Federal Form 4473 is a US government form that must be filled out when a person buys a firearm from a Federal Firearm License Holder or gunshop. // A Federal Firearms License, or FFL, is a license that enables an individual or a company to engage in a business that pertains to the production or sale of firearms and firearm ammunition. ...
The Form 4473 contains the name, address, driver license information, NICS background check transaction number, serial number and model of the firearm, and a short federal affidavit stating that the purchaser is eligible to purchase firearms under federal law. Lying on this form is a felony and can be punished by up to five years in prison in addition to fines, even if the transaction is simply denied by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The dealer must keep the Form 4473 for twenty years and is subject to inspection by the BATFE. The dealer also records all information from the form 4473 into his bound-book. A dealer must keep this log the entire time he is in business and is required to surrender the log to the BATFE upon retirement from the firearms business. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE or ATFE) is a law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. ...
In addition, the sale of two or more handgun to a person in a five day period must be reported to ATF on Form 3310.4.
These forms are given the same status as tax returns under the Privacy Act of 1974 and cannot be disclosed to private parties or government officials without a proper warrant. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...
Second, the appropriations bill reinforces existing provisions in federal and local gun laws prohibiting the release of those records that are allowed to be kept on gun owners.
Federal law requires that dealers inform federal law enforcement any time a person purchases two or more handguns in a 5-day period.
The forms may also be inspected as part of annual administrative review of a gun dealer's compliance with record-keeping requirements.
To buy a gun from a licensed dealer, a purchaser of any firearm--handgun or long gun--must read and sign a FederalForm4473, on which the buyer swears under penalty of stiff fines and stringent jail terms that he or she is not prohibited by law from firearms possession.
The Form4473 is filled out before the purchaser takes ownership of his or her firearm from a licensed dealer.
Since it is a Federal felony for a convicted felon or known drug user to possess a firearm, the '68 Act could be used to put every convicted felon or narcotics addict in prison if he or she subsequently possesses a firearm.