ATF Implements instant Form 3 Approvals!!
Originally posted here by The Firearms Blog.
In an actual blessing bestowed upon the National Firearms Act (NFA) community as a whole, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has begun rapid approvals of Form 3 transfers between dealers, distributors and manufacturers. In case you aren’t an NFA process nerd like myself, these non-taxed transactions occur between FFL holders to move registered items that will most likely be sold and transferred to consumers.
So, if this process only involves licensees, why should Shawn Short-Barrel and Susie Silencer care about such mundane news? Because, both Shawn and Susie most likely buy their NFA toys from an out of state dealer, probably requiring a wait for the Form 3 approved transfer. Up until recently, the wait for a for a Form 3 approval had grown to one or two months, adding on to the already painfully long transfer process.
Silencer Shop, who is rumored to move an overwhelming majority of all the total NFA transfers across the country, recently posted images on their Instagram page showing Form 3 approvals coming back within hours of being submitted. Again, although this process only directly effects licensees, the individual buyer will see a benefit in quicker silencer availability from manufacturers and transfers from dealer to dealer. Although Silencer Shop has already streamlined this process with a network of local dealers and electronic form submissions using fingerprint scanners, electronic signatures and a mobile application for photographs.
My local dealer, MAC Tactical, who I Like to mention whenever I get the chance becsuse he facilitates all my TFB review guns, also just had a Form 3 approval in a few hours. Boom – ATF’s eForm system is still alive! (Well, partially anyway.)
This new trend is speeding up transfers for industry members is overdue. However, I am the first in line to applaud the ATF when it comes to streamlining every aspect of the NFA process. So on behalf of all silencer lovers everywhere, thank you.
NOTE: For clarification, the Form 3’s must be submitted through the ATF’s EForms system to take advantage of the quick approvals. Also, the new standard Form 3 approval time is two to three days. Obviously some will be quicker and some slower. In my eyes, two to three days is “instant” compared to the recent past.
