FFL Gun Dealer Omnibus
Updates of interest for gunsmiths and FFL firearm dealers.
Final Rule 2022R-17F
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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) recently published Final Rule 2022R-17F Definitions of “Dealer” Engaged in the Business” and Other Terms.
This formalizes the ATF’s definitions of a “dealer”, what it means to be “engaged in business”, and what constitutes “predominantly earn a profit” on sales.
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Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act
S. 4075, Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act seeks to ban the use of a firearm retailer-specific Merchant Category Code (MCC). The legislation would protect the Second Amendment privacy of firearm and ammunition purchasers from financial service and payment card providers compiling purchase history that has already proven to be exploited by the federal government for political purposes. The legislation is similar to H.R. 7450, also titled the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act.
The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) admitted to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in a letter that it violated the Fourth Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens that protect against illegal search and seizure when it collected the credit card purchase history from banks and credit card companies of individuals who purchased firearms and ammunition in the days surrounding Jan. 6, 2020. Treasury’s FinCEN had no cause, and sought the information without a warrant, to place these law-abiding citizens on a government watchlist only because they exercised their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase firearms and ammunition.
Several states have enacted similar legislation to protect the privacy of firearm and ammunition purchasers, including Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Utah, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia, with several more considering it.
Firearm Industry Economic Impact Rises
The total economic impact of the firearm and ammunition industry in the United States increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $90.05 billion in 2023, a 371 percent increase, while the total number of full-time equivalent jobs rose from approximately 166,000 to over 384,437, a 131 percent increase in that period.
On a year-over-year basis, the industry’s economic impact rose from $80.73 billion in 2022, to $90.05 billion in 2023. The firearm industry has broader impacts throughout the economy. It supports and generates business for firms seemingly unrelated to firearms, at a time when every job in America counts. These are real people, with real jobs, working in industries as varied as banking, retail, accounting, metal working and printing among others.
The firearm and ammunition industry paid over $10.90 billion in business taxes, including property, income and sales-based levies. An additional $944 million was paid in federal excise taxes, which directly contributes to wildlife conservation.
The annual Firearm and Ammunition Industry Economic Impact Report provides a state-by-state breakdown of job numbers, wages and output covering direct, supplier and induced employment, as well as federal excise taxes paid. Access the full report:
https://www.nssf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-Economic-Impact-Report.pdf
NSSF Leads Effort to Reduce Form Wait Times
The National Shooting Sports Foundation began working to improve ATF National Firearms Act (NFA) form processing in 2013 when it pressed the agency to institute electronic eForms. Recent data indicates the effort has been successful. Updated times announced by ATF show the average wait time on a paper NFA Form 4 – the most popular NFA form submitted – dropped to an average of 245 days for processing, while average daily processing times for electronic eForm 4s dropped to 53 days. Previously, wait times on Form 4s were near 280 days for paper form processing and between 90 and 190 days for electronic processing. NSSF has learned that in some cases fully electronic Form 4s were processed in as few as four days and in some cases on the same day.
Form 3 processing times also dropped with reports of of them being processed in as few as four days. Form 5 processing wait times for the tax-exempt transfer and registration of firearms dropped down to 19 days for paper forms and an average of one day for the electronic form.
https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/current-processing-times
NSSF continues to support the Hearing Protection Act and other proposed legislation that would remove silencers, commonly called suppressors, from the National Firearms Act. Suppressors are devices that provide hearing protection for hunters and target shooters. They are legal to own in 43 states and to hunt with in 42 states. Removing suppressors from the NFA would free up considerable ATF resources unnecessarily spent processing paperwork.