Form 4 Transfer Time

[83Baron]

Good news today. Individual form 4 check cashed 10/24/17, approved with stamp date of 4/18/18, and received in the mail today 5/4/18. Just a little over 6 months and 2 weeks. Not a bad wait all in all.

[Got Uzi]

People are sick of spending $10,000s then having to wait 6-8 months for it. Like buying a car then being told you have to wait 6-8 months to drive it home. Buyers are fed up

[Normal1959]

People are sick of spending $10,000s then having to wait 6-8 months for it. Like buying a car then being told you have to wait 6-8 months to drive it home. Buyers are fed up

 

I agree 100% but i could be a lot less fed up if the right gun comes along and the wait times stay under 6 months

I was done buying when they were seeing 1 year wait times.

Eric

[jim c 351]

16 days to mail form. That's pretty sad.

Jim C

[83Baron]

I agree with that 100%. Should be in the outgoing box the next day! At least it wasnt lost though.

 

16 days to mail form. That's pretty sad.

Jim C

[Petroleum 1]

16 days to mail form. That's pretty sad.

Jim C

My April 21 approval showed up April 30th in the mail.

[Petroleum 1]

Good news today. Individual form 4 check cashed 10/24/17, approved with stamp date of 4/18/18, and received in the mail today 5/4/18. Just a little over 6 months and 2 weeks. Not a bad wait all in all.

There is no consistency my Oct 6th check cashed was approved April 21 and showed up April 30th.

[83Baron]

Thats true Vinny. My last couple were two plus weeks but they must have known you had to get to the range ASAP!

[Petroleum 1]

 

Thats true Vinny. My last couple were two plus weeks but they must have known you had to get to the range ASAP!

Your 10/24 got approved on 4/18. My 10/4 got approved 4/21. My stamp comes in a week before yours...non of it makes sense lol

[Normal1959]

My Uzi stamp was approved and sent 2-10-18 LOST in the mail. Been trying for months to get a duplicate, certified copy and just got word. Should be about a week

It's Uzi #2 so no big deal but going on a year now.

Eric

[Petroleum 1]

My Uzi stamp was approved and sent 2-10-18 LOST in the mail. Been trying for months to get a duplicate, certified copy and just got word. Should be about a week

It's Uzi #2 so no big deal but going on a year now.

Eric

Eric...when something like this happens are you able to work with one specific person at the ATF to correct the problem maybe email them directly or is it just hit or miss who ever answers the phone??

[Normal1959]

 

My Uzi stamp was approved and sent 2-10-18 LOST in the mail. Been trying for months to get a duplicate, certified copy and just got word. Should be about a week

It's Uzi #2 so no big deal but going on a year now.

Eric

Eric...when something like this happens are you able to work with one specific person at the ATF to correct the problem maybe email them directly or is it just hit or miss who ever answers the phone??

 

I let the seller do all the phone calls and e-mails and that's probably why it's not getting done

It has only slightly bothered me since it's Uzi #2, so i only call the seller once a month. Still waiting but last time he said he called, they would have it for me in a week.

We shall see.

Eric

[Got Uzi]

Called NFA for a status check on my M16, said its an average of 8 months. Getting sick of waiting. I do wonder how many transferees have died while waiting for ATF-NFA to approve their paperwork....

[huggytree]

how many machine gun suicides were prevented by an 8 month waiting period? (sorry for the grim humor)

 

 

if it only saves 1 life.....isnt it worth it?

[Petroleum 1]

Called NFA for a status check on my M16, said its an average of 8 months. Getting sick of waiting. I do wonder how many transferees have died while waiting for ATF-NFA to approve their paperwork....

They also tell you the mailing time for the stamp is 30days. It never is that long. Last year i bought 2 guns from a older local seller he drafted two letters that he gave to his wife explaining the transfers...just in case. Not a joke it crossed my mind a few times during the transaction.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Petroleum 1

[Got Uzi]

I know that the 8 months is the standard response but given there comes a point where enough is enough. No reason there cant be a system in place that once they cash your check and the item is logged in (pending) it cant automatically populate that this person has and holds Class III items and it then becomes a rubber stamp pass through.

[JJX]

Called NFA for a status check on my M16, said its an average of 8 months. Getting sick of waiting. I do wonder how many transferees have died while waiting for ATF-NFA to approve their paperwork....

Perhaps some guys have died while waiting. On the other hand, maybe it has given some of them another reason to live!

 

I know that the 8 months is the standard response but given there comes a point where enough is enough. No reason there cant be a system in place that once they cash your check and the item is logged in (pending) it cant automatically populate that this person has and holds Class III items and it then becomes a rubber stamp pass through.

Agree. Why isn't it just a NICS check!

These days though, I think in many cases the wait time is more because they are scrutinizing the gun/registration details more than the transferee.

[johnsonlmg41]

Here's a few

form 4 sent 11/9/16 approved 5/10/18

form 1 sent 2/6/17 not yet done

form 4's sent 6/26/17 not yet done

form 4 sent 12/10/17 approved 4/23/18

3 form 1/5 sent 10/14/17 approved 4/9/18

 

As you can see there is no rhyme nor reason to any of this. 8 months is a general guideline, but everything transfer is a "one off" (other than the batched ones) and time is meaningless on this stuff. Every transfer was to an LLC. Every transfer was sent back for some correction at some point. Multiple examiners, some with good communications skills, some with absolutely NO communication skills and thus their supervisor had to finish the job. HTH

[Got Uzi]

They have no clue......Im from the Govt and Im here to help you....

[jim c 351]

Johnson,

Very interesting.

It makes me wonder if the forms are all thrown into a barrel as they arrive and the examiners reach into the barrel for their next job.

I have 2 form 4;s pending now. For me they are the first in 6 years.

In 2012 it was know that 2 types of examiners existed. Fast ones and slow ones. Is this still the case??
In 2010-2012 I was lucky to have an examiner named Nickie Dudash. She was one of the good ones.

Is there currently a correlation between slow examiners and slow times and fast examiners and fast times.???

Thanks ,

Jim C

[Petroleum 1]

Makes no sense at all especially that Dec F4 that was already approved. I have a Nov still waiting.

[johnsonlmg41]

Jim c,

not sure how long you've been into this, but years ago many of the forms that went in via FAX went into the barrel...….the one just below the shredder. You waited a while, called about it, found out it wasn't in the system and resubmitted it. Sad to report even with up to 2 shreddings you often still got approval before today's timelines! Back in the day transfers were based on the state the transferor lived in, and even though they attempted to balance out the work load, if you got a good examiner with low transfer volume states, typical approvals could come back in 30 days. I have no idea of how it's done today, but some of the recent transfers/ forms I have done originated in at least 5 states and even in some of the same states the examiners have been different. The backlog has run into years at this point, and it seems as if 6+ months is "the new normal". This whole situation has created a side market that caters to alternative ways of doing transfers or shortening the time via other options, I don't think the gov. is even aware of or cares about?

 

Net net is that these firearms are titled and carry an tax in interstate commerce tax with them, other than that they are no different than any other gun and in some cases can effectively be the same gun (an SBR AR-15 14.5" barrel with a pinned flash hider vs. a screw on one). Waiting 6 months to process a two page form with a $200 postage stamp is ludicrous, but that is what gov't has become. It seems the big streamlining of using "self adhesive" stamps a couple years ago hasn't had the effect they had hoped for?

 

Just printed out the NFA of 1934, and it consists of 7 1/2 pages. Most of my transfers involve the submission of 10 or 11 pages to get two pages back with a stamp affixed. How can the process be more lengthy than the actual legislation?

[Petroleum 1]

The 20mil a year the agency makes off of our $200 fees should get us some priority. A standard gun (non nfa) transfer and background check makes the gov zero money but they can do that while you are standing at the counter in the gun store. If you already have a cc permit there is no wait time. Most everyone out there has many multiple FA purchases and its the same dog a pony show every time geez Edited May 21, 2018 by Petroleum 1

[huggytree]

maybe they should raise the cost of the Stamp to reflect todays dollars vs 1934??

 

that $$ could be used to hire more inspectors ???

[Normal1959]

Just got the call. Certified copy of my stamp, that was lost, came in. They mailed the original in Feb, 10 and we never got it. Told me no stamp for now, just a certified copy. Not too sure where this goes but at least i get my gun (Uzi) tomorrow.

One year later.

Eric