Rules and Regulations Library

Titlesort ascending Description Category Document Type
ATF Industry Circular 79-4: National Conference on Explosives Control (356 KB)

This circular is issued to inform you that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has scheduled a National Conference on Explosives Control to be held at the Fountain Bay Hotel, in New Orleans, Louisiana, September 25-27, 1979.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 77-20: Duplication of Serial Numbers on Imported Firearms (361 KB)

Importers of Firearms and Destructive Devices: Recently, ATF has noted cases where some importers have adopted the same serial number for more than one firearm. These instances of duplication have generally occurred when firearms are received from more than one source.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 77-11: Theft or Loss of Explosives (475 KB)

This circular is to inform those involved in the manufacture, distribution, storage or use of explosives that ATF Ruling77-13, which deals with reporting theft or loss of explosive materials, was published in the Alcohol, Tobacco and Fireanns Bulletin for May 1977.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 76-3: Explosives Security (579 KB)

Federal explosives licensees and permittees, and others concerned:  On December 29, 1975, a bomb-blast ripped through New York's LaGuardia airport, killing 11 persons and injuring some 15 others. This tragic incident is but the latest in an alarming upward spiral of bombings that have occurred in cities, suburban communities, small towns and rural areas across America in recent years.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 75-9: Recodification (619 KB)

This circular is to advise industry members and others concerned that, effective April 15, 1975, Bureau regulations formerly codified as 26 CFR Parts 170 through 299 (Subchapter E--Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Excise Taxes) have been recodified into the Bureau's reserved Title 27 CFR Parts 170 through 299 (Subchapter M-Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Excise Taxes). This recodification merely relocates the regulations and makes no technical changes in requirements.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 75-8: Multiple Sales of Pistols (3797 KB)

The purpose of this circular is to inform you of the specific provisions of revised regulations that require a Federal firearms licensee to make a report of a multiple sale or other disposition of pistols and revolvers.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 74-13: Verification of Identity and Status of Firearms Transferees (500 KB)

The purpose of this circular is to remind firearms dealers, manufacturers, and importers of the provisions of 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44, and Subpart F of the Regulations thereunder (26 CFR 178) pertaining to sales or deliveries of firearms or ammunition between licensees.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 72-4: Implementation on the National Environmental Policy Act (137 KB)

This Revenue Procedure sets out procedures for furnishing environmental information concerning proposed activities for which applications, notices, bonds, and formulas (hereinafter referred to as applications) are filed with the Internal Revenue Service, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 72-30: Identification of Personal Firearms at Premises (361 KB)

The purpose of this circular is to urge licensed firearms dealers to identify their personal collection of firearms kept at the business premises.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 2003-2: Establishing the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (54 KB)

The purpose of this industry circular is to advise firearms and ammunition excise taxpayers that effective January 24, 2003, a new Treasury agency, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, will be responsible for administering the firearms and ammunition excise tax laws and regulations currently administered by ATF.

Firearms Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 2003-1: Establishment of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (52 KB)

The purpose of this industry circular is to advise members of the alcohol and tobacco industries that, effective January 24, 2003, a new Treasury agency, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), will be responsible for administering the alcohol and tobacco laws noted below and implementing regulations currently administered by ATF.

Alcohol & Tobacco Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 2000-4: Sale Of Certain Tobacco Products And Cigarette Papers And Tubes On Or After February 7, 2001 (34 KB)

This industry circular warns businesses about selling or holding for sale tobacco products and cigarette papers or tubes manufactured in the United States and labeled for exportation. On or after February 7, 2001, if you sell or hold for sale such products for domestic consumption, you may incur civil and criminal penalties.

Resource Center Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 1999-2: Unlawful Transportation, Shipment or Sale of Cigarettes (249 KB)

This circular reminds all persons of the federal law (and penalties) applying to the shipments, sale or possession of cigarettes and to the domestic sales of cigarettes marked for export. Additionally, this circular addresses the sale of cigarettes on Native American tribal reservations.

Alcohol & Tobacco Industry Circular
ATF Industry Circular 1985-2: Importation of National Firearms Act Curio and Relic Firearms (691 KB)

This circular provides information concerning the importation of National Firearms Act (NFA) firearms for use as a sample for sales to law enforcement agencies when such firearms have been determined to be curios or relics.

Firearms Industry Circular
ATF EIB NPRM - Engaged in the Business as a Dealer in Firearms (729 KB)

The Department of Justice (“Department”) proposes amending Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) regulations to implement the provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (“BSCA”), effective June 25, 2022, that broaden the definition of when a person is considered “engaged in the business” as a dealer in firearms other than a gunsmith or pawnbroker.

Rules and Regulations Rulemaking
ATF Business Premises Guidance Letter 4-10-2020 (272 KB)

Letter to all federal firearms licensees (FFLs) in response to questions from industry members regarding the legality of firearm sales and deliveries exterior to the brick-and-mortar structure at which the firearms business is licensed, in light of the March 13, 2020, declaration of a national emergency concerning the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the Department of Homeland Security’s subsequent classification of firearms businesses as essential.

Firearms Open Letter
ATF 20P (221 KB) Importation of Defense Articles and Defense Services-U.S. Munitions Import Lists (2011R-20P) - The Department of Justice is amending Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regulations to remove the cross reference to the regulatory United States Munitions List (USML) of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) that appears at 27 CFR 447.21; to clarify that the Attorney General exercises delegated authority pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and Executive Order 13637 to designate defense articles and defense services as part of the statutory  SML for purposes of permanent import controls, regardless of whether the Secretary of State controls such defense articles or defense services for purposes of export and temporary import; and to clarify that defense articles and defense services controlled pursuant to the Attorney General’s delegated AECA authority are part of the statutory USML (along with those that are controlled for export and temporary import by the Secretary of State), but that the list of defense articles and defense services controlled by the Attorney General is labeled the USMIL to distinguish it from the list of defense articles and defense services in the ITAR that are controlled by the Secretary of State.
 
Rules and Regulations Rulemaking
Armor Piercing Ammunition (98 KB)

To protect the lives and safety of law enforcement officers from the threat posed by ammunition capable of penetrating a protective vest when fired from a handgun, the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), as amended, prohibits the import, manufacture, and distribution of "armor piercing ammunition" as defined by the statute. Interpreting the meaning of this statutory language, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has developed a framework that will apply to requests seeking a determination that certain projectiles qualify for this "sporting purpose" exemption.

Firearms General Notice
Arkansas-Oct1998-Open Letter-Permanent Provisions of the Brady Law (893 KB) The purpose of this letter is to advise Federal firearms licensees in Arkansas of their responsibilities under the permanent provisions of the Brady law. Firearms Open Letter
Arizona-Oct1998-Open Letter-Permanent Provisions of the Brady Law (659 KB) The purpose of this letter is to advise Federal firearms licensees in Arizona of their responsibilities under the permanent provisions of the Brady law. Firearms Open Letter
American Samoa-Oct1998-Open Letter-Permanent Provisions of the Brady Law (705 KB) The purpose of this letter is to advise Federal firearms licensees in American Samoa of their responsibilities under the permanent provisions of the Brady law. Firearms Open Letter
Amended Definition of Adjudicated as a Mental Defective and Committed to a Mental Institution (2010R-21P) (65 KB)

The Department of Justice proposes amending Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regulations to clarify definitions of two categories of persons who are prohibited from receiving, possessing, shipping, or transporting firearms under the Gun Control Act of 1968. The proposed rule would clarify that the statutory term ‘‘adjudicated as a mental defective’’ includes persons who are found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, lack of mental responsibility, or insanity, and that the term includes persons found guilty but mentally ill.

Firearms Rulemaking
All States' Attorney General-May2007-Open Letter-Adjudicated as a Mental Defective (108 KB)
This open letter is to all States' Attorney General and focuses on working with each State in taking steps to identify person who are prohibited from possessing firearms as a result of their mental health history.
Firearms Open Letter
All NC FFLs-Open Letter- Aug 2023-Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act (188 KB)

The purpose of this Open Letter is to notify you of an important change to the procedure you may follow to comply with the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act (Brady Act), codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(t), when transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person. Specifically, the North Carolina pistol purchase permit may no longer be used as an alternative to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
check requirement.

Firearms Open Letter
All FFLs-September 2022-Impact of Final Rule 2021-05F on Partially Complete AR-15/M-16 Type Receivers (1037 KB)

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is issuing this open letter to further assist the firearms industry and the public in understanding whether a “partially complete, disassembled, or nonfunctional” receiver of an AR-15/M-16 variant weapon has reached a stage of manufacture such that it “may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted” to a functional receiver, and is therefore classified as a “frame or receiver” or “firearm” in accordance with the final rule titled “Definition of ‘Frame or Receiver’ and Identification of Firearms (Final Rule 2021R-05F), which became effective August 24, 2022.

Firearms Open Letter
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