Selling firearms is a huge responsibility. To keep your business running, you must always be on top of your game to comply with local, state, and federal guidelines and regulations. Being the sensitive industry that it is, even a single misstep as a firearms merchant can be a big deal.

Whether you're new to the industry or you've been running a successful operation for years, you'll find that firearm credit card processing is hard to come by. In fact, even some high-risk payment processors who specialize in hard-to-place businesses have a hangup about allowing firearms sales. While there are many reasons why securing gun store credit card processing can be difficult, here are three of the more common challenges.

1. Legal complications.

Ever-changing guidelines present a legal challenge for payment technology providers. In order to provide credit card processing for firearms, these providers must first do the following.

• Screen potential businesses more carefully than in other industries to ensure they only serve responsible entities.
• Keep up with the current gun and firearms sales laws to ensure compliance.
• Always be on the lookout for upcoming legislative changes that might affect the industry in the future.

Keeping up to date with the current and future laws governing firearms sales is a tedious task most payment platforms would rather not deal with. Other payment processors make it their business to know what's going on in the industry so they can offer their customers a viable firearm credit card processing option.

2. Social issues and reputation.

There's a stigma out there regarding firearms that can cast a negative light on the firearms industry. As a result, payment platforms often want to distance themselves from firearms for fear of ruining their brand's reputation.

3. High-risk industries.

Certain products and sometimes entire industries are considered high risk for payment platforms. Being high risk doesn't necessarily mean that there's anything inherently wrong with the product or industry. Rather, it means that certain factors may limit profitability for payment platforms. Here are some of the criteria for the high-risk label.

• Operating in an industry with an increased risk of fraud. 
• Having a high chargeback ratio.
• The presence of legal and regulatory requirements.
• The presence of age restrictions. 
• The high dollar amount of the average firearms transaction. 

Unfortunately, the firearms industry checks all the boxes for high risk. Many payment platforms run from the potential lawsuits and returned payments associated with firearms sales. However, as with other high-risk categories, there are payment processors like Humboldt who specialize in providing merchant services to businesses in hard-to-place categories. 

The need to offer credit card processing for firearms.

Customers can rack up quite a tab between getting licensed and purchasing a gun, ammunition, and gear. Many customers will have difficulty coming up with all that cash upfront. Partnering with a payment technology company that allows firearms sales will ultimately help you better serve your customers and hit your sales targets.