Of terrorism.

“Licensees are not required to
record the disposition of “personal
firearms” where the firearm has been
kept in the licensee's Personal
Collection for one year, except in
the bound book, which must show
the name, place of residence and
date of birth of the transferee, or
the Kdentity and Principal and local
places of business of the transferee
it the transferee Is a corporation.

NOTE REGIONAL ADDRESS
CHANGE

The Western Regional Office has
& new address:

221 Main Street
11th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Tele: 415/974-9623

:

LICENSING FUNCTION
MOVES
In the interest of both economy

and faster service, the Firearms & *

Explosives Licensing funétion of
the Southwest Regional ‘Gttice in
Dallas, Texas has been wansfered
fo the Southeast Regional Office
in Atlanta, Georgia effective June 1,
1986,

This change will have no etfect
on licensees. You will continue
to send your applications to the
address listed on the form. in
addition, the Southwest Regional
Office in Dallas will continue to
assist with any inquiries from
licensees and applicants located in
that region.

ATF QUARTERLY BULLETIN |

Official announcements of ATF
tulings are incorporated into the |

ATF Guanerly Bulletin. The Bulletin
contains Information relative to
all areas regulated by ATF. Mem-
bers of the firearms industry
desiring periodic notification ot
Curio & relic determinations, changes

in regulations and statistics relative .
to importation of firearms may |
subscribe to the ATF Quanerly :

Bulletin. Orders should be sent to:

Superintendent of Documents
U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, DC 20402

Subscription Price: $15 per year
($18.75 foreign).

Se
—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_=—>=_=_==__

TRACING MAKES A
DIFFERENCE

There are times when the only
clue at a crime scene Is a discarded
firearm. Was the gun stolen? Who
owns the gun? Did he sell it to
Someone else? Trace the gun and
often police can identify the
suspect.

Tracing begins with a call to .
ATF's National Tracing Center '

from a law enforcement agency.
An ATF tracer immediately Places
a call to the manufacturers who
gives the name of the wholesaler
to whom he shipped the gun. The
wholesaler, in turn, checks his
records and gives the tracer the
name of the retailer. A call to the
retailer and a check of his form
4473s tum up the the name and
address of the owner. Otten a gun
used in a crime will change hands
several times but tracing is a vital

beginning.

And you — the dealers — are i

the keystone around which tracing
is built.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS
NOTIFICATION

A Federal firearms license

authorizes business ectivity from é

one location only — the address
specilied on the license. When a
licensee relocates his firearms
business, the regulations allow for
amending, at no cost, the license
to cover business at the new loca-
tion. To obtain an amended license,
simply submit the license and the
new address to the issuing ATF

office at least 10 days before the ;

move. Complying with this proce- |

dure ensures that your current
address Is In our files to receive
this newsletter and similar impor
tant Information. it also lessens the
chance for interrupted business
while you are waiting for the
amended license.

THANKS FOR YOUR
PATIENCE : :
ATF employees have been’
working overtime to handle the;
large backlog of applications for
the registration and transfer of
NFA weapons. Although the major-
tty of the applications relate to
machineguns, it has also slowed
the processing of short-barreled
rifles, short-barreled shotguns and
other NFA weapons. !

In addition to the volume of appli ;
cations, we are also fteceiving a
great number of telephone calls.
tt tt Is necessary to call, please :
call after 12:00 noon EDT. This
will enable our employees to spend ©
the moming Processing the appli
cations with relatively few interrup- i
tions,

We appreciate your Patience |
and understanding of this temporary |
problem, 1

NEWS YOU CAN USEi


'SHORT-BARRELED RIFLES

' ATF has encountered a number
of AR15-type rifle barrels less than
16 inches in length which have an
attached flash/hider barrel extension
making the overall barrel length
more than 16 inches. In many
instances, the flash hider/barrel
extension is not permanently at-
tached. Anyone in possession or
contro! of a short barre! (less than
16 inches in length) and a rifle
receiver which the barrel fits is in
Possession of a firearm subject to
all the requirements of the Nationa!
Firearms Act as a short-barreled rifle.

The acceptable methods for
permanently attaching a flash/
hider barrel extension are high
temperature silver solder and gas
or electric steel seam welding.

Common low temperature silver
bearing solder is not an acceptable
method of attachment.

AVOID DELAYS IN
PROCESSING MACHINEGUN
TRANSFERS

A lockbox was established re-
cently al the First Chicago Bank
for deposit of the making and trans-
fer taxes imposed by the National
Firearms Act (NFA) and the Arms
Export Contro! Act of 1976. A signi.
ficant number of tax-paid transfers
continue to be sent to the NFA
Branch in Washington 0.C. which
simply delays the process and
increases the risk of incorrect
delivery or loss of the documents.

To avold delay, send all taxpaid
applications (ATF Forms 1 and 4)
‘to: 4

ATF ~
PO Box 73201
Chicago, IL 60673

Do not send taxpaid applications

NEWS YOU CAN USE

directly to the NFA Branch in
Washington D.C. It will only in-
crease the processing time.

Applications (Form 4587) and
fees to register under the Arms
Export Control Act of 1976 also
Should be sent to the lockbox at
the First Chicago Bank:

ATF
PO Box 73198
Chicago, IL 60673

Notices on Form 2 and tax-exempt
transfer applications on Forms 3
and 5 will continue to be sent di-
rectly to the NFA Branch in Wash
ington.

'
N

CERTIFICATION OF NFA
TRANSFER APPLICATIONS

An application made to transfer
a National Firearms Act firearm
to a private individual must include
@ certificate signed by an official
who has jurisdiction in the trans-
feree's area of residence and whose
signature is acceptable to ATF,
such as: the chief of police, sheriff
of the county, head of the state
police, or a district or state prose-
‘quting attorney. ATF's Director
may designate, upon request, ano-
ther official whose signature is
acceptable. To quality, the official
should have law enforcement
authority and the means to con
duct a records check.

If the official has delegated
authority to a subordinate officer,
ensure that this is clearly reflected
in the certificate by certifying the
name and title of the official, then
Wentitying the subordinate official
with his/her name, title, signature
and clearly reflecting the delegation.

The certificate states that the
official has no Information that
the firearm will be used for other

‘4

than lawlul purposes and that
receipt or possession of the
firearm would not be In violation
of state or local law. The language
of this requirement (from 27 C.F.R.
Section 179.85), is on the reverse
side of the application.

There is no requirement that
the official sign jhe certificate;
it is a discretionary act on the part
of the official. However, an appl-
cation submitted without the
Certificate when one is necessary
is’ considered an Incomplete
application and will not be ap-
Proved.

AMENDMENTS TO THE
NEW LAW

As this issue goes to press, S.2414
to amend the new firearms law has
been passed by the House and
Senate, but not yet signed by the
President. if S.2414 becomes law, t

would make the following changes.

in the new firearms law:

“Any person not prohibited from
transporting, shipping or recelving
@ firearm is allowed to transport a
firearm for any lawful purpose from
any place where he may lawtully
Possess and carry the firearm to any
other place where he may lawtully
Possess and cary such a firearm
if the firearm is unloaded, and
neither firearm nor ammunition is
feadily accessible or is directly
accessible from the passenger
compartment. In the case of a

_ Vehicle without a compartment
| Separate from the driver's compar
“ment the firearm or ammunition
shall be contained in a locked con
tainer other than the glove console.

; “Proof of profit is not required for

8 person engaged in the regular and
! repetitive purchase and disposition
‘of firearms for criminal Purposes



Department of the Treasury

- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

July 1986

AN OPEN LETTER TO LICENSEES AND OTHERS CONCERNED

Stephen E. Higgins, Director of the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

“| want to bring to your attention
possible Gun Control Act violations
in which you could inadvertently
become involved. a

ATF has encountered with in-
creasing trequency various AR15-
type assault rifles such as those
manufactured by Colt, E.A. Com
pany, SGW, Sendra and others,
which have been assembled with
internal components designed for
use in M16 machineguns. it has

\_ deen found that the vast majority

of these rifles which have. been
assembled with an M16 bolt carrier,
hammer, trigger, disconnector and
selector will fire automatically
merely by manipulation of the
selector or removal of the discon-
nector, Many of these rifles using
less than the five M16 parts listed
above also will shoot automatically
by manipulation of the selector or
removal of the disconnector.

ft must be pointed out that any
weapon which shoots automati-
cally, more than one shot, without

manual reloading, by a single
function of the trigger is a machine-
gun as defined in 26 U.S.C. Section
5845 (b), the National Firearms Act
(NFA). In addition, the definition of
@ machinegun also includes any
combination of parts trom which a

machinegun may be assembled, -

if such parts are in possession or
under the control of a person.
Any machinegun is subject to the
NFA and the possession of an
unregistered machinegun couid
subject the possessor to criminal
prosecution. .

Additionally, these rifles could
Pose a safety hazard in that they
may fire automatically without the
user being aware that the weapon
will fire more than one shot with a
single pull of the trigger.

in order to avoid possible viola-
tions of the NFA, M16 hammers,
triggers, disconnectors, selectors
and bolt carriers must not be used
in assembly of AR15-type semi

automatic rifles, unless the M16‘

1

i

parts have been modified to AR15
Model SP1 configuration. Any
AR15-type rifles which have been
assembled with M16 Internal com-
Ponents should have those parts
removed and replaced with AR15
Model SP1 type parts. These parts
are available commercially or the
M16 component may be modified
to AR15 Model SP1 configuration.

{t is important to note that any
modification of the M16 parts
should only be attempted by fully
qualified personnel.

On the following page are ilius-
trations of AR15 Model SP1
component parts and the corte-
sponding M16-type parts. Should
you have any questions concermn-
ing AR15-type rifles with M16 parts,
please contact your nearest ATF

law enforcement office. Our tele- |
phone numbers are listed in the ,

United States Government section
of your telephone directory under

the United States Treasury Depart

ment.”




ww

ee

PRESIDENT SIGNS NEW GUN LAW

On May 19, 1986, President
Reagan signed Public Law 99-308
which amends the Gun Control
Act of 1968 and: the National
Firearms Act. The new law be-
comes effective November 15,
1986, except for the Provision on
machineguns which became law
etlective May 19, 1986 — the
day the President signed the
legistation,

The major Provisions of the new

law include the following:

1. Effective May 19, 1986, the
new law bars the future Possession
OF transfer of machineguns, except
for government entities. Those
Persons who lawtully owned
machine guns before May 19, 1986,
may Continue to own, or to' transfer
ownership atter May 19, 1986,

2. The definition of a machine-
gun includes any combination of
parts designed and intendeg for
use in converting a weapon “into
@ machinegun and any part de-
signed and intended solely for
use in converting a weapon into

@ machinegun,
Ww eo

3. Non-licensees may acquire
fifles and Shotguns, but not hand-
guns, from the licensees outside
their resident state as long as the

sale or delivery complies with the ;

laws of the states in which the
sale is made and where the tans-
feree resides. Interstate shipment
or delivery of firearms to non-
licensees is still Prohibited.

4. The licensing requirements
for dealers in ammunition only
and ammunition record-keeping
are eliminated. Firearms dealers,
however, must record the name,
age and place of residence of
armor-pietcing ammunition pur-

chasers. After November 15, 1986,
those who deal in ammunition only
need not renew their Federal fire-
arms license.

5. “Engaged in the business"
is defined as those who regularly
import, manutacture and dea! in
firearms with the “principal objec-
tive of livelihood and profit.”

6. Allows licensees to deal in
firearms at gun shows located in
the state in which the licensed
Premise is located.

7. Licensees are not required
to record the disposition of “personal
firearms" where the firearm has
been kept in the licensee's per.
sonal collection for one year after
its transfer trom the business
inventory.

8. Form 4473 — the Firearms
Transaction Record — is eliminated
for licensed collectors. They need
only keep a “bound-book" record.

9. A warrant will be fequired to
inspect licensee records and inven-
tory except in the course of a crim
nal Investigation of a Person other
than a licensee, in one annual
inspection and in ‘firearms tracing,
These three inspections may be
made without prior notice.

10. No license can be denied or
revoked, and no forfeiture of fire-
&ms or ammunition can be based,
upon the same charges brought in
@ criminal case if the licensee is
acquitted of those charges.

11..No one may sell of deliver
firearms to prohibited Persons, such
as convicted felons. vote
12.A conviction for a “crime
‘

“5

Punishable by imprisonment for a
term exceeding one year” Is deter.
mined by the law of the jurisdic-
tion in which the conviction occurred.
State pardons and expunctions
would erase the conviction for
Purposes of Federal firearms laws
unless the person Is expressly
Genied the right to possess or
receive firearms.

13. Allows the granting of relief
from Federal firearms’ disabilities
to all proscribed Persons and re-
Tmoves the bar to relief tor felons
whose crimes involved the use of a
firearm or other weapon, or whose
Conviction was for a violation of the
Gun Control and National Firearms
Acts.

14. Provides a Federal tight to
transport an unloaded, not readily
accessible, firearm interstate, not-
withstanding any state or local taw
to the contrary.

15. Expands the term “silencer”*
to cover any combination of Parts
designed or redesigned, and inten-
ded for use in assembling or fabri-
cating a firearms silencer,

[ceases
—_—E

Regulations implementing these
amendments will be drafted by
ATF and published in the Federal
Register before the effective date.

haassetsennsusamencnnensssnsnnserereeee TY
—_—_—_—_[>_>=======____"==

ff you have any questions, write
to: Chief, Firearms & Explosives
Branch, Room #7205, 1200 Penn-
sytvania Avenue, N.W., Washington,
O.C. 20226,