Prior to transferring a firearm, a federal firearms licensee (FFL) must determine if the unlicensed transferee may lawfully receive the firearm. The FFL must also initiate a background check. Form 4473 is the vehicle by which transferees provide the necessary information for the FFLs to accomplish both statutorily required tasks. This collection is critical to law enforcement, complying with statutes prohibiting certain persons from possessing firearms, facilitating crime gun traces.
ATF is revising information collection (IC) OMB 1140-0020 to include material changes to the form in its entirety and updates to the hourly burden from the previous renewal. These changes have decreased the hourly burden per respondent by consolidating previously multiple transferee sections into one page, reducing the number of blocks, questions, and information to make it easier to read and respond, reorganizing the questions for faster response and easier reading, and limiting the requested information to items required by statute, in addition to allowing respondents to submit copies of their identification documents, rather than transcribing the information onto the form. More specifically, ATF is making the various changes to Form 4473 as part of this revision to make it easier and faster for respondents and licensees to complete the form and align it more closely with the statute and with plain writing requirements. See the notice for a summary of changes.
