Firearms Questions and Answers

An alien number is a unique 7, 8, or 9 digit number assigned to a noncitizen by the Department of Homeland Security upon the creation of a file.

An admission number is the number on a CBP Form I–94 or CBP Form I–94W, the arrival/departure form Customs and Border Protection (CBP) gives most nonimmigrant aliens when they arrive in the United States. While most nonimmigrant aliens will automatically receive an admission number when they enter the United States, Canadians will not. However, if a Canadian asks a CBP official for an admission number when they enter the United States, they will be given an admission number.

No. A nonimmigrant alien who is lawfully admitted to the United States without a visa (e.g. Visa Waiver Program), may acquire or possess a firearm in the United States.

A nonimmigrant alien without residency in any state may not purchase and take possession of a firearm. A nonimmigrant alien may only purchase a firearm through a licensee where the licensee arranges to have the firearm directly exported. A nonimmigrant alien who falls within an exception may, however, purchase and take possession of ammunition.

A nonimmigrant alien who has established residency in a state may purchase and take possession of a firearm from an unlicensed person, provided the buyer and seller are residents of the same state, and no other state or local law prohibits the transaction. A nonimmigrant alien with residency in a state may purchase a firearm from a licensee, provided the sale complies with all applicable laws and regulations.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(9); 27 CFR 478.29a]

Yes. An individual may apply to ATF for a waiver.

[18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5)(B) and 922(y)(3); 27 CFR 478.11 and 478.32]

A nonimmigrant alien is an alien in the United States in a nonimmigrant classification as defined by section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)). Generally, "nonimmigrant aliens" are tourists, students, business travelers and temporary workers who enter the U.S. for fixed periods of time; they are lawfully admitted aliens who are not lawful permanent residents.

[27 CFR 478.11]

Yes. A licensed pawnbroker may conduct a NICS background check on a person at the time the person offers to pawn a firearm. If NICS advises the pawnbroker that receipt or possession of the firearm by the person attempting to pawn the firearm would violate the law, the pawnbroker must advise local law enforcement within 48 hours after receipt of the information.

A pawnbroker who contacts NICS about a person prior to accepting the person’s firearm in pawn must still conduct a NICS background check at the time of redemption.

[Public Law 105–277, enacted on October 21, 1998]

Yes. Licensed pawnbrokers are required to comply with written notification to unlicensed individuals upon delivery of a handgun.

A pawnbroker who transfers handguns to nonlicensees must also comply with the sign posting requirement.

[27 CFR 478.103]

Yes. Like other licensees, a pawnbroker cannot lawfully return a firearm to a person who is, due to age or other disability, ineligible to receive or possess firearms.

[18 U.S.C. 922(d) and 922(b)(1); 27 CFR 478.99]

If the pawnbroker and nonlicensee are residents of the same state, the pawnbroker may return a handgun, long gun, or other firearm to either the person who pawned it or, where state and/or local law allows, a holder of the pawn ticket* who resides in the pawnbroker’s state.

If the pawnbroker and nonlicensee are not residents of the same state:

• The pawnbroker may return a firearm to the person who pawned it.
• The pawnbroker may transfer a rifle or shotgun to the holder of a pawn ticket* who did not pawn it, provided the transaction complies with the conditions of sale in both the state where the pawnbroker is licensed and the state where the pawn ticket holder resides.

* NOTE: The holder of the pawn ticket may acquire a firearm only if they are the actual “transferee/buyer” of the firearm. The holder of a pawn ticket may not acquire a firearm on behalf of another person.

[18 U.S.C. 922(a)(2), 922(a)(3) and 922(b)(3)]

The redemption of a pawned firearm is a "disposition" subject to all the recordkeeping requirements under the Gun Control Act (GCA).

1. Dispositions must be properly entered in the pawnbroker’s acquisition and disposition record,
2. An ATF Form 4473 must be executed, and
3. A NICS background check completed in connection with the redemption.

[18 U.S.C. 922(t), 923(g); 27 CFR 478.102, 478.124 and 478.125]

Yes. A licensee may log business firearms out of the acquisition and disposition (A&D) record as a personal firearm.

If that firearm is sold within a year of having been transferred to the licensee’s personal collection, the licensee must re–enter the firearm in the business A&D record, and sell or transfer the firearm as business inventory, including completing an ATF Form 4473 and a NICS background check if required.

If, however, the firearm is held in the personal collection of the licensee for more than one year, the firearm may be sold as the licensee’s personal firearm. Although no ATF Form 4473 or NICS background check is required, the licensee must record the disposition of the personal firearm in a personal disposition record.

[18 U.S.C. 923(c); 27 CFR 478.125a]

Firearms acquired by a licensee prior to obtaining a license must be recorded as business inventory in the acquisition and disposition (A&D) record if the licensee intends to sell the firearm.

All firearms acquired after obtaining a firearms license must be recorded as an acquisition in the A&D record as business inventory.

[18 U.S.C. 923(c); 27 CFR 478.125a]

No. The law presumes that any firearm transferred to a personal collection for the purpose of willfully evading the restrictions placed upon licensees remains business inventory.

[18 U.S.C. 923(c)]

Yes; however, such firearms must be kept segregated from the licensee’s business inventory. A presumption exists that all firearms on a licensee’s business premises are for sale and must be entered in the licensee’s bound book. Licensees should appropriately identify or tag personal firearms as “not for sale.”

Yes. For example, NFA Division is reallocating resources to prioritize processing applications that have received a “proceed” from FBI-NICS in response to the required background check.

Receiver blanks that do not meet the definition of a "firearm" are not subject to regulation under the Gun Control Act (GCA). ATF has long held that items such as receiver blanks, "castings" or "machined bodies" in which the fire-control cavity area is completely solid and un-machined have not reached the "stage of manufacture" which would result in the classification of a firearm according to the GCA.

The following three photos are provided as examples. The first receiver has a solid, un-machined fire-control cavity area with no holes or dimples for the selector, trigger, or hammer pins. It does not meet the GCA definition of a firearm. The second receiver, shown from the top, likewise has a solid, un-machined fire-control cavity area. It does not meet the GCA definition of a firearm. The third receiver has a partially machined fire-control cavity and does meet the GCA definition of a firearm.

Yes. In some cases, items being marketed as “unfinished” or “80%” receivers do actually meet the definition of a “firearm” as defined in the Gun Control Act (GCA).

If you are unsure about whether an item you are planning to buy or sell is considered a firearm under the GCA, please contact ATF’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) by email at fire_tech@atf.gov or by phone at 304-616-4300.

The Gun Control Act (GCA) does not impose restrictions on receiver blanks that do not meet the definition of a “firearm.”

Please note that some items marketed as non-firearm "unfinished" or "80%" receivers are actually considered firearms.

ATF is able to successfully trace most crime guns to the first retail purchaser. ATF starts with the manufacturer and goes through the entire chain of distribution to find who first bought the firearm from a licensed dealer.

Because receiver blanks do not have markings or serial numbers, when firearms made from such receiver blanks are found at a crime scene, it is usually not possible to trace the firearm or determine its history, which hinders crime gun investigations and jeopardizes public safety.

Yes. Firearms that began as receiver blanks have been recovered after shooting incidents, from gang members, and from prohibited people after they have been used to commit crimes.

No. However, some private vendors may have them available for purchase.

A licensee must record the type of firearm as a “frame” or “receiver” (as applicable) in the acquisition and disposition (A&D) record and on the ATF Form 4473. The licensee must also include in any record the make, model, and serial number of the frame or receiver.

As a frame or receiver is neither a shotgun nor a rifle, a licensee is prohibited from selling or delivering a frame or receiver to any individual the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than 21 years of age.

[18 U.S.C. 922(b)(5), 27 CFR 478.11]