 2014	76,107

The dealer gave way to the manufacturer

In 2014, roughly one license in eight belonged to a Type 07 manufacturer. Today it is 29 in 100. Manufacturers more than doubled, adding 12,911, while dealers lost 9,662, pawnbrokers 2,175 and ammunition makers 811. Without Type 07 growth, the total would be down by more than 11,000.

Licensees by type in each ATF listing we loaded.

License type	Apr 2014	Oct 2026	Change	%
Type 01 — Dealer / gunsmith	54,601	44,939	−9,662	−17.7%
Type 07 — Firearms manufacturer	9,479	22,390	+12,911	+136.2%
Type 02 — Pawnbroker	7,958	5,783	−2,175	−27.3%
Type 08 — Importer	1,077	1,695	+618	+57.4%
Type 06 — Ammunition manufacturer	2,461	1,650	−811	−33.0%
Type 10 — Destructive device manufacturer	280	554	+274	+97.9%
Type 11 — Destructive device importer	191	318	+127	+66.5%
Type 09 — Destructive device dealer	60	140	+80	+133.3%

The map moved south and west

Since February 2017, Florida has gained the most licensees (+723), followed by Texas (+631), Arizona (+355) and Utah (+239). The largest declines are in Illinois (−1,033), California (−1,016), Colorado (−408) and Oregon (−352).

Lost 300+Lost 100–299Within 99Gained 100–299Gained 300+

Change in licensees by premises state, February 2017 to October 2026. U.S. territories are in the table.

View every state as a table

State	Feb 2017	Oct 2026	Change
FL	3,894	4,617	+723
TX	7,757	8,388	+631
AZ	2,229	2,584	+355
UT	1,131	1,370	+239
ID	1,149	1,357	+208
SC	1,328	1,506	+178
NC	2,909	3,086	+177
TN	1,856	2,013	+157
PA	3,106	3,247	+141
NV	754	856	+102
MD	706	791	+85
WY	750	824	+74
GA	2,386	2,442	+56
SD	618	649	+31
ND	510	541	+31
PR	65	78	+13
VI	9	14	+5
MA	598	601	+3
MP	2	5	+3
RI	113	115	+2
CT	658	660	+2
DC	5	4	−1
GU	20	17	−3
AL	1,499	1,495	−4
NH	608	603	−5
DE	144	134	−10
AR	1,517	1,505	−12
HI	119	107	−12
NJ	399	384	−15
NE	838	814	−24
IN	1,762	1,723	−39
VT	380	336	−44
ME	620	550	−70
IA	1,539	1,469	−70
VA	2,062	1,988	−74
MS	1,142	1,060	−82
MT	1,317	1,203	−114
WV	1,071	949	−122
OK	1,853	1,730	−123
WI	1,898	1,774	−124
NM	820	695	−125
KS	1,353	1,206	−147
AK	723	560	−163
MI	2,616	2,443	−173
LA	1,480	1,304	−176
OH	2,961	2,779	−182
NY	2,018	1,819	−199
MN	1,760	1,555	−205
MO	2,699	2,444	−255
KY	1,692	1,432	−260
WA	1,454	1,166	−288
OR	1,726	1,374	−352
CO	2,080	1,672	−408
CA	3,037	2,021	−1,016
IL	2,443	1,410	−1,033

Many FFLs work from home

Of the October listing, 31,958 licensees (41%) are at residential addresses, 27,316 (35%) at business addresses, and 18,195 (23%) could not be classified. That mix varies a lot by license type:

Type 01 dealers: 47% residential, 32% business
Type 07 manufacturers: 41% residential, 28% business
Type 02 pawnbrokers: 2% residential, 83% business

Pawnshops are storefronts, as you would expect. Dealers and manufacturers are a different story, with more classified as residential than as business.

What this means if you hold a license

A growing share of licensees are manufacturers, and many of them are new to the role. If that describes you, it pays to know what an ATF inspection looks like before one is scheduled. Our Type 07 IOI preparation guide walks through what investigators check.

About this data

Source: the ATF’s public Federal Firearms Listings, as loaded by APB360. This is our analysis, and it is not published or endorsed by the ATF.
Coverage: 62 listings from April 2014 to October 2026. Not every month was loaded.
States: compared from February 2017 because earlier listings in our records contain malformed state values.
Counts: figures reflect records as stored, so a listing may differ slightly from the ATF’s own totals. The October 2026 count leaves out one record held for review.
Address types: not every older record has been rechecked, and these are address classifications, not statements about any licensee.
Causes: this report shows what changed, not why. We have not tried to attribute any trend to laws, markets or events.