Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Justice proposes amending Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regulations that concern firearms stolen or lost in transit. The proposed rule specifies that when a Federal firearms licensee (FFL) discovers a firearm it shipped was stolen or lost in transit, that sender/transferor FFL must report the theft or loss to ATF and to the appropriate local authority. The rule also reduces an FFL's reporting burden when a theft or loss involves a firearm registered under the National Firearms Act (NFA) and ensures consistent reporting to ATF's NFA Branch. In addition, the rule specifies that transferor/sender FFLs must reflect the theft or loss of a firearm as a disposition entry in their required records not later than 7 days following discovery of the theft or loss, and specifies that FFLs that report the theft or loss of a firearm and later discover its whereabouts must advise ATF that the firearm has been located and must re-enter the firearm into their required records as an acquisition or disposition entry as appropriate.

The Department of Justice is amending the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) by eliminating the Firearms Transaction Record, ATF Form 4473 (Low Volume (LV)), Parts I and II. Federally licensed firearms dealers used this form as an alternate record for the receipt and disposition of firearms. Because licensees rarely use Form 4473 (LV), ATF has determined that continued use of this form is unwarranted and it should be eliminated. Licensees will be required to use the standard Form 4473 for all dispositions and maintain a record of the acquisition and disposition of firearms in accordance with the regulations.

The Department of Justice proposes amending Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regulations that concern the making or transferring of a firearm under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The proposed changes include: Defining the term ``responsible person,'' as used in reference to a trust, partnership, association, company, or corporation; requiring ``responsible persons'' of such legal entities to submit, inter alia, photographs and fingerprints, as well as a law enforcement certificate, when the legal entity files an application to make an NFA firearm or is listed as the transferee on an application to transfer an NFA firearm; modifying the information required in a law enforcement certificate, so that the certificate no longer requires a statement from the certifying official that he or she has no information indicating that the maker or transferee of the NFA firearm will use the firearm for other than lawful purposes; and adding a new section to ATF's regulations to address the possession and transfer of firearms registered to a decedent. The new section would clarify that the executor, administrator, personal representative, or other person authorized under state law to dispose of property in an estate may possess a firearm registered to a decedent during the term of probate without such possession being treated as a ``transfer'' under the NFA. It also would specify that the transfer of the firearm to any beneficiary of the estate may be made on a tax-exempt basis.