ATF Changes Form 4473

On December 26, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a 60-day notice seeking public comment on the new revision of the Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record (see the announcement in the Federal Register here). The action is required in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (“PRA”). In essence, the PRA requires government agencies to seek approval every three years for continued use of forms utilized by government agencies and to seek public comment on the form or its new revision, if applicable.

The ATF has changed the Form 4473 and as such, is seeking public comment on the new form. While we have summarized the substantive changes to the 4473 below, you may view the revised Form on ATF’s website here, or, the Spanish version here.

Changes to the Form 4473 include the following:

• In general, the Draft Form 4473 no longer has references to “See Instruction for…” to highlight on the Form that there is an instruction for the specific box.

• Section A is now the Section identifying the firearm (old Section C). It only contains information on the firearm and the firearm transaction, and does not include the “For Use By Licensee” box, nor the box into which FFLs enter their Name, Address, and FFL number.
  • • Additionally, where the old Form had 4 line items to enter firearms, the new Form only has 3. There has been a Firearms Transaction Record Continuation Sheet issued as well – which may be viewed here – where quantities of firearms in excess of 3 will be identified.

• Section B is now the Section in which the Transferee enters their personal information (i.e., formerly Section A).
  • • The “County” box has been revised to include “Parish/Borough”.
    • The “Sex” box has been revised to include a third option of “Non-Binary”.
    • The “UPIN” box has been revised to include “Appeals Management Database Identification (AMD ID)”.
    • The Citizenship information (Country of Citizenship and US-issued alien or admission number) has been moved to precede the prohibitor questions.
    • The question asking the Transferee whether they are under indictment or information in any court for a felony has been revised to include: “or are you a current member of the military who has been charged with violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and whose charges have been referred to a General Court-Martial?”.
    • The question asking the Transferee whether they have been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence has been revised to include: “or are you or have you ever been a member of the military and been convicted of a crime that included, as an element, the use of force against a person as identified in the instructions?”.
    • The prohibition questions regarding Citizenship (e.g., renounced US citizenship, illegal alien, etc.) have been moved away from the general Citizenship information, see above.
    • The Transferee’s certification date has been split into three boxes for Month / Day / Year.

• Section C is now the Section wherein the Transferor records Transferee identification information and NICS / Background check information.
  • • The “Supplemental Government Issued Documentation” box has been revised to include a statement highlighting the space should also be completed if the photographic identification does not include their full legal name.
    • A new box has been created in which the Transferor will record “Official Military Orders Establishing Permanent Change of Station (PCS); PCS Base/City and State; PCS Effective Date; PCS Order Number (if any)”.

• Section D is now the Section wherein the Transferee would sign to recertify that their answers are still true and correct when the transfer of the firearm(s) occur on a different day than the date on which they originally completed and signed the form.

• Section E is new, and is now the Section in which the FFL has the “For Use by Licensee” box, the Name/Address/FFL Number box, and the certification / signature.
  • • The box for “Transferor/Seller’s Title” has been removed.

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Other Articles of Interest:

• ATF eForms – Getting Started with Electronic Import TechnologyHelping Firearm Distributors and Dealers Understand State Firearm Laws
• Who Needs to Know About the ITAR in Your Firearm Company?