A couple years back I touched on what exactly (in Montana) happens when you fill out the ‘yellow sheet’ 4473 form when you buy a gun. Succinctly, nothing happens. Your name isn’t added to a big .gov file somewhere with a list of what you bought. Doesn’t happen here. (In your state, it may be different.)
But…there is a scenario where .gov does get all that info.
Remember this? Well, a guy came in and bought five of those from me last week. Three on a Monday, and two on a Wednesday. So, he bought more than one handgun within five business days from the same dealer….that gets a special form sent, within 24 hours, to the fedgoons.
It’s called the 3310.4 Report of Multiple Sale or Other Disposition of Pistols and Revolvers form. It asks for the info off the 4473 and also includes the specifics of what was purchased. This form then has to be transmitted to ATFE and your local CLEO within 24 hours. The gal at the sheriff’s office told me they’ve never had anyone come and ask about the forms. ATFE, on the other hand, takes a more pro-active role.
SO, in case you didnt know, next time you feel like buying a six-pack of handguns from one source, try not to do it within five business days of each other. Or, better yet, buy them in a private sale.
This has been a public service announcement.
Is the form something that the buyer knows about or signs off on? I’ve purchased multiple firearms from a single dealer in a week, but I don’t remember any mention of this form.
Its not a form that is filled out for multiple firearms sales, its for multiple handgun sales.
The form requires no input on the part of the customer so the customer may be unaware. If I have someone wanting to buy more than one handgun at a time I always tell them about it.
If memory serves, these were both pistols. Although, one was a Sig MPX, which maybe the dealer decided didn’t “count.”
More likely, he just didn’t fill out the form, or just didn’t tell me about it. This was during a very busy time for gun sellers, and I’m sure I wasn’t his only customer buying multiple pistols.
Back in the clinton admin, this one bit a local kitchentop dealer that I know. He was my goto guy for ordering and an all around good person. One day a pistol turned up in a crime in NYC and shortly thereafter another in VA that he had sold. BATF visited and took a look at his books and yellow sheets. They found he had sold multiple pistols of the same model to an individual and neglected/forgot/didn’t know to fill out the extra form.
Long story short, he gave up his FFL in trade for nothing happening (this was when the clintons were trying to kill the small dealers). He considers himself lucky too.
Heed CZ’s warning; they do follow up on this.
cause the form would have stopped the bad-guys…shit, the feds can’t stop Jihadists even when they are being monitored by the feds and/or feds told by foreign Intel that they are bad-guys.
True. LEOs really aren’t in the business of ‘protecting’ (or preventing) anything. Their role is law enforcement, which is by definition “reactionary”.
It’s not just handguns it’s also, two or more semi-automatic rifles larger than .22 caliber (including .223/5.56 caliber) with the ability to accept a detachable magazine.
https://www.atf.gov/file/61421/download
Thats only within a handful of border states.
As to the point about nothing happening to Form 4473s… There are a few provisos.
I was an FFL for about 17 years. At the start of obamunism, I thought it would be a good idea to load up on some trade wampum (lowers, etc), then give up (not renew) my FFL so as to be less on the grid, moving forward.
So I did. Thing is, when you do that, you must send in your 4473s to the ATF- if they are under 20 years old. That’s the key. 20 years old. None of mine were, so I had to send ’em in. Over 20 years old can be destroyed – closing or not.
Also they wanted my bound book.( In those days, it was a real book. Now software.) I scanned copies of it l, should any disputes pop up.
There were laws about not allowing ATF to transcribe into a database and such. But laws are for little people, aren’t they.
Bottom line: If you filled out a 4473 prior to today’s date in 1997, AND the dealer is still in business — you may be good to go. Otherwise, who knows?
I did cover the out-of-business aspect of the 4473’s being collected.