This handbook is primarily for the use of persons in the business of importing, manufacturing, and dealing in firearms defined by the National Firearms Act (NFA) or persons intending to go into an NFA firearms business. It should also be helpful to collectors of NFA firearms and other persons having questions about the application of the NFA. 

This circular notifies explosives licensees that ATF Form 5400.3, Transaction Record for Black Powder to be used for antique weapons, is no longer required.

This circular announces the issuance of a  new Treasury Department regulation, Part 180 of Title 26, Code of Federal Regulations, entitled Importation of Arms, Ammunition and Implements of War.

This circular announces an addition of firearms that have been classified as curios and relics during the period January 1985 through March 1986.

What's in This Issue: ATF Personnel Changes; Electronic Storage of ATF Form 4473s; ATF Procedure 2017-1; ATF Form 5; ATF For 4473: Clarification on Disqualifiers Related to Military Service; Electronic Signatures on ATF Forms; NFA Forms Common Errors; ATF FFL Alert System; Replacement Copies of NFA Tax Paid Transfer Forms; FFL Renewals, Updated Form 7 and much more.

This final rule adopts without change temporary regulations published in the Federal Register on July 16, 1996. The temporary rule amended the regulations in 27 CFR part 53 that require exemption certificates or vendee statements in support of certain tax-free sales of firearms and ammunition. As amended by the temporary rule and this final rule, the regulations provide that taxpayers may use a pre-printed document as an exemption certificate or vendee statement, or design their own certificate and statement using specified information. The regulatory amendments are part of the Administration's efforts to reduce regulatory burdens and streamline requirements.

ATF established the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII) in 1996 to focus special agent and inspector resources on reducing youth gun violence. To increase our effectiveness, we resolved to equip our investigators and their State and local counterparts with more facts about how violent youth obtained guns. We asked our colleagues in State and local law enforcement to help us systematically follow the gun used in crime to help identify violent criminals and their illegal suppliers by tracing all crime guns with the National Tracing Center.     

Also known as the "Orange Book," this documentation provides federal explosives law and regulations and reflects changes and developments in response to the Safe Explosives Act of 2002.