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Firearms Questions and Answers

AFMER - ATF Form 5300.11

Your Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export Report (AFMER) form can be submitted via eForms, ATF's free online filing system. We encourage you to submit this way, as it is the fastest way to report your information.

You can also submit your AFMER form by mail to:

ATF - FFLC
AFMER Program
244 Needy Road
Martinsburg, WV 25405

If you file your Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export Report (AFMER) form using eForms, you will have access to a record of your submission in the system.

If you mail your report, you will not receive confirmation of receipt from ATF.

You may file an amended Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export Report (AFMER) form with ATF at any time. Write the words "Amended Report" across the top of the AFMER form and be sure that you clearly and accurately identify the period for which you are amending your data (item # 7a).

Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export Report (AFMER) data is compiled into an annual statistical profile and released each year on this website's Data and Statistics page.

The final release is deferred by one year. For example, 2015 data was not released until January 2017. Published AFMER data is referenced by academic researchers, industry trade associations, regulatory agencies, the media, private interest groups, and others having an interest in the scope, vitality, and diversity of the U.S. firearms industry.

Additionally, ATF industry operations investigators verify compliance with the AFMER filing requirement and the accuracy of data reported to ATF, when compliance inspections of licensed firearms manufacturers are performed.

 

 

No, the AFMER is not a tax form. It is used for statistical purposes only.

ATF Form 4473

Yes.

[27 CFR 478.21]

No. This information is solicited on an optional basis. However, providing this information will help ensure the lawfulness of the sale and avoid the possibility that the transferee will be incorrectly identified as a felon or other prohibited person.

[27 CFR 478.124]

Form 4473 has included a question on race since it was established in 1968. ATF amended Form 4473 in 2001 to add ethnicity to the race question. In April 2012 to meet the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding the format in which government forms ask about race and ethnicity the two questions were separated. OMB’s standards for race and ethnicity questions require agencies to ask both race and ethnicity in a specific manner.

OMB published guidance to agencies regarding the adoption of these standards in 2000, but permitted ATF to continue using its existing form until 2012, when it required ATF to make changes to the format of the questions during the standard Paperwork Reduction Act approval process. To comply with OMB guidance, question 10 on Form 4473 was divided into 10a (Ethnicity) and 10b (Race); they are not a new requirement that prospective firearms purchasers provide additional information regarding race or ethnicity.

The purpose for requiring prospective purchasers of firearms to identify their racial and ethnic background is to aid law enforcement in accurately tracing firearms found in crimes and better enable Federal firearms licensees to identify the purchaser during the background check portion of a firearms transaction. To collect this identifying information, ATF was required to follow the race and ethnicity standards and format for administrative forms and records established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). These standards were first published by OMB in the Federal Register on October 30, 1997, and became effective on January 1, 2003.

[62 Fed. Reg. 58782 (October 30, 1997)]

ATF Form 4473 must be signed by the person who verified the identity of the buyer.

ATF Forms 4473 are available free of charge from the ATF Distribution Center. Forms may be ordered online at ATF Distribution Center . Please order a quantity of forms estimated for 6 months use.

No. An identification document must contain the name, residence address, date of birth and photograph of the holder. A Social Security card does not, by itself, contain sufficient information to identify a firearms purchaser. However, a purchaser may be identified by any combination of government–issued documents which together establish all of the required information.

[27 CFR 478.11 and 478.124(c)]

No. The ATF Form 4473 is required only for sales or dispositions by a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer.

[18 U.S.C. 923(g); 27 CFR 478.124]

No. However, the “bound book” must reflect the disposition of the firearm from business inventory to personal use. However, if the business is a corporation, and the firearm is being transferred to a corporate officer or director for other than business purposes, then a Form 4473 must be executed.   [27 CFR 478.124 and 478.125a]

No. A Social Security card, alien registration card, or military identification alone does not contain sufficient information to identify a firearms purchaser. However, a purchaser may be identified by any combination of government-issued documents which together establish all of the required information: Name, residence address, date of birth, and photograph of the holder. [27 CFR 478.11 and 478.124(c)]

Part I used for over-the-counter sales must be completed, signed and dated by the buyer prior to delivery of the firearm. Part II (green form) used for intra-state non-over-the-counter sales must be completed, signed and dated in duplicate by the buyer at the time of sale. [27 CFR 478.124(c) and 478.124(f)]

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, federal agencies are required to seek public comment and assess the burden associated with any changes to federal forms, through a process managed by the Office of Management and Budget. Consistent with that process, ATF has not been required to issue nor has it issued any changes to the Form 4473, since April of 2012. When the form was last changed (2012), ATF published the changes in the Federal Register and provided a 60 day comment period for the public to comment on the form, as required under the Paperwork Reduction Act. ATF received no public comments.

To comply with OMB format standards, question 10 on Form 4473 was divided into 10a (Ethnicity) and 10b (Race); these questions are not new requirements. In addition, respondents may check multiple races (e.g., bi-racial, multi-racial) as opposed to just one in question 10b

If the buyer or transferee is unable to read and/or write, the answers (other than the signature) may be written on the form by another person, excluding the seller. Two persons not directly involved in the firearms transaction (excluding, for example, the licensee and employees of the licensee) must sign as witnesses to the buyer’s answers and signature.

[27 CFR 478.21]

If the transferor/seller or the transferee/buyer discovers that an ATF Form 4473 is incomplete or improperly completed after the firearm has been transferred, and the transferor/seller or the transferee/buyer wishes to correct the omission(s) or error(s), photocopy the inaccurate form and make any necessary additions or revisions to the photocopy. The transferor/seller should only make changes to Sections A, C, and E. The transferee/buyer should only make changes to Sections B and D. Whoever made the changes should initial and date the changes. The corrected photocopy should be attached to the original Form 4473 and retained as part of the transferor’s/seller’s permanent records.

[27 CFR 478.21]

Licensees shall retain each Form 4473 until business or licensed activity is discontinued, either on paper, or in an electronic alternate method approved by the Director, at the business premises readily accessible for inspection under this part. Paper forms over 20 years of age may be stored at a separate warehouse, which shall be considered part of the business premises for this purpose and subject to inspection under this part. Forms 4473 shall be retained in the licensee's records as provided in § 478.124(b), provided that Forms 4473 with respect to which a sale, delivery, or transfer did not take place shall be separately retained in alphabetical (by name of transferee) or chronological (by date of transferee's certification) order.

[18 U.S.C. 923(g)(1)(A); 27 CFR 478.129(b)]

No. A licensee is required to obtain an ATF Form 4473 from the transferee who must certify that he or she is not prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm, and whose identity the licensee must verify prior to transfer. A licensee cannot comply with these provisions where a Form 4473 is completed by a person other than the actual transferee.

[18 U.S.C. 923(g); 27 CFR 478.124]

Completed Forms 4473 are retained by the Federal firearms licensee (FFL). ATF does not, and never has, maintained an archive or other information repository on the race or ethnicity of firearm purchasers or licensees, and it has no intention to do so in the future. ATF may inspect individual Forms 4473 containing personally identifying information held by FFLs only for limited regulatory or law enforcement functions-specifically, during inspections, and in the course of investigations (for example, when tracing firearms linked to individual criminal investigations). Similarly, the FFL may use the demographic data to ensure proper identification or facilitate the background check process. There are some limited circumstances – for example when an FFL goes out of business – under which the Forms 4473 or information contained thereon is provided to ATF as required by statute. Even under these limited circumstances, ATF does not aggregate or centralize the demographic information contained on the form.

Yes, per federal regulation, all previous versions of ATF Form 4473 have included demographic or identifying questions, including a question pertaining to race of prospective firearms purchasers. Title 27, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), section 478.124 (formerly 178.124), has required collection of information concerning the race and other identifying information of the transferee on Form 4473 since 1968.

Demographic information can be useful to law enforcement when tracing firearms used in crimes, to ensure the correct identification of an original purchaser and avoid misidentifications. Additionally, during background checks, this information is needed to facilitate proper identification by providing additional information that helps match -- or rule out a match -- between an individual and a potentially prohibiting record. 
 
See 28 CFR 25.7
Last Updated: January 15, 2026

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