The New 4473 Forms are Out

offeror

I understand my local dealers received their new forms yesterday for gun purchases and it includes a number of additional questions including the gun purchaser's ethnicity -- Black, Caucasian, Native American, etc. -- causing one dealer to wonder if the question was constitutional. I haven't looked the form over yet, but assume I'll be filling one out when my next Gunbroker purchase arrives.

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"The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."

offeror

I might add I feel sorry for the dealers on this one. Being generally gun conservatives themselves, they don't like it any better than we do that the new yellow forms have additional questions that may seem intrusive to our rights.

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"The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."

thesupermonkey

Ethnicity has always been on there...

crisisbill

Here is a look at the new form. http://www.atf.treas.gov/forms/4473/index.htm

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If you Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Failfreetog@ulster.net

He Dog

The simian is correct. One presumes the question relates to identification and nothing more sinister, but it has indeed been on there.

crisisbill

Here is a copy we have been given the OK to use until we get the new ones in the mail http://www.atf.treas.gov/forms/pdfs/f4473pt1.pdf

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If you Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Failfreetog@ulster.net

reb8600

Other than the lay out of it I dont see any difference from the one I filled out a month ago. It looks like it asks for the same information.What differance is there supposed to be.

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Guncontrol-The ability to hit what your aiming at.

crisisbill

Just check this form and click on the red numbers, it will tell you whats new on the form http://www.atf.treas.gov/forms/4473/index.htm

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If you Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Failfreetog@ulster.net[This message has been edited by crisisbill (edited 02-20-2002).]

juju

Actually it now asks if the waepon was purchased at a gun show and if it was, it ask where the show was.Now why do they need to know that other than to try to get ammo to ban sales at gunshows.

aglore

Race has always been on them. Ethnicity refers to being Polish, Finnish and so on.

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AlleninAlaska

Pelican

One pain in the butt for dealers, the sequence of information has changed. It used to be pretty much in order the way you have to give it to the NICS operator. Now you have to bounce back and forth on the page. Small thing I know, but just another example of how some bureaucrat designs something without making it a simple as possible.

JudgeColt

Until I saw aglore's post on ethnicity, I was going to point out that it was race and not ethnicity on the old forms, and that it has always been there as a part of the identification information. Confusingly, the new form has "Race (Ethnicity)" as the heading for this new section, but lists no races that I recall from the anthropology course I took decades ago. If I recall correctly, the three major races of humankind are Negro, Caucasian and Mongolian. The form mentions none of these actual races even though it contains the heading "Race (Ethnicity)." I do note that the transferee may select one or more choices in the "Race (Ethnicity)" section. As mentioned, I think this new section will generate some controversy. For instance, this new section lists "Hispanic or Latino," neither of which are races nor ethnic classifications as far as I know. People of Spanish descent are Caucasians (white), while many of the peoples of Central and South America who some may call Latinos or Hispanics are actually Mongolians (Asian), as are North American Indians, etc.. The "Black or African American" classification on the form would probably be technically correct for any black person, but does a black Jamaican who is not of African descent want to check that box? I find it interesting that the "White" classification does not read "White or European American" in order to be consistent with the "Black or African American" classification. In the same vein, should not the "Asian" classification read "Asian American?"If the form wants race as an identification item, why not list only the actual recognized races on the form? (Are there any anthropologists here who can correct me if I am incorrect in current "race" classifications?) I liked the old form better where the individual got to identify his or her race in the term that person perferred. Other than the order of information already mentioned, and the "race" classifications, I like the new form better than the old one. I particularly like the Section 21 information for NICS exceptions where I no longer have to try to squeeze the long names my state uses for the permnits to buy and to carry into a space too small to accept them. The certification questions are now in only one column, which I also prefer.

offeror

You guys are right. My dealer was squawking about the new specifications of Hispanic, and so on. I remember I've always filled in the blank, and always wondered (since abbreviation was frowned upon at one time) if I should just write "CAUC" or try to fit the word "Caucasian" into that little empty space. Now we have the check boxes. Now, answer me this. If two guys meet on the floor of a gun show and make a person-to-person transaction, is it now required to go to an FFLer for a 4473 transfer? I thought I was told it was not yet a requirement.

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"The 2nd Amendment is about defense, not hunting. Long live the gun shows, and reasonable access to FFLs. Join the NRA -- I'm a Life Member."