Businesses carry out operations through their employees. When an FFL temporarily assigns a firearm to an employee for bona fide business purposes, title and control of the firearm remain with the licensee. For this reason, no transfer or disposition occurs for purposes of the GCA. Accordingly, no NICS check, disposition record entry, or ATF Form 4473 is required for the temporary assignment of a firearm by an FFL to its employee. Bona fide business purposes, in this context, are purposes integral to the FFL’s business operations, and do not include permanently assigning a firearm to a specific employee, or loaning or renting a firearm to an employee for personal use. Those are considered transfers or other dispositions that would trigger recordkeeping and NICS requirements. Because FFLs are accountable for their firearms inventories, ATF strongly recommends that FFLs ensure accountability for firearms temporarily assigned to employees. In addition, ATF reminds FFLs that they may not knowingly make available or assign a firearm to any person whose receipt or possession of firearms is prohibited under the GCA.

Businesses may also support their operations through contractors or volunteers. When an FFL temporarily assigns a firearm to a non-employee, even for bona fide business purposes, a transfer occurs for purposes of the GCA. Temporary firearms assignments to employees are different from temporary firearms assignments to non-employee contractors, agents, and representatives because the FFL exerts a higher level of control over its employees than its contractors or agents. Unlike contractors and agents, employees work for wages or salaries under direct supervision. In an employer-employee relationship, the employer controls not only the result of the employee’s work, but also the manner, training, and hours in which the work will be carried out. In independent contractor or non-employee agency relationships, the independent contractor or non-employee agent has control of the manner, training, and hours of performing the work, and is only responsible for the result. Because an FFL relinquishes control over a firearm by temporarily assigning it to a non-employee, the GCA requirements apply.

If the FFL and the unlicensed person do not wish to enter into an employer-employee relationship, certain unlicensed persons may obtain a Federal firearms license from ATF. As discussed above, the Brady Law does not apply to transfers between FFLs; therefore, no NICS check would be required to transfer a firearm from one FFL to another. In ATF Ruling 73-19, for example, ATF determined that firearms consultants and experts may be licensed as dealers to receive firearms from unlicensed persons for testing and evaluation. ATF Rul. 73-19, 1973-ATF C.B. 93. Licensed dealers who engage solely in firearms consulting or expert services for firearms testing or evaluation need not maintain regular business hours or open their business premises to the general public, although they must comply with all other applicable GCA requirements.