On December 17, 2013, the ATF issued Ruling 2013-5 to respond to inquiries from FFLs about maintaining acquisition and disposition records in electronic form, as opposed to paper form. It also put out a 2-page Q&A sheet about this ruling on January 13, 2014, including specific details for records variance holders. FFLs have been required to maintain records of the acquisition and disposition of firearms since passage of the Gun Control Act of 1968 (“GCA”). Mandatory records include importation, production, shipment, receipt, sale, or other disposition of firearms. Associated with the GCA statute are “implementing regulations” found in the Code of Federal Register which set out the details of transactions that must be memorialized, deadlines for recording the information, and on-going record storage requirements. The ATF supported its ruling with the following findings:
- electronic records save time and money in bookkeeping and auditing expenses;
- most businesses computerize inventory, sales, customer lists, and other business records;
- automated inventories allow use of such technology tools as bar codes and radio frequency identification chips;
- computer technology can improve accountability of inventory and reduce potential errors;
- computerized records facilitate tracing and tracking, speeding up ATF inventory inspections and ATF trace requests
0 Comments