Related Videos

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the primary agency responsible for enforcing the federal firearms license laws. Their charge is to forestall terrorist acts, cut down on violent crime, and protect the public. With regard to firearms, ATF acts to take armed, violent wrongdoers off the streets and to guarantee criminals and additional prohibited individuals don't own firearms.

Many of you know, among the requirements of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is for fingerprints to be rendered for each responsible individual along with the application for a federal firearms license. It seems they get several inquiries concerning whether the fingerprints must be acquired by the police force or whether there are additional satisfactory sources for fingerprinting.

There's no particular prerequisite that the prints be taken by the police force . All the same, the prints must be clean, unsmudged and distinctive. The fingerprints must as well be presented on the forms furnished by ATF. License applications obtained by ATF with illegible fingerprints must be returned, which results in delayed license application actioning. For these grounds, ATF urges that they be taken by an origin that’s acquainted with the process and has experience in fingerprinting, like a police force or private protection firm.

A lot of you should be aware by now that when the licensing standards for federal firearms license applicants have been revised by statutory alterations there can be some postponement in processing applications at the Firearms and Explosives Licensing Center. Because of these postponements, individuals may be confused about the ability of a licensee to carry on operations while his/her application is being worked on.

A firearms licensee who applies for renewal of his/her license in a timely manner is empowered to carry on firearms operations as empowered by his/her license till the renewal application is eventually worked on. The rules allow a provider to carry on making shipments to a licensee for not over forty-five days following the termination date of the transferee's license. All the same, a provider can continue to make firearms shipments after forty-five days if the provider gets pertinent evidence that the licensee's renewal application is pending at the department.

The evidence should be comprised of a letter of authority from ATF to the licensee saying that his/her renewal application has been received in a timely manner and that execution on the application is pending. Licensees can get a letter of continuing operation that substantiates their authority to carry on operations by getting hold of the licensing center by phone or by mail. A letter of proceeding operation may as well be received by contacting your local regulative enforcement field office.

The center that handles federal firearms license states that they will continue to make every effort to reduce any delays and believe they'll be able to have normal reaction time after all Federal firearms licensees undergo a 3-year licensing cycle under new prerequisites.