NEW ATF F 4473

MUST be used as of April 1, 2023

ATF issued the latest version of Form 4473, Firearms Transaction Record. The newest version was released earlier this year, but its use was not mandated by ATF until April 1, 2023. Some of you may already be using it, and that is great. Others may be holding out until the bitter end, and that is ok as well, but regardless of which of these camps you fall into, as of April 1, 2023 – yes, that is this coming Saturday, you must use it. If this weren’t true, it would be an epic April Fool’s joke! But it is happening!

The latest version of the 4473 is indicated in the bottom right corner of each page of the 4473 itself and will state: Revised December 2022.

NOTE: The “old” version that will be obsolete and cannot be used as of April 1 will state that it is revised May 2020.

Many of you are also using e4473 software to complete 4473s in your shops. If you have not already, now would be a great time to check and see if your provider has updated the application to the newest version. And, if they haven’t, get on the phone and make sure that they will have it updated no later than April 1, 2023. If, for some reason, that doesn’t happen, you will need to have a plan B for completing the 4473 in your store on April 1^st. Remember – you are on the compliance hook for using the right 4473, not your software provider, as of this date.

Those of you that have been in the industry know this is a regularly occurring event with the 4473. ATF updates the form every “3-ish” years. However, this time around, ATF is NOT sending a packet of the New Version 4473 to each FFL as they have done in the past. If you are using paper 4473s, you must request the updated 4473 via the ATF warehouse – get those ordered ASAP. If you are ordering them today, as of this writing, you will most likely NOT have them in time for April 1st, and you will need to print blank forms using this link to use on the 1^st of April.

There are changes to the layout of the 4473 with this update that you and your team need to be aware of and be trained on. While they are not as significant as the previous update that completely rearranged the sections and workflow of the 4473, they still exist, and you need to make sure your team knows what to expect. A fillable PDF version of the 4473 can be found here.

As you can see below, one of the changes added two prohibitive questions, and that could cause confusion when reviewing the 4473 for your team.

E.g. Due to the addition of the two new questions in Section B, the questions are now renumbered from 21.d. through 21.n.

Questions 21.n.2 parenthesis at end of questions now reads: (U.S. citizens/nationals leave 21.n.1 and 21n.2. blank).

The sections of the 4473 did not change, so your workflows likely can remain intact without any tweaking. However, as you will see from the below list, there are plenty of updates:

Changes to the New Form

General

Added § to every U.S.C. reference.
Page 1, top right: deleted “serial” from this box. It now reads:
Transferor’s/Seller’s Transaction Number (if any)

Warning Statement

The first sentence of the statement was changed from “The information you provide will be used to determine whether you are prohibited by Federal or State law from receiving a firearm” to “The information you provide will be used to determine whether you are prohibited by Federal or State law from receiving a firearm, or whether Federal or State law prohibits the sale or disposition of a firearm to you”.
The second sentence of the statement was changed from “Certain violations of the Gun Control Act, 18 U.S.C. 921 et. seq., are punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or up to a $250,000 fine” to “Certain violations of the Gun Control Act, 18 U.S.C. 921 et. seq., are punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment and/or up to a $250,000 fine”.

Section A

Question 1 Manufacturer and Importer:

“Privately Made Firearm (PMF)” added to item 1, Section A. It now reads: Manufacturer and Importer (if any), or Privately made firearm (PMF)(If the Manufacturer and Importer are different, include both.)

Question 8 Private Party Transfers:

“if any” added after Check. Question 8 now reads: Check if any part of this transaction is to facilitate a private party transfer.

Section B

Question 10 Current State of Residence and Address:

Question 10: Added “Reside in City Limits? []Yes [] No []Unknown”.

Question 21.a Actual Transferee/Buyer:

The first sentence of Question 21a. has been changed from “Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form and any continuation sheet(s) (ATF Form 5300.9A)?” to “Are you the actual transferee/buyer of all of the firearm(s) listed on this form and any continuation sheet(s) (ATF Form 5300.9A)?

New Question 21.b:

Do you intend to purchase or acquire any firearm listed on this form and any continuation sheet(s), or ammunition, for sale or other disposition to any person described in questions 21(c)-(m), or to a person described in question 21.n.1 who does not fall within a nonimmigrant alien exception?

To clarify: Question 21b is asking the transferee (customer) if they intend to sell or distribute any of the firearms, they are acquiring, to a person prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms. The prohibited categories are listed in questions 21(c) – (m) and 21.n.1 (unless that person falls within a nonimmigrant exception).

New Question 21.c:

Do you intend to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm listed on this form and any continuation sheet(s) or ammunition in furtherance of any felony or other offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of more than one year, a Federal crime of terrorism, or a drug trafficking offense?

Due to the addition of the two new questions in Section B, the questions are now renumbered from 21.d. through 21.n.

Questions 21.n.2 parenthesis at end of questions now reads: (U.S. citizens/nationals leave 21.n.1 and 21n.2. blank).

The last sentence of the certification statement has been changed from “I further understand that the repetitive purchase of firearms for the purpose of resale for livelihood and profit without a Federal firearms license is a violation of Federal law” to “I further understand that the repetitive purchase of firearms for the purpose of resale to predominantly earn a profit without a Federal firearms license is a violation of Federal law”.

Section C

Question 25 Qualifying Gun Show or Event:

Added the address, county and zip code where the gun show takes place.

Question 26.b Supplemental Government Issued Documentation

Changed “if identification document does not show current residence address or full legal name” to “if identification document does not show current residence address or legal name”

Question 26.c Official Military Orders Establishing Permanent Change of Station (PCS)

Changed PCS Base/City and State” to PCS Base, City and State

Question 26.d Exception to the Nonimmigrant Alien Prohibition:

This question now refers to item 21.n.2. NOT 21.l.2.

Added a header before NICS questions begin: Notice: If transferee/buyer is under 21, a waiting period of up to 10 days may apply where notification from NICS is received within 3 business days to further investigate a possible disqualifying juvenile record. A NICS check is only valid for 30 calendar days from the date recorded in question 27a.

Question 27.c Response initially provided by NICS

Next to the delayed check box a new check box has been added: The firearm(s) may be transferred on ____ if time period is not extended by NICS or the appropriate State agency, and State law allows (optional)

Question 27.d NICS Delayed Response. Added blocks for the following statements:

Notice of additional delay of transferee under 21 years of age received on _______ (date) and may be transferred on ____________ (date).
No response was provided within 10 business days after additional delay for transferee/buyer under 21 years of age.

Questions 27.f. and 27.g. have been removed.

Section E

Transferor Certification
Added the following: If this transaction required a NICS check, I further certify that this firearm(s) transfer is within 30 days from the date of the initial contact with NICS.

These apply to the form itself that you and your customer fill out. ATF is also updating the language listed in the Notices, Instructions, and Definitions. To review those updates as well as those listed above, click this link.

The deadline for FFLs to use the new 4473 is a few days away. You still have time to familiarize yourself with the new form and get a plan in place to educate your team on the updates. Whatever you do to get ready for this change, the most important thing you need to do is make sure that when you open your business on April 1^st, 2023, you are using the latest revision of ATF F 4473.

At 4473 Cloud, we have already updated our PDF reader in the software to read the new 4473 and populate the data required for manual uploads. As always, we strive to be ahead of the curve in keeping our ATF-compliant software up to date. If you are still using paper 4473s or printing your e4473 once it is complete, there is no better time than now, with the change in format of the 4473, to upgrade your operations and start saving money by storing your 4473s digitally in 4473 Cloud.

With 4473 Cloud, there are no messy IT upgrades or software installments. It’s as simple as signing up here. Your 4473 Cloud account will be created within minutes, and you can start storing 4473s digitally today.