First time in NFA; did form 4 with dealer.  He sends copies to HIS local PD chief as *he* was instructed by his ATF contact person/rep.  However, when visiting the sheriff for prints, the firearms deputy specifically said to me, "don't forget to send us a copy."  It was my understanding the sheriff is the CLEO for my county.  The PD it was sent to has jurisdiction over the dealer's address, not mine, but we're in the same county.  For all I know the PD could be forwarding them to the sheriff.

It appears this whole "duty to notify" is solely honor system based, so I doubt this will be any kind of issue, but I'm slightly nervous being a first timer into NFA.

UPDATE:

I turned into a persistent ass via email and sent the verbage d-man linked below.

Dealer thought since our city and zip were the same that I fell under his PD's jurisdiction.

He's fixing it now.

You need to notify some CLEO (Sheriff, Chief of PD, Chief of state police, etc.) who has jurisdiction over you or your entity based on the address listed on your form.

From your post it sounds like the notification was not proper if indeed the CLEO it was sent to does not have jurisdiction over you.

I honestly don't know how this will play out.  If the ATF examiners go so far as to investigate if the CLEO information you put on the form actually has jurisdiction over you, I would be very surprised.  You also probably can't just forward another copy of the form to the correct CLEO now because the CLEO stated on their form wouldn't match the ones you sent to the ATF...

I didn't put anything on any form.  Dealer did everything except for the yes/no check boxes, which i did.

It's at the top of the second page.  Your FFL must have filled in the CLEO who has jurisdiction over his area, as you said:



I would tell your FFL to please read the instructions on the form more carefully on future applications...

As a first timer, it's not my place to correct an SOT

My city and zip code are the same as the dealers, so he probably figured it was good to go.  However, different townships, different PD.

IMO, I'd let it ride.  The CLEO they sent it to might have a cross-jurisdictional agreement with your township PD, and I really don't think the ATF digs too deep into it, especially if it's the same zip code or nearby.

Why not?  He's not some god of knowledge because he has an SOT, and you're not some helpless idiot because you don't.  You can read as well as he can...show him the relevant regulation, and insist he correct the form.  If he can't do that, find another dealer who can.

I went through something sort of like this on my first application.  I filed F1 through SilencerShop for the convenience of having prints and photos on file.  They notify state level LEOs, in my case the Superintendent of the Missouri Highway Patrol.  The name they listed for the guy was a person who previously held the job but had recently left that position (within the last few months).  SS's state level LEO notification database I suppose just hadn't been updated.  One of their guys assured me, as did several here, that it didn't matter as long as it got to a qualifying state level CLEO.

I insisted that they change it to reflect the name of the person actually in that position, which they did.  Would it have mattered?  Probably not.  But I didn't want to get a denial for some stupid assed mistake or, worse, a criminal investigation for perjury.  They were polite about it, but if they'd been crappy or resistant, I'd have just canceled on them.

It is not difficult to fill out the form correctly, and if an SOT has such a big head so as to not listen to your concern, you need to find a new SOT.

OP, what I would do is

1) First, ensure that the CLEO the SOT notified does not, in fact, have jurisdiction over your address.  It might be that he does; not sure how all of that is arranged in your neck of the woods, but confirm it.  I don't know who you'd call to confirm, maybe the notified CLEO's office would know?

2) If the notified CLEO does not have jurisdiction, show the relevant rules to the SOT and insist he do it correctly.

3) If SOT refuses, fire him and find a new SOT.

We are not dealing with local officials where rules are allowed to slide and no one cares.  The BATFE has zero sense of humor about people flouting gun laws / regulations.  It's not hard to do it right; therefore, insist that it be done right.

When his fall back position is "this is what the ATF told me to do when I called them", I'm not going to die on that hill.

UPDATE:

I turned into a persistent ass via email and send the verbage d-man linked above.

Dealer thought since our city and zip were the same that I fell under his PD's jurisdiction.

He's fixing it now.

BATFE guy may or may not know the regs correctly.  SOT might've heard the reply wrong.  That's why they are written down in the instructions on the form.

Edit: Just saw your previous post.  I think you did the smart thing here.

Apparently it was quick and easy because according to him it's already fixed and back in the mail box

Fill out and mail your own forms.

Well if he does, he will file nothing since FFL is not the transferee.

Some do it as a service, fill out the form and then mail everything for the customer (transferee).  I could easily see this happening if you had an ill-informed FFL and first-time buyer who didnt know to check who was entered as CLEO.

I wouldn't call it ill-informed.  He made an assumption that was wrong.  Honest mistake.

The only thing I think will raise eyebrows at this point is that it's being sent to my local PD's chief and not the sheriff.  I highly doubt they've ever seen a form 4.

Similar question, so not to start a new thread...

What do you do if a representative of your sheriff's office tells you that the sheriff doesn't care and doesn't want to hear about your toys? I think it's nice that our sheriff has that opinion, but legally, gotta tell them anyway...

The conversation went in circles a few times before I quit.

I intend to hand deliver a copy of my form 4 to the office once I have it in hand, what they do with it afterwards is not my problem, they got notified.

They don't have USPS where you live?  Why would you try to hand-deliver something they don't want to accept, instead of just tucking it in the mail?

Sounds rather like a solution in search of a problem.

It is a BS problem. Ignore. A Letter was sent to a local LEA in your AO. The end.
Many jurisdictions overlap. Local PD and County Sherrifs Dept both have jurisdiction.
So..? It is a non issue. Notification was made within the context of the rule. Both LEA’s are CLEO’s.
Done.

Well, call me a damn millenial if you want, I don't keep postage stamps on hand. I probably should...

The post office is literally 1 block from the sheriff's office, so after I drive 10 minutes into town, why bother mailing a letter one block over?

I'd also want to send it certified mail, signature required, wouldn't I?

As many here will agree it is best to send it to a state level entity, not your local sheriff (see text in red bold below). The state level person likely disregards the forms and throws them away and you remain relatively anonymous. The sherrif's office may disregard, keep on file, get confused and call the ATF, get confused and schedule a meeting in your home, or any number of silly things that can be a pain to deal with. There is no need for your local sheriff to know what is in their jurisdiction.

Remember, there is no rule/law/regulation that says you must maintain proof that they were notified, only that you notify them.

From ATF E-Form 4 (5320.4) Revised September 2017 Section 2.f:
Law Enforcement Notification. The transferee must provide a copy of the Form 4 to the chief law enforcement officer (CLEO) who has jurisdiction over the area of the transferee’s address shown in item 2a of the Form 4. In addition, if the transferee is other than an individual, a copy of the Form 5320.23, National Firearms Act (NFA) Responsible Person Questionnaire, completed by each responsible person must be provided to their respective chief law enforcement officer. The chief law enforcement officer is considered to be the Chief of Police; the Sheriff; the Head of the State Police, or a State or local district attorney or prosecutor.

Does the Form 1 require that?

Why is something so simple so hard for some?

Sending it through USPS puts a actual date on it that is stamped by a government agency.  If that means anything.  No where does it say it needs to be sent certified or does it require a signature, it simply states to notify, that is all, just notify.

There are absolutely no hoops to jump through on the notification rules or instructions.

Just contracted my CLEO... they want me to bring in a copy to the records department.

Hence why you drop it in the mail to state level CLEO, and never look back.

I'd send it to your State Police. They either get a lot of them and know what to do, or they don't care, and will circular file it. Done.

Ok.

So should I just mail a copy it to the TXDPS then?

I live outside the city limits in my county, so the Sheriff department I believe is my CLEO.

yep, McCraw (DPS)  or Paxton (AG).

SilencerShop uses Paxton.

Thanks!

They seemed confused. I got transfered and I got connected to the Deputy Sheriff. He asked "Have you already had your finger prints taken?"

I said - Yeah, it has already been approved, I just need to notify you.

"Ok, well just bring a copy to the department and ask for the records office."

so many overthinking this.. put 49 cent stamp on it and don't look back, Jeesh....

I went with the Head of the Ohio State Highway Patrol...they were kind of enough to send it back saying they didn't handle it.  I fulfilled my duty by telling them and kept their nice letter on the off chance it would ever be required later.

exactly, nobody gives a shit especially the ATF as it's just another hoop you need to jump through. do
you really think they check that your CLEO received your notification? No, out of the tens of thousands mailed
just think how many either get trashed or never arrive.

I wouldn't do that, there is no requirement for it.    Drop it in the mail to your local pd, the county sheriff office, the head of the state police, or the state or county District Attorney or Prosecutors office.

If you have any concern with your local CLEO, and I would based upon them asking you to come in, send it to a state level office.

You didn't notify them when you submitted the form to the ATF?