The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has released a draft of its new “Firearms Transaction Record” form (ATF Form 4473), which has been shortened and simplified.
The first change to the form is the removal of “Non-Binary” under “Sex.” There are now only two choices: “Male” or “Female.” Some have claimed that the elimination of “Non-Binary” is a de facto transgender gun ban, but that claim doesn’t square with reality. Gun buyers are instructed to choose the sex they were assigned at birth. Since everyone is born either male or female, the question doesn’t prevent anyone from buying a gun.
In its current form, the 4473 asks the potential firearms buyer whether they are the “actual transferee/buyer” of the item in question. The way the question is worded makes it seem like you cannot legally buy a gun for another person.
That is not and never has been the law.
The new change to the question specifically calls out straw purchasing, which is against federal law. The change addresses concerns among family members and friends about buying firearms as gifts for others.
The ATF added a section that asks about the purpose of the firearms transfer. The new options are a transfer for oneself, where the transferee uses their own money to purchase the firearm as a gift for someone who is not a prohibited person, where someone is picking up a firearm as a gift or reward, or picking up a repaired firearm for someone else who is not prohibited.
Question 21 b. has also been removed from the 4473. That question asked if you intended to “sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm listed” on the form. It is not illegal to sell a privately owned firearm. This question can lead many to believe that selling a gun is illegal. The ATF rolled up the original intent of that rule into the new rule about “straw purchases.”
Question 21 f. has also changed. This question has largely remained intact with one big caveat. The old question used to imply that using marijuana for any reason, including medical use. Even if it is decriminalized in your state, it would disqualify a potential buyer from purchasing a gun. The new question removes references to medical marijuana. It only highlights the use of recreational marijuana.
This change consists of the rescheduling of the drug “Schedule I” to a “Schedule III” controlled substance, which is much less restrictive than the original scheduling.
The ATF Form 4473 removes the check box to specify if a firearm is a “long gun,” “handgun,” or “other.” The old form also had a redundant box where the federal firearms licensee (FFL) had to write the type of firearm being transferred. The new form eliminates redundancy to prevent mismatches. The new form includes checkboxes at the top for “Firearms handler check only” and “Private party transfer only.”
The most exciting thing about the new form is the options at the bottom of page three.
This option allows the FFL to choose an option for “Non-over-the-counter transactions.” This option covers ordering firearms online and having them shipped to a gun buyer’s door without the need to go to the gun shop of the transferer, if the transferer is in the same state. The rule for non-over-the-counter was published in the Federal Register yesterday and has been the most popular change for the Second Amendment community.
The new form has eliminated three pages from the current form, reducing it to four pages from seven. The simplification of the form, along with other changes, should lead to fewer paperwork errors, which the Biden administration used to revoke many FFLs through its zero-tolerance policies.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @right2bear, or at www.crumpy.com.
Although the 4473 form has now been reduced from 7 pages in length to 4 pages in length, it’s still has a long way to go to achieve the unencumbered efficacy and simplicity of the inaugural 1/2 page in length, ‘yellow’ 4473 form from 55-plus yrs. ago. A 7 page long 4473 form is only a tiny fraction of the negative consequences of allowing Gov’t. Bureaucracy to interfere w/Constitutional Rights.
There’s another ridiculous question on the form–I don’t know which–that asks something to the effect of, “Are you in violation of any of the conditions in 21d through 21g?” [I’m making the numbers/letters up for purposes of example only.] The question appears before all those others that it references; and since filling out the form is electronic on a laptop now, you can’t examine the forward-looking questions to properly answer the current question. And when I pointed that out to the clerk, he just stands there and goes, “Yep.” No paper copy of the form to examine, no help from… Read more »
Question 21 f. has not changed much at all. What a shame. CSA schedule 4 is much more appropriate match for typical forms of cannabis products. I’ll just leave this here – Excessive alcohol use causes approximately 178,000 deaths in the United States annually, according to CDC data for 2020–2021. Oh and this – Heavy Drinking (Weekly): 8 or more drinks per week for women; 15 or more drinks per week for men. It’s unfortunate my government has no issue with armed drunks. Alcohol is a dangerous drug. Alcohol is a “pot o’ gold” for our government. The federal government… Read more »
Great article John! As a ffl, first I’ve seen what the changes are headed for
Queue up the Reefer Madness believers.