This week, the firearms industry was made aware of new revisions to ATF Form 4473, or Firearms Transaction Record. These revisions reflect provisions of recent legislation and regulations. The message below was published by ATF regarding the revised form.

Message from ATF

Due to new statutory requirements set forth in both the NICS Denial Notification Act and the Bipartisan Safer Community Act (BSCA), and to reflect the implementation of ATF Final Rule 2021R-05F, ATF Form 4473 has been revised.  Because the new statutory requirements are designed to enhance public safety, and to ensure compliance with these provisions and Final Rule 2021R-05F, the Office of Management and Budget has provided emergency authorization to ATF to immediately use the revised Form 4473. ATF will be publishing the Revised Form for Notice and Comment Review in the coming months.

 ATF encourages all FFLs to begin using the Amended Form immediately.  The Revised Form is available on ATF’s website, and can be downloaded and printed for immediate use.  Please note that the entire Form, including instructions, must be printed, and stored together.  Hard copies of the Revised Form will be available through the ATF Distribution Center beginning February 1, 2023.  The ATF eForm 4473 application is also being revised and notification will be sent when it is ready for use. 

Significant changes in the Revised Form are as follows:

• Any firearm, received by a FFL, that was privately made (not manufactured by another licensee) must now be recorded on the ATF Form 4473.  “Privately Made Firearm (PMF)” has been added to item 1, Section A.  It now reads: “Manufacturer and Importer, if any or Privately made firearm (PMF) (If the manufacturer and importer are both different, include both)”.

• Question 10 is amended:  The transferee/buyer is now asked to answer whether they “Reside in City Limits?” regarding their residence address.  For example, if a transferee lists their residence city/state as Phoenix, Arizona but they actually reside outside of the city, they will answer “no” to this item.

• The following two prohibiting questions have been added to Section A:

• 21b: “Do you intend to purchase or acquire any firearm listed on this form and any continuation sheet(s) or ammunition, for sale of other disposition to any person described in questions 21(c)-(m) or to a person described in question 21.n.1 who does not fall within a nonimmigrant exception?”
• 21.c.: “Do you intend to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm listed on this form and any continuation sheet(s) or ammunition in furtherance of any felony or other offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of more than one year, a Federal crime of terrorism, or a drug trafficking offense?”

• To comply with the BSCA 10-day waiting period on certain transfers involving transferees under the age of 21, Section C of the Form has been revised as follows: 

• Prior to the NICS/POC information, an instructional header has been added stating: “Notice: If transferee/buyer is under 21, a waiting period of up to 10 days may apply where notification from NICS is received within 3 business days to further investigate a possible disqualifying juvenile record.  A NICS check is only valid for 30 calendar days from the date recorded in question 27a.”
• Item 27.c. was amended to show the date an FFL may transfer a firearm should NICS or the State agency (conducting the background check) not reply stating more time is needed for the check.  It now reads next to the delayed check box: “The firearm(s) may be transferred on ____ if time period is not extended by NICS or the appropriate State agency, and State law allows (optional).” 
• A box has been added to 27.d. should NICS or the appropriate State agency delay the check as more time is needed to conduct it on a transferee under 21 years of age.  It now reads: “Notice of additional delay of transferee under 21 years of age received on   _______ (date), and may be transferred on _________ (date).”
• Also added to 27.d. is a box for FFLs to check should no response be received from NICS or the appropriate State agency (for transferees under 21 years of age) within 10 business days after the initial delay was given.  It now reads: “No response was provided within 10 business days after initial delay for transferee/buyer under 21.”

 The revised form will become mandatory for use on April 1, 2023.  Please contact your local ATF Industry Operations office or FIPB@atf.gov should you have any questions regarding the changes to the form.

Orchid eBound Update

Orchid’s development team is currently working on implementing changes of the revised ATF Form 4473 to leading A&D bound book application, Orchid eBound. The updated e4473 application is expected to go live for Orchid customers in the coming weeks.

Orchid eBound processes over 35,000 e4473 transactions each month and features integrations with FBI NICS and ATF FFL eZ Check, a customer e4473 kiosk mode, batch processing, and more. New Orchid customers can get 6 free months of eBound and other Orchid software products when purchasing Enterprise or Suite-level plans by Dec. 31.