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WooCommerce will take cards. The processors that will not are Stripe, PayPal, Square, and WooPayments. Those networks prohibit firearm sales. You connect a merchant account approved for firearms, then Coriolis places that gateway on checkout. How this compares with a hosted platform is covered in WooCommerce vs Shopify for gun stores.

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What works

Use a processor that already underwrites FFLs. Coriolis uses GOAT Payments, or you can bring your own firearms-approved gateway. A generic high-risk account from a processor that has not approved firearm inventory will freeze on the first gun order. Get the approval before you connect keys. You need:
  • A live merchant account in your store’s legal name.
  • API credentials from that processor. Coriolis sets up GOAT Payments; if you bring your own gateway, use the keys it issues. Sandbox keys are for a test install only.
  • The gateway plugin Coriolis installs. Do not add a second card plugin beside it. Two gateways fighting at checkout drops orders.

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Connect it

  1. Confirm the account is approved for the products you sell (firearms, ammunition, or both). Ask the processor if you are not sure.
  2. Send the API credentials to Coriolis through the support channel, not email in the clear if you can avoid it. We store them on the install.
  3. Coriolis enables the gateway and runs a small live authorization, then voids it.
  4. Place a test order for a non-firearm product with a real card. Confirm the charge lands in the processor portal, then void or refund it.
  5. Place a second test with a firearm in the cart only after ship-to-FFL is on. The card test and the FFL test are separate.

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What this does not do

The gateway charges the card. It does not check a 4473, run a background check, or pick the receiving dealer. Those are checkout and transfer steps, not payment steps. If a charge is declined, the decline reason is in the processor portal. Coriolis can see the WooCommerce order. The processor owns the response code. Why this stack can sell guns at all is covered in can you use WooCommerce to sell guns.