NSSF: ATF Announces Release of New Form 4473

in Authors, News Wire, This Week
NSSF: ATF Announces Release of New Form 4473

NSSF the trade association for the firearm industry, is pleased to announce that ATF is set to release its newest version of the Form 4473. The Form 4473 is used by all Federal Firearm Licensee (FFL) holders to record pertinent information from persons seeking to purchase a firearm or firearms prior to the FFL performing a background check via the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) or state-approved point-of-contact law enforcement agency.

The May 2020 Form 4473 includes several changes from the previous version, including:

  • The warning at the top of the form includes information about illegal exportation. 
  • Information on the firearm/s to be transferred is now Section A, which must be completed before the transferee completes Section B.
  • The “County” block has been changed to “County/Parish/Borough” to accommodate Louisiana and Alaska, respectively.
  • A new item (26c.) has been included for the recording of official military orders establishing permanent change of station.
  • Item 26b, which previously applied to situations in which the identification document did not show the current residence address of the transferee, has been updated to include situations in which the identification document does not include the full legal name of the transferee. 

Use of the May 2020-approved Form 4473 will be mandatory for all FFLs beginning November 1, 2020. FFLs may use supplies of their current Form 4473s (October 2016 version) until that date. The new Form 4473 and continuation sheets are available for preorder in both English and Spanish here, and FFLs can expect those preorder to begin shipping in late July 2020. In addition, ATF expects to ship 50-quantity starter packs of the new Form 4473 to all FFLs in late July 2020, and the agency intends to have an updated eForm 4473 up and running during that same time period for those FFLs utilizing the FBI’s NICS E-Check system instead of the paper Form 4473.

NSSF has ordered both Spanish and English overlays for the new Form 4473 and we will notify our members when they are in stock and available through the member portal. These overlays, which complement an FFL’s compliance best practices, help improve accuracy and completion of this critical form and are available free to NSSF members. 

Need to join NSSF to take advantage of the free overlays and other benefits? Click here.

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  • Don April 5, 2021, 10:17 am

    When it asks sex, i usually say ” yes”

  • Kane May 23, 2020, 1:15 am

    Under 10b. the 4473 could also ask if the applicant intends to vote for Joe Biden. Just so the feds know for sure who is Black.

  • Rick May 22, 2020, 5:50 pm

    Why is the NSSF “pleased” to announce changes in an unnecessary form that shouldn’t exist?

    And, I also thought that there was going to be a “non-binary” option for “gender”. That would certainly help…something or other (I suppose).

    • Give Me Freedom May 23, 2020, 3:10 pm

      From what I read the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms made the changes on the forms so they could take pictures of Licensed Dealer’s records of gun sales easier. They are trying to compile an illegal large Federal database of citizens with private firearms. The old forms made them take multiple pictures of forms instead of just one.

  • Bruce Perry May 22, 2020, 1:52 pm

    Why in the hell the “race” question doesn’t include “Human” which is the only race we have, has long been a mystery to me.

    On other forms (where the feds don’t have an ability to mess with what I’m up to) I habitually write in Homo Sapiens Sapient, which is the group I hope we all strive to be included in. (Human capable of thought, who thinks, for those whose latin might be a little neglected)

  • Norm Fishler May 22, 2020, 1:17 pm

    Hey! This is a capitalistic country! If you want some of your rights back, you’re just going to have to buy them.

    • Winston May 23, 2020, 11:49 am

      Correct answer! GOP, Inc. has always for sale, and that is why real opposition to the Ivy League Boston-NYC-Wash., DC Bolsheviks and lab coat tyrant Tony Fauci is so pathetic.

  • Evan May 22, 2020, 11:12 am

    I want to see the 4473 and NICS scrapped entirely. Nobody should need government permission to exercise a basic right.

  • frank May 22, 2020, 9:58 am

    White? Black? yellow? Red? what about Sepia Tone?

  • Shane May 22, 2020, 9:20 am

    And in other ATF news, The ATF receives your form 1 application for a suppressor, cashes your tax stamp check, puts said form in a closet for 9.5 months. Then retrieves your form (After it’s been properly aged to perfection), spends five minutes on your background check before sending it out approved.

    • JR May 22, 2020, 1:56 pm

      9.5 months? I wish. Second stamp. 11 months first time through and it was “lost” so I had to submit it again. Oh yeah, check cashed the first time but no refund. Now, it’s been over a year for the second time through. Check was cashed over a year ago. Maybe by the end of summer? My first stamp took ten months and then I guess it sat in box somewhere because when I got it in August, it had been signed in March.

  • Singleshotcajun May 22, 2020, 8:32 am

    There was a rumor that under gender the choice would be Male,Female, Non Binary.

    • No1hunter May 22, 2020, 9:21 am

      LOL – Liberals hate guns and are the only ones that can’t figure out what sex they are!

  • Rick May 22, 2020, 5:39 am

    Whew! Good thing these changes were made, it’ll make all the difference!! And yet, not one f**k was given by any criminals anywhere in the U.S.A.

    • Leonard May 22, 2020, 9:39 am

      The good news is, now illegal aliens will be able to read the form 4473…

      • Bob Billingsly May 22, 2020, 7:37 pm

        Ahhh diversity. Ain’t it grand? Thank goodness for our infinitely wise, overlords who foist it on us.

      • Am zermeno May 23, 2020, 4:20 am

        Yeah WTF are the forms in Espanol ?

  • Pat Riot May 22, 2020, 5:22 am

    4473…yet another infringement upon our God-given RIght to Bear Arms.

    • Gentle Ben May 22, 2020, 9:34 am

      80% firearms are proof God Loves us

      Benjamin Franklin, 2020

  • SuperG May 21, 2020, 9:36 am

    How come it doesn’t read “White or Euro-American”, yet I see “Black or African-American”? I want fair balance.

    • bob May 22, 2020, 9:25 am

      You want fair? Get a lawyer. Seriously you have a point.

    • Zupglick May 22, 2020, 9:44 am

      Just check all the boxes.

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