ATF E-Form 4473 (5300.9) Revised October 2016. Department of Justice. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Transaction Record. ATF Case Number - Utilized to capture the ATF case number relative to the recovery of this firearm. Check the hardcopy results checkbox. Serial Number - Firearms manufactured after 1968 are required to have the serial number stamped on the frame or receiver, however for firearms manufactured prior to 1969 the serial number may appear.
- Atf Serial Number Check
- Atf Firearm Serial Number Database
- Serial Number Information
- Atf Firearms Serial Number Check
- Atf Gun Serial Number Check
Are Firearms without Serial Numbers Illegal?
If you’re a Law Abiding Gun Owner (LAGO) who primarily uses modern firearms, a firearm without a serial number would probably look strange to you. In fact, it should look strange to you, and in most cases someone selling you or giving to you a firearm with a tarnished serial number should nearly give you a heart attack. Although our younger generations have never lived in the America where serial numbers were optional, this was in fact the case long ago. At that point in time, the manufacturers held the power to choose whether or not to utilize serial numbers. Some did as per their own internal policies. Others didn’t. How did we get to practice we know today?
In 1934, Congress enacted the National Firearms Act (NFA). At the time, it was the most restrictive federal firearms legislation that had ever been enacted in the United States. It didn’t apply to every gun as it defined “firearms” somewhat narrowly.
According to the NFA Handbook (produced by BATFE, see http://www.atf.gov/content/firearms/firearms-industry/guides/publications-firearms-national-firearms-act-handbook), “Congress found these firearms to pose a significant crime problem because of their frequent use in crime, particularly the gangland crimes of that era such as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.”
The NFA imposed several restrictions in efforts to reduce the criminal use of these particular weapons. Among many other restrictions, the act required all firearms subject to the NFA to have serial numbers on them.
Retrieved from www.nationalcrimesyndicate.com- on January 3, 2015.
In 1968, the Gun Control Act (GCA) imposed numerous additional requirements in the arena of gun manufacture. As per the GCA, all firearms manufactured or imported into the United States are required to bear a serial number. This law ―which was effective October 22, 1968― extends the serial requirement beyond the specific group of NFA regulated firearms.
The serial number requirement remains in effect today, which explains our modern conceptions. In a Firearms Verification Guidebook issued by BATFE, the following serial number requirements are listed:
- Must be conspicuously engraved, cast or stamped (impressed) on the firearm frame or receiver.
- The serial number cannot duplicate the serial number appearing on any other firearm the importer previously imported.
- For firearms imported after January 30, 2002, the engraving, casting or stamping (impressing) of the serial number must be to a minimum depth of .003 inch and in a print size no smaller than 1/16 inch.
To view additional requirements, please consult the Guidebook at https://www.atf.gov/files/firearms/guides/importation-verification/download/firearms-imporation-verification-guidebook–firearms-verification.pdf.
If a gun doesn’t meet these requirements, it’s important to make a few determinations to be certain to maintain LAGO status. It is entirely possible to come across a pre-’68 gun with no serial number. However, it’s vital to be certain that the serial number wasn’t grinded off, removed, or obliterated.
Per 18 U.S.C. 922 (k), “It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to transport, ship, or receive, in interstate or foreign commerce, any firearm which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number removed, obliterated, or altered or to possess or receive any firearm which has had the importer’s or manufacturer’s serial number removed, obliterated, or altered and has, at any time, been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.”
There’s also a similar provision in the NFA making it a crime to “to receive or possess a firearm [as defined by the NFA] having the serial number or other identification required by this chapter obliterated, removed, changed, or altered.” 26 U.S.C. § 5861(h).
The message seems to be, if it isn’t there, it better not have ever been there. However, there appears to be a tricky period between the enactment of the NFA in 1934 and the GCA in 1968:
- Suppose there is a non-NFA firearm which was manufactured PRE October 22, 1968. The firearm has no serial number. However, the firearm never had a serial number. The lack of a serial number does not render the firearm illegal.
- Suppose there is a firearm which was manufactured POST October 22, 1968. If the firearm has no serial number, and never had a serial number, the lack of a serial number renders the firearm illegal. [Except a non-NFA home manufacture that you have no intent to sell, which we will explain later.]
- Suppose there is a firearm which was manufactured POST October 22, 1968. The firearm had a serial number, but it has been removed. Possession of this firearm is illegal.
- Suppose there is a firearm which was manufactured PRE October 22, 1968. The firearm did have a serial number, as the manufacturer had utilized serial numbers on its firearms voluntarily. However, the serial number was removed for aesthetic or other reasons AFTER October 22, 1968. Possession of the firearm is illegal.
- Suppose there is a non-NFA firearm which was manufactured PRE October 22, 1968. The firearm did have a serial number, as the manufacturer had utilized serial numbers on its firearms voluntarily. This serial number was removed BEFORE October 22, 1968. Under the GCA, possession of the firearm is illegal. However, this is the most difficult scenario we will discuss, and here’s why:
The NFA of 1934 made it illegal to obliterate, remove or alter the serial number of a “firearm” as classified by the NFA. However, the NFA only applied to a specific class of weapons. Later on, the GCA made it illegal to obliterate, remove or alter the serial number of a much broader classification of firearm, not just those subject to the NFA.
With regards to firearms which are not subject to the NFA, it would appear that it was not necessarily illegal to obliterate, remove or alter the serial number before October 22, 1968. As previously mentioned, the manufacturers of non-NFA firearms held the power to choose whether or not to utilize serial numbers until 1968. Regardless of when it was done, the GCA made it illegal to merely possess a firearm if the serial number had been obliterated, removed or altered. What was legal to possess on October 21st of 1968 became illegal to possess the following day.
*While it is our understanding that certain grace periods were recognized, the precise duration remains unconfirmed by any reliable sources. For the purpose of promoting a clear and fluid discussion, we will suppose there was no grace period. Any issues encountered within the last 40 years fall well outside of any possible grace period.
This poses two potential legal arguments.
First, some contend that the GCA posed ex post facto issues. Found in the United States Constitution, “[t]he ex post facto prohibition forbids the Congress and the States to enact any law ‘which imposes a punishment for an act which was not punishable at the time it was committed; or imposes additional punishment to that then prescribed.’” Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 28 (1981) quoting Cummings v. Missouri, 4 Wall. 277, 325–326, 18 L.Ed. 356 (1867).
However, it doesn’t appear that the GCA serial number provision necessarily constitutes an ex post facto prohibition. We must identify the offense to be punished. Under the GCA, the obliteration, alteration or removal of serial numbers on non-NFA firearms is illegal. If the law were to punish individuals for having done so before October 22, 1968 (at which point doing so was legal) the law would certainly qualify as ex post facto, and be invalid under the United States Constitution.
On the other hand, the GCA additionally prohibits the possession of a non-NFA firearm with serial numbers which have been destroyed. Because the law came into effect on October 22, 1968, the law would only technically prohibit possession from that point on. Because possession is an offense which takes place in the present tense, this provision would not be ex post facto. Even though possession of a firearm with obliterated serial numbers was completely legal on October 21, 1968, one’s possession of that same firearm two days later would be illegal. Because the law punishes the conduct of possession, which has occurred after the law has been enacted, the law is not ex post facto and is valid.
As a result, it seems that if an individual destroyed the serial numbers on a non-NFA firearm before the GCA was enacted, that particular conduct cannot be punished. More importantly, however, if that individual were to keep that firearm after enactment of the GCA, the conduct of possession could be punished, as the punishable conduct has occurred after enactment of the law.
The second potential argument comes in the form of the Takings Clause. For an extremely in-depth discussion, see The Public Use Test: Would a Ban on the Possession of Firearms Require Just Compensation?http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3833&context=lcp
The Fifth Amendment prevents the government from taking private property for public use without providing the owner with just compensation. Takings are not limited solely to physical confiscation, but can stem from regulations which leave owners with no alternative use for their property, or a severe diminution in value. In order for the taking to require compensation, it must be for public use. Public use has additionally been somewhat narrowly construed. In fact, the Court has made a distinction between active use and passive benefit. Ultimately, in order for a compensable taking to have taken place under the Fifth Amendment, these factors must be present.
In the case of the GCA, there may very well have been legal owners of non-NFA firearms with obliterated serial numbers before 1968. Due to the enactment of the GCA, these firearms would become illegal, and have no alternative use whatsoever. There would be no opportunity to sell or transfer the firearms, as the federal law completely prohibited this. They could not keep them for the personal use they intended, as continued possession had been criminalized under the act. Unfortunately, although it is clear that a taking took place, this would not likely constitute a compensable taking. Although the GCA restrictions were enacted for the benefit of the public —so Congress claimed— the restrictions did not intend to initiate active public use. Rather, they were enacted under Congress’ enumerated powers over interstate commerce. The action under the commerce clause has been confirmed by the Court as valid. Consequently, it is unlikely that the GCA regulations could constitute a compensable taking under the Fifth Amendment.
As for those pre-GCA guns which were manufactured without serial numbers, some are still on the market. A dealer buying or selling a non-NFA firearm made before 1968 and without a serial number need only record “Made prior to 1968, no serial number” or “NSN” in the serial number space on his transaction record. Unless there is a state or local requirement, he need not apply a number or obtain a number from the police or BATFE.
Pre-1968 Remington, NSN, retrieved from gunauction.com on January 3, 2015.
There’s another possible scenario in which there is no serial number, and that is in the case of a home build. As of late, there has been a 80% or 60% receiver complete craze. In these particular cases, the gun cannot be sold or transferred and must only be for the manufacturer’s own personal use. If it is a home build manufactured by yourself, using your own equipment, for your own personal use, no serial number is required.
Although not required, BATFE has stated: “ . . . we suggest that the manufacturer at least identify the firearm with a serial number as a safeguard in the event that the firearm is lost or stolen. Also, the firearm should be identified as required in 27CFR478.92 if it is sold or otherwise lawfully transferred in the future.” http://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/firearms-technology.html Again, this is simply a suggestion and not a legal requirement.
80% Lower Receiver – Type III Hard Anodized Billet AR-15 for sale by our friends at 80percentlower.com.
This applies strictly to non-NFA weapons, so if you want to home build it into an NFA via a Form 1 submission and approval, then NFA requirements control. In that case, a Form 1 must be filled out and approved before making it to a NFA controlled firearm and when it is completed, there must be proper markings per the NFA.
Because of the long-standing serial number requirements, a LAGO should definitely expect to see them on firearms. While the lack of a serial number might be shocking at first, and is certainly a legitimate cause for concern, it doesn’t always render the gun illegal. If you encounter a firearm without a serial number, be sure to consult with professionals to ensure that the firearm is legal to possess.
For more beneficial reading on the topic, check out:
BATFE Firearms Tracing Guide: http://www.atf.gov/files/publications/download/p/atf-p-3312-13.pdf
Records listing the names of people who bought guns and what guns they purchased are piled along the corridors and are stacked head-high in 13 tractor-trailer-sized steel containers out back. Between the stacks of records of gun sales are rooms filled with people scanning the documents. This is The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) National Tracing Center. I found it within a lovely landscape of small towns and farms just across the Maryland state line in Martinsburg, West Virginia.This is an example of the ATF working with gun makers to solve crimes. Instead of simply seeing firearms manufacturers as something to regulate and even investigate this is an example of the government seeing private companies as partners in keeping Americans safe. I hoped this was the narrative I was there to see, as I’ve often asked in person and print why the Obama administration doesn’t treat America’s 100 million legal gun owners as the partners they are in keeping the bad guys from getting guns. Why, instead, does the Obama administration so often see America’s gun owners as the problem? Don’t they understand it’s counterproductive to treat freedom as a problem to be solved?
But then I found this isn’t the narrative they’d invited us in to tell.
We left that display and entered room after room of this facility where ATF employees are busy digitizing millions of documents from dead gun stores. Gun stores are required by federal law to keep these records. If a gun store goes out of business or simply decides to stop selling guns it must send its records of gun sales to the ATF.
When a gun store goes out of business it is required to send its records of gun sales to the ATF. The documents shown here were harmed in a flood.
These records are used in criminal investigations. When a police officer confiscates a gun, because they found it at a crime scene or for any other reason, they contact the ATF. The ATF calls the company that made the gun. The gun manufacturer looks through its records to see what gun store or wholesaler the gun was sold and shipped to. The ATF then follows this chain to the federal firearms licensed dealer (FFL) that originally sold the gun. The FFL searches its records and gives the name and contact information of the purchaser. The ATF then gives this information to the investigating officer.
Once scanned Troppman said the originals are destroyed. Still, they are falling behind. This building receives two million documents a month, which is up considerably from just a year ago.
Troppman showed us stacks and stacks of documents and explained there is no legal criteria for how the records sent to them must be kept. All a gun store has to do is retain a record of the name and contact information of every person who bought a gun along with each gun’s model, gauge or caliber, and serial number. A gun store can keep these records in any form they chose.
We stopped in front of a display of damaged records placed in front of office cubicles. Troppman pointed at the records and said, “These are partially shredded and those are almost washed out from a flood. Maybe it was on purpose.”
There was no doubt Troppman was unhappy with the lack of control the ATF has with how gun stores keep and retain these records.
I asked if the ATF sells books or software that gun stores can use to keep records of sales. This way many might follow a uniform methodology voluntarily. The ATF agents whose job it is to inspect the store’s records could encourage them to do so.
Atf Serial Number Check
Corey Ray, another agent with the ATF helping with the tour, said they didn’t. Still, I must not have been the first to ask this question because the ATF poses this question on its website: “Does the Government sell firearms acquisition and disposition record books for licensees to use in recording their receipts and dispositions of firearms?” They then answer with: “No, however, some private vendors may have them available for purchase.”
To me, this seems to be an unfortunate example of the government not treating the people like partners in this democratic republic.
A technician then took us to a table in a hallway where he had hundreds of paper documents drying. The yellow paper was moldy and damp. Troppman was shaking his head.
Troppman next took us to a room that housed an unfathomable amount of gun-sale records preserved on microfilm. These records are also being converted into digital documents, but he couldn’t estimate how many years that might take. We saw a room where technicians were using old microfilm machines to search these records. I hadn’t seen one of these machines since the mid-1990s.
Atf Firearm Serial Number Database
Troppman said, “We’re creating a database we can search by gun store and time period so that if a gun is confiscated at a crime scene we can help the investigating officer determine when it was first sold and who bought the gun.”
Makes sense, but as we went Troppman made it very clear he was unhappy with what it takes the ATF to run down who originally purchased a particular gun. Troppman even said, “I was watching one of those crime dramas recently—NCIS or something—when it showed a cop using his smartphone to look up the history of a criminal’s gun. Then all this data appeared on his phone. When it was sold, who bought it … everything. People think we can do that now, but we can’t.”
Such a database, of course, would constitute an online and searchable database of all gun sales done by those who have Federal Firearms Licenses (FFL), which could then be used to create a list of gun owners.
Troppman seemed to expect us to be mystified with the daunting amount of records they have to deal with. I was, but I also kept thinking that if the ATF is having trouble dealing with the records from gun stores that go out of business, then how could they possibly deal with the records from all gun stores?
Also, given President Barack Obama’s public desire for “universal background checks,” an idea that requires private citizens to pay for background checks at an FFL when selling or giving a gun to another person, I couldn’t see how they’d possibly keep up with all of those additional records. I don’t see how they could do it even if every single one of America’s 100 million legal gun owners cooperated. And, of course, they won’t, as Americans are tenacious about their privacy and freedom. Also, even the wording of the phrase “universal background check” is false marketing because criminals by definition won’t comply.
Another problem is these gun-sale records only take the authorities to the person who originally bought a gun. Such a person is likely to be a law-abiding citizen who sold the gun, traded it, had it stolen, or perhaps even passed away and his or her guns were sold with their estate. As time goes on these records must be less and less useful.
I then asked if any of these records had come from gun stores the ATF put out of business for making illegal sales. Troppman said, “Those records would come through the same way.”
That was a dodge, so I asked, “Given that there are 140,000 FFLs in the U.S., and given that ATF agents are tasked with policing them, and given that some politicians, such as the mayor of Chicago, have accused gun stores of arming criminal gangs, can you show me records that have come in from busted gun stores?”
He wasn’t able to show me any and he explained that it is very hard to bust a gun storeowner for breaking the law.
Serial Number Information
When I asked if the records the ATF are digitizing are searchable, he explained they are no more searchable than they would be at a gun store.
Troppman said, “The Tiahrt Amendment even keeps us from sharing this information freely. All we can do is give a specific record to a police department or prosecutor that requests that document.”
The Tiahrt Amendment is a provision of the U.S. Department of Justice appropriations bill that prohibits the ATF’s National Tracing Center from releasing information from its firearms trace database to anyone other than a law-enforcement agency or prosecutor requesting a specific record. This prevents gun trace data from being used, for example, in anti-gun studies and by attorneys who want to file civil lawsuits against gun makers.
We ended the tour in the ATF’s vault and got to see tens of thousands of guns that were seized for many reasons from American citizens. There were World War Two-era M1 Garands, Prohibition-era Tommy guns, modern AR-15s and just about every make and model of handgun made in the last century.
Atf Firearms Serial Number Check
This is a Marlin semi-auto .22LR rifle that someone converted into a machine gun. It is now kept as an example in a vault at the ATF's National Tracing Center.
The one I found most amusing was a Marlin semi-auto .22 rifle that someone converted into a machine gun by attaching a battery and electric motor to its stock and then running a piston forward to its trigger. That took ingenuity, but was also very illegal if the person didn’t have a Class 3 license allowing him or her to own a machine.
Atf Gun Serial Number Check
I left the ATF happy to see they are working with gun manufacturers and that they are doing some very important things to solve crimes and disarm criminals. But, as for their stacks and stacks of gun-sale records, I don’t see how in a nation with 100 million gun owners, over 300 million guns and a long history of freedom, the government could or should try to keep track of every gun. They should instead see gun owners as allies as they hunt down and prosecute the criminals in our society.