FFL Dealer out of business question???

[BIKER13]

Had a friend whose Dad was an FFL holder. When he died ATF came to the house and picked up the license and book,asked the wife if he had any guns on the books that belonged to any one and she said NO. They left.

 

[Glock 21]

What does a FFL dealer do with their records when they go out of business?

I did some research and found some literature that states “the licensee no longer has record keeping duties under the Gun Control Act”

So what happens to the records and who’s responsible for them?

Send them signature required just to have peace of mind but pretty simple and straightforward process.
https://www.atf.gov/firearms/discontinue-being-federal-firearms-licensee-ffl
https://www.atf.gov/firearms/discontinue-being-federal-firearms-licensee-ffl

 

[19 Kilo]

There is no such thing as federal gun registration. You just fill out a 4473 that the gun store keeps as long as they are in business and then they send the stack of 4473's to the ATF to be filed away, but there is no federal gun registration.

ODT to the rescue! . Yeah like said, off to the BATF with the books.

 

[rinfanti]

Yup off to the ATF warehouse.... what do you think it looks like?

 

[CTS Tactical]

Anything older than 20 years old can be destroyed. The rest are shipped to ATF where I have been told they are piled in the basement in boxes and once in a blue moon someone might have to go try and do a trace by digging through them but most of them have never been sorted or archived and still sit in the boxes in which they were received.

 

[gh1950]

Yup off to the ATF warehouse.... what do you think it looks like?
View attachment 3217998
View attachment 3217999

Anything older than 20 years old can be destroyed. The rest are shipped to ATF where I have been told they are piled in the basement in boxes and once in a blue moon someone might have to go try and do a trace by digging through them but most of them have never been sorted or archived and still sit in the boxes in which they were received.

Long story, but needed to do a trace for a 4473, local FFL had gone out of business, never closed the doors, but sent the records to ATF.

Local LEO requested trace, had all the info on the gun, purchaser, date of purchase, - made several requests to ATF, never heard a word.

I got the sense that unless I was a mass murderer or presidential assassin, ATF couldn't be bothered, and conditions were pretty much like those in the photo.

Think about it, a major retailer sends 20 years of paper records that are organized only by date - how much effort do you think ATF puts into storing and accessing them.

Sure cleared up any concerns I had about gov't registration.

 

[HydroAuto]

I'd think they would be using some sort of digital document scanning for data management these days. Your basic networked office copier these days can quickly convert paper to OCR'd images. Dunno if that effort has been made though. You could probably keep an intern busy around the clock scanning documents.

 

[CTS Tactical]

I'd think they would be using some sort of digital document scanning for data management these days. Your basic networked office copier these days can quickly convert paper to OCR'd images. Dunno if that effort has been made though. You could probably keep an intern busy around the clock scanning documents.

You have to remember that this is a govt agency. Generally speaking they will use the slowest most inefficient method possible to do anything.

 

[edindah]

Youtube: 3:57 min.

 

[CTS Tactical]

Good video. I love the yellow 4473s they keep showing. Those have been out of use for 20 years at least and they are still processing them.