As many of our readers know and are intimately experienced with, the process to obtain National Firearms Act (NFA) firearms and regulated items can be a royal pain for the customer. As an FFL and knowing many others, we likewise share the same frustrations on delays, lack of communication, and cumbersome hoops to jump through – especially if a correction is needed.

Of Arms and the Law has been pursuing a Freedom of Information Act Request against the United States which recently won a partial motion for summary judgment. As part of the documents released was a survey of IOI or Industry Operations Inspectors. IOIs are who conduct the inspections of FFLs for compliance and generally serve as the field eyes and ears of the ATF within the industry.

The survey was relating to the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, which is the national database of NFA items. By the results of the survey (in fairness, dated to 2007), reveal significant accuracy issues of the database. In many cases, the IOIs are not confident in the data offered, which makes inspecting FFLs difficult.

As highlighted by Prince Law, one of the responses to Question 12 (Q12 – How do errors and discrepancies in NFRTR inventory reports affect your ability to carry out compliance inspections?):

“This calls into question the accuracy of the information from the NFRTR, reflects poorly on ATF, and makes it difficult to hold FFLs accountable for correct records when the NFRTR is not held to the same standards. Often, follow-up work is required, but the records are not updated in the NFRTR.”

Having now been through two FFL moves and a few inspections, I personally can attest to this information. The printed sheet was largely out of date, making the inspection more difficult.

The full document is available courtesy Of Arms and the Law.