Publications

What’s In This Issue: New Chief, EIPB; Importation and Manufacture of Small Arms Ammunition and Components; Importation of Articles Pyrotechnic Marked as Display Fireworks; Indoor Storage in Residences/Dwellings; Open letter – Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems; Distance Requirements for Ammonium Nitrate Products; Black Powder Exemption Reminder; Less Lethal Munitions Marking Requirements; ATF Ruling 2011-3 Reminder; Government Exemptions; Storage at Correctional Facilities; Q&As; Receiving ATF Website Update Notices

Published/Revised: June 14, 2023

What's In This Issue: What is a Straw Purchase; Silencer Markings and Registration Requirements; Changes to ATF Form 4473; State of Residence and Identification; NICS Alternative Permits and Age Restrictions;  Medical Marijuana and CBD Products; Private Party Sales; Internet Sales; Firearm Raffles; Firearm Registry; Variance Requests and the Approval Process; Special Occupational Tax Requirement – Business Locations; Reminders – Renewals / RPs / FFLC Address / AFMER ; and NFA Forms Processing Times

Published/Revised: June 29, 2021

What's In This Issue: "Straw Purchases" of Firearms; Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax - History of the Pittman-Robertson Act; Payment of Excise Taxes by Gunsmiths; Registration for Tax-Free Sales; Customer's Tax Liability for Reloaded Ammunition; California - Law Change Advisory; Transfer or Duplication of Serial Numbers on National Firearms Act Firearms; Markings on Firearms; Storage of NFA Firearms; Reminder to NFA Weapons Licensees; Sales of Firearms to Law Enforcement Officers; ATF Hotline; ATF Western Region Reorganization; Supreme Court Rules on Thompson/Center Arms Case; Request for Assistance - New Castle Indiana Police Department

Published/Revised: December 31, 1992

What's In This Issue: Manufacturer's Annual Report - Form 4483 A; Change of Address; Importation of Arms from Certain Countries; Firearms and Explosives Division Personnel Changes; Extension of Term on Import Permits; Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax; Firearms Sales to Canadian Citizens; Manufacture of "Any Other Weapon" Firearms; Renewal of Your License; List of Armor Piercing Ammunition; Interstate Transportation of Personally Owned Firearms

Published/Revised: December 31, 1992

What's In This Issue: Streamlined Application Process; New Publications; New Faces; Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act Temporary Regulations; Firearms Theft; Restraining Orders; Law Enforcement Sales; Before You Move; Final Brady Regulations; Multiple Sales Reports; No Import Permits to ARMSCOR; Licensing Telephone; Change in Excise Tax Deposits; Going Out of Business; Restoration of Federal Firearms Privileges; The Net; Industry Meetings; Shot Show

Published/Revised: September 29, 1995

What's In This Issue: Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act; The Net; New Faces; Address Changes; Improving Firearms Security; Fingerprints; Letters of Authorization; Classification of Gas/Flare Guns With Anti-Personnel Ammunition as Destructive Devices; Processing Applications and Notices Associated With National Firearms Act Weapons Transactions; Multiple Sale Form; ATF Distribution Center; Gun Shows

Published/Revised: August 30, 1996

What's In This Issue: Legislative Issues; New Residency Requirements for Purchasers; Assault Weapon Receivers; Governmental Exemption to Semiautomatic Assault Weapon Ban; Meet the New Customer Service Specialist; Going Out of Business; Wallet Guns; ATF's Stolen Firearms Program

Published/Revised: August 29, 1997

What's In This Issue: National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS); New Firearms Transaction Record; Reporting Multiple Sales or Other Dispositions of Pistols and Revolvers; Age Restriction Reminder; Resolution of Modern Muzzle Loading Court Case; Firearms Sales to Foreign Nationals; National Firearms Act Information; Limited to Use as Sales Sample; Importing Information; Importation of Firearms for Display at Industry Trade Shows; FFL or Interstate Theft Procedures and Information; FFL Concerns and Alerts

Published/Revised: August 31, 1998

What's In This Issue: ATF Distribution Center; Canadian Firearms Issues; NICS and Returned Firearms Issues; Age Restrictions on Firearms Transactions; Modern Muzzleloading Issues; Secure Gun Storage Devices Amendment; Nonresident Alien Prohibited Person Category; Relief of Disability Information; Gun Shows and Events; Sales of Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Devices to Campus Police Departments; Sales of Semiautomatic Assault Weapons to Law Enforcement Officers; Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Markings; Licensees Who Discontinue Business; Licensee Address and Mail Delivery Issues

Published/Revised: February 28, 1999

What's In This Issue: National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act; NICS Enrollment by Licencees; ATF Form 4473 Completion and NICS Checks; Sales to Law Enforcement Officers; Required Identification Document; ATF Form 4473 Completion Errors and NICS; NICS and the 3-Day Wait; NICS and Potential "Straw Transactions"; NICS and the Collectors of Curio and Relic Firearms; Licensee Fines, Suspension, and/or Revocation for NICS Violations; Special Notices

Published/Revised: September 30, 1999

What's In This Issue: Transfers to Aliens in a Nonimmigrant Status; New Address for Out of Business Records Center; Computerized Acquisition and Disposition Records; Auctioning Firearms; Corporate Mergers Significantly Impact Status of Federal Licenses; Transfers of National Firearms Act Firearms in Decedent's Estates; Importation of Certain Frames, Receivers and Barrels; Questions to the Editor; FBI/NICS News

Published/Revised: May 31, 2001

What's In This Issue: INS-Issued Alien Numbers and Admission Numbers; Change of Address Requires Amended License; "Contiguous State"; Distribution of Explosive Pest Control Devices at Gun Shows; Questions to the Editor; NICS Denials of Pawn Redemptions; Transfers to Aliens Under a Nonimmigrant Visa; Recording Firearms Serial Numbers; Russian Air Guns and Dummy Guns Manufactured with Prohibited Firearm Component Parts and/or Firearm Receivers; Providing Copies of ATF Form 4473 As Part of Coupon/Rebate Offers; Electronic Versions of ATF Form 4473; Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Information; and more. 

Published/Revised: December 30, 2002

What's In This Issue: Attorney General Ashcroft Appoints Carl J. Truscott as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; New Tennessee "Certificate for Driving" is Not an Acceptable Identification Document; Contiguous State - Part 2; Sales to Military Personnel Residency Verification; FFL EZ Check System; Retention Period for Importer and Manufacturer Records; Transportation of Firearms; and more. 

Published/Revised: August 30, 2004

What's In This Issue: Certified Faxed Copies of Licenses; Native American Identification Cards; How to Report the Theft or Loss of a Firearm; Teen Gets Life in Prison in Murder of Inkster Gun Dealer; Five Indicted on Trafficking and Drug Charges; Dealers in Black Powder; Internet Sales of Firearms; and Non-Immigrant Aliens and Alternative

Published/Revised: August 30, 2005

What's In This Issue: Information on New ATF Form 4473; Sales of Firearms to Licensed Collectors of Curios and Relics; NICS e-Check Transfer Process; Semiautomatic Assault Weapon (SAW) BAN Questions and Answers; 2005 President's Day Weekend 24-Hour Outage; Muzzle Loading Firearms; Providing a Perspective Transferee the NICS Transaction Number; and more. 

Published/Revised: February 28, 2005

What's In This Issue: Revised ATF Form 4473; Child Safety Lock Act of 2005; New Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide; Importation of Dual Use Firearms Barrels; License Renewal Applications; New ATF Program Impacts the Nation's Violent Crime Rates; Responsible Persons Listed on the Federal Firearms License; Reporting Theft or Loss of Firearms; Online Learning Theater Available to FFLs; Questions and Answers

Published/Revised: March 30, 2006

What's In This Issue: Federal Firearms License Enhancements; Scanned or Emailed Copies of Federal Firearms Licenses; New Email Service Available to Federal Firearms Licensees; Changes and Improvements to FFL eZ Check; Requirements of Pawn Dealers Performing a Pre-Pawn NICS Check; ATF Requirement to Update Licensee Contact Information; Violent Crime Impact Teams Stop Criminals From Unlawfully Engaging in the Business of Dealing in Firearms; Use of Trade Names in Conducting Internet Sales of Firearms; Results from FY05 Firearms Compliance Inspections; ATF Form 4473 Completion and NICS Checks

Published/Revised: January 30, 2007

What's In This Issue: Aliens Buying Ammunition; Sales of Firearms to Licensed Collectors; Tribal Identification Does Not Meet Brady Law Requirements; Change in Business Structure That Requires a New License; Transfer of a National Firearms Act Firearm to a Corporation or Other Legal Entity; Clarification on Multiple Sales Reports; Nonlicensee State- to-State Transfer; Customer Service Enhancements at the Federal Firearms Licensing Center; Aliens Buying Firearms: A Four-Step Guide Following the Four Steps and Know the Exceptions; Providing Copies of Federal Licensees to Unlicensed Persons; FFL Newsletter Abbreviations; Availability of ATF Publication 3312.8 Personal Firearms Record; Achieving Compliance with the Gun Control Act

Published/Revised: November 28, 2008

What's In This Issue: Protecting America; ATF Strives to Improve Customer Service Through Online Notification; Improving Firearms Security; Here Are Some Reminders for Completing ATF Form 4473; FFL Newsletter Questions; Clarification on Submission of Multiple Handgun Sale Forms; ATF Encourages Support of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC); Pistol Grips and Shotguns; NFA Forms and Their Use

Published/Revised: November 30, 2009

What's In This Issue: New Appointments in Enforcement Programs and Services–Assistant Director and Deputy Assistant Director; Valid Identification Document; State Firearms Freedom Acts; Gun Show Guidelines; ATF Form 6 Import Applications; eTrace Claims of Illegal Gun Owner Registration; Internet Sales

Published/Revised: June 30, 2010

What's In This Issue: SHOT Show 2011; Presentations; Important Notice to Dealers and Other Participants at This Gun Show, ATF I 5300.23a; Hunting Licenses Used as Government Identification; ATF Rulings Discussed at the SHOT Show; FFL eZ Check: Collectors; Changes in Legal Entity; Special Characters in Serial Numbers; Purchase of Firearms by Organizations; Sole Proprietors and Logging Personal Firearms In/Out of the A&D Records; National Firearms Act: Restrictions Stamped on an NFA Form; Combination Firearms; Small Arms Ammunition; Outcome from the SHOT Show; and more. 

Published/Revised: February 28, 2011

What's In This Issue: Adjudicated “Mentally Defective”; Prohibited Persons and Restoration of Gun Rights; Serial Numbers; FBI Flyer: Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activities Related to Firearms Shops and Ranges; Marking of Conversion Devices by Manufacturers; Prohibition on Obliterating, Removing or Changing the Markings on an NFA Firearm; Address for Reports of Multiple Sale or Other Disposition of Pistols and Revolvers Address; Transferring Firearms from One A&D Record to Another; C&R Licensees: Out-of-Business Requirements; Are You Moving; Most Recent Open Letters; On-Site Responsible Persons; Guidance to FFLs Affected by Flooding and Other Natural Disasters; Looking for Past Newsletters; FBI/NICS News

Published/Revised: September 30, 2011

What’s in This Issue: Customer Service Standards; SHOT Show 2012; Multiple Trade Name Policy; Hunting Licenses Issued by Retailers; Binary Exploding Targets; Completion of Section A of ATF Form 4473; Out-of-State Driver’s License Used as an Identification Document; REAL ID Act of 2005; Recording Firearms in the Acquisition and Disposition Record; Guide to Requesting Marking Variances; Firearms Commerce in the United States 2011; Looking for Past Newsletters?; FBI NICS Information

Published/Revised: May 31, 2012

What’s in This Issue:  Customer Service Standards; Reminder: Top 10 Frequently Asked Firearms Questions and Answers; Receive Firearms Industry News; Electronic Devices Used to Verify Change of Address; Government Issued Documents Bearing an Incorrect Zip Code; PCS Orders and Military Dependents Purchasing Firearms; Licensed Manufacturer’s Registration; Requirement with the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Control (DDTC); Firearms Lost or Stolen from Interstate Shipments; Guidance to FFLs Affected by Flooding and Other Natural Disasters; Ethnicity and Race on the ATF Form 4473; Firearms Shipments via Common or Contract Carrier; Out-of-Business Procedures; Out-of-Business with Succession; Residence as a Licensed Business Premises; New Move in EPS; Who to Contact with your Firearms Related Questions; FBI NICS news

Published/Revised: November 30, 2012

What’s In This Issue: SHOT Show 2013; ATF Outreach Activities; Best Practices; FBI/NICS News

Published/Revised: March 28, 2013