Our friends at the National Shooting Sports Foundation have just announced that a new Form 4473 is available for preorder. The Firearms Transaction Record, or Form 4473, is used by Federal Firearm Licensees to record the transfer of firearms between non-licensees (individuals) and includes biographical and background information of the recipient. The new Form 4473 includes seemingly benign changes including export warnings and information on those on military orders. Of note, though is the fact that the information on the firearm being transferred is now in Section A and must be completed before the transferee completes Section B. Available in late July the new form will be required starting November 1, 2020.

Yay, More Admin! New Form 4473 From The ATF Now Available For Preorder

Preorder The New Form 4473 Here: https://www.atf.gov/preorder-revised-4473

The Office of Management and Budget recently approved the revised ATF Form 4473 and associated continuation sheet. All federal firearms licensees (FFLs) must begin using this form on November 1, 2020. After that date, you may no longer use the previous edition (Oct 2016) of the Form 4473 as it will be obsolete.

ATF intends to begin shipping the new form to FFLs in late July 2020. The initial shipment will contain 50 ATF Form 4473s for each FFL. Additionally, to assist FFLs with an efficient transition for use of the revised Form 4473, ATF will be accepting preorders for the new form. Please note you may only order a maximum of 3,000 forms. To place a preorder for the revised Forms 4473 and continuation sheets in both English and Spanish, please fill out the form below.

Your preordered ATF Form 4473s and continuation sheets will be processed and shipped by the ATF Distribution Center beginning in late July 2020. Do not place duplicate preorders with the Distribution Center, as duplicate orders will cause shipment delays.

For additional information or questions, please contact your local ATF office or email FIPB@atf.gov

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 License (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.