Questions and Answers

An individual between 18 and 21 years of age may acquire a handgun from an unlicensed individual who resides in the same state, provided the person acquiring the handgun is not otherwise prohibited from receiving or possessing firearms under federal law. A federal firearms licensee may not, however, sell or deliver a firearm other than a shotgun or rifle to a person the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under 21 years of age.

There may be state or local laws or regulations that govern this type of transaction. Contact the office of your State Attorney General for information on any such requirements.

[18 U.S.C. 922(b)(1)]

The prohibition against unlicensed dealing is a statutory criminal prohibition. ATF’s enforcement authority against unlicensed dealing comes from the law (the Gun Control Act as amended by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act), not from the 2024 rule. The repeal of the rule should have no effect on any ATF trafficking prosecutions. It remains unlawful for a person to “deal” in firearms without a federal firearms license, that is, to intend a pattern of repeated buying and selling motivated predominantly by profit. ATF continues its efforts to identify those operating outside of the law and, working with our partners in the U.S. Attorney’s offices, to bring these individuals to justice.

Yes. The most common reasons attributable to trust processing delays include:

• Failure to submit a responsible person questionnaire and fingerprint cards for each responsible person named on the trust;
• Failure to submit a valid trust, e.g., there is only one person named in the trust who is the settlor, trustee, and beneficiary;
• The settlor identifies a minor as a responsible person to the trust;
• The name of the trust on the NFA application is different than the name of the trust in the trust document; and
• The background check is delayed for one or more individuals identified as responsible persons. For example, if one of three identified responsible person’s background check is delayed by FBI-NICS, then NFA Division cannot process the application until the delayed background check is resolved.