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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has abruptly shut down its eForms system. The reason for this shutdown remains unclear.
This development was first hinted at by an anonymous source, as reported by John Crump of Ammoland. True to the tip, eForms went offline yesterday at 3 PM, creating a wave of confusion.
Let’s delve into this issue, as it’s not just a technical hiccup but a matter of rights infringement.
eForms is crucial for processing National Firearms Act (NFA) items, including suppressors and short-barreled shotguns.
Intriguingly, there had been a recent acceleration in form processing times, with some approvals taking as little as two days!
This raises questions: Was the ATF efficiently catching up, or merely rushing through a backlog?
SEE ALSO: Washington State Signs an Entire Industry’s Death Warrant: Goodbye FFLs!
Currently, eForms remains inaccessible, and the ATF has not provided an explanation.
All it says on the website is “The ATF eForms system is unavailable at the present time. We anticipate the system will be available again shortly… Please try again at a later time. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Rumors suggest a potential government shutdown might be behind the shutdown, but these remain unconfirmed by the ATF.
Guns & Gadgets 2A News believes it’s the time for community action. In the video embedded above, he urges everyone to contact Congress at 202-224-3121 to demand the restoration of eForms.
Despite allocated funding, eForms’ unavailability is puzzling and problematic.
I want to buy a suppressor but I am extremely suspicious about the short ATF approval times.
— John Kulak Kramlich (@jkramlich) February 28, 2024
I know the ATF's actions must be self-serving and any benefit to me is a coincidence at best.
Does anyone know why approval times are so short right now?
The absence of eForms creates significant barriers to exercising Second Amendment rights, particularly for those seeking to acquire specific firearms and accessories legally — and int a timely manner.
This situation is obviously fluid at the moment so stay connected for ongoing coverage.
What do you think? Is this a big ole nothing-burger aka routine maintenance or is there something more sinister in play?
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I recieved an email stating that there was an outage, and per law, I had to re-register the following day.
The exact verbage was “You must submit your required eForms2, that you did not submit due to this outage by the close of your
next business day as required by 27 CFR 479.103”
I suspect this is a result of Russian hacking. A police contact said he had heard the firearm background check system (NICS) was giving all “delayed” responses and there were issues at the State Department.
Imagine if it took 9-12+ months for a voter registration card…hmmmm