Posted: 3/20/2007 9:38:26 AM EDT
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I thought under FOPA the federal government could not have any sort of registry in regards to what non-NFA firearms private citizens own and all background check information must be destroyed within 24 hours. However, I don't know what happens with our 4473's in regard to this. I know a dealer must retain them for the entire time he is in business and then surrender them to the BATF. With the BATF having them in hand, isn't that a sort of registry, since they can link a person to a specific purchase? Sorry if this is a stupid question or if it has been asked a million times. |
Currently a dealer must retain them for 20 years (used to be 10) and it says how long right on the 4473. If a FFL goes out of business before that time, he must surrender them to ATF. If he is still in business he has the option to destroy them. This is why you want your dealer to still be in business 20 years from now. That said, I know a couple local shops who can produce FFLs from the early 70s when the storage requirement was only 10 years (maybe 5 can't remember for sure). And yes, surrendered FFLs can form the basis for a registry. Now that Kmart, Sears and several WalMarts no longer sell guns, who do you think has all those 4473s? |