Firearm Transfer Application: Fill & Download for Free

It isn’t about safety at all. In 1934 they made the possession of a full-auto weapon regulated by the Feds. You had to pay a $200 tax stamp (in 1934 dollars) and apply to keep/own one. A fair number of people had Thompsons and other full-auto guns. The law was written because of events like the 1929 Valentine’s Day Massacre, how Hollywood and the press portrayed people with full-auto guns, and in an attempt at the first of many “supply based” gun control laws. It didn’t stop the crime the Mafia was committing, as they could get anything they wanted.There have been other supply-based gun control laws:National Firearms Act ("NFA") (1934): Taxes the manufacture and transfer of, and mandates the registration of Title II weapons such as machine guns, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, heavy weapons, explosive ordnance, suppressors, and disguised or improvised firearms.Federal Firearms Act of 1938 ("FFA"): Requires that gun manufacturers, importers, and persons in the business of selling firearms have a Federal Firearms License (FFL). Prohibits the transfer of firearms to certain classes of persons, such as convicted felons.Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (1968): Prohibited interstate trade in handguns, increased the minimum age to 21 for buying handguns.Gun Control Act of 1968 ("GCA"): Focuses primarily on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers.Firearm Owners Protection Act ("FOPA") (1986): Revised and partially repealed the Gun Control Act of 1968. Prohibited the sale to civilians of automatic firearms manufactured after the date of the law's passage. Required ATF approval of transfers of automatic firearms.1968 and 1986 to name a couple..and several since then (thanks to Murphy Barrett for the research to compile this list!!)I stopped at 1986 since that is when the registry (required to have your full-auto weapon) was closed. So no new weapons are being added to the registry. You may only purchase a full-auto weapon that is on the registry already, and go through the process of tax stamp, and application, a body-cavity level background check run, and so on.That one act meant the value of existing ones would skyrocket. Like the price of a work by Vermeer or other famous artists skyrocket when they die. There will be no more made to dilute the value of what’s out there. If you find a working Thompson submachine gun in your granddaddy’s attic, it’s worth a fortune; but since it isn’t (presumably) on the registry, by law it must be destroyed.It wouldn’t surprise me in the least that the gun-grabbers want every firearm to be placed on a registry, then have that registry closed as well. Then all you could buy was a registered firearm, at hugely inflated prices.But if that happens, do you think the population will accede to that? Or will just be giving impetus to gun cartels forming up?

It’s pretty simple really. Registration has a bad history and I’ll give you some examples.We already have some amount of this is the US at the federal level. The National Firearms Act maintains a registry of whomever (legally) owns a machine gun, short barrel rifle or shotgun, suppressor and a few other related items. Up until 1986, it was possible to buy a brand new full auto rifle by applying with the ATF, paying a $200 tax and then the rifle was yours.In 1986, Congress closes the NFA registry to new machine guns. After that, any existing machine gun on the registry could be transferred to a new owner, if that prospective owner went through the same application process and paid the tax, but no new ones could be added. I’ve heard there are between 150 and 500K machine guns on the registry and that means the prices have shot way, way up. A transferrable M16 goes for $30K and you can’t buy one unless someone else is willing to sell. That means that only a chosen few can actually own these and is a ban for the rest.Next, in Massachusetts, all (legal) firearm transfers are recorded in a state database. In 1996, Massachusetts enacted the federal assault weapon ban as state law by taking the same exact language and putting it into state legislation. During the federal assault weapon ban, and during all the time that was state law, AR15s were sold as long as they lacked the certain features that defined them as an assault weapon by the law (flash hider, bayonet lug, collapsible stock, etc).In 2016, the current attorney general issued an “enforcement letter” saying that she was reinterpreting the state law such that any AR15 was an assault weapon. For 18 years prior, under 3 different AGs, these featureless AR15s were sold and, because the state has registration, this was done with the full knowledge of the state government. Also, as I said, the ATF allowed these sorts of sales when the federal AWB was in place.Further, AG Healey stated that it was a felony to have purchased these guns during that 18 year period, but that she would use her discretion not to prosecute whomever purchased them before her letter. Really? People are supposed to trust that?On an issue unrelated to firearms, in 2017, there were plenty of reports of DACA recipients stating they regretted registering because now ICE, under the Trump administration, knew where they were.Finally, as Roe v. Wade shows, there is a Constitutional right to privacy and gun registration is a violation of that right. Why should a law abiding citizen be forced to give up that right because it might help solve crimes unrelated to him or her? Various states have registries already and none of them have been shown to be any benefit. So again, why should a law abiding person be punished for the misdeeds of a totally unrelated person?

You misunderstand US firearms regulations.There is no “fully automatic weapons license” in the USA. It is a Federal tax stamp issued at the time of transfer of the machine gun from one owner to another. At best, the Form 4 transfer application constitutes a “license”.If you are convicted of a disqualifying crime, generally any felony and certain crimes of misdemeanor violence, you become ineligible to own any firearms. Single shot, manual action, semi-auto, full-auto, doesn’t matter.Once disqualified from firearms ownership, you cannot touch, handle, fire or own any firearm or ammunition in the United States for life unless you can petition for having your rights restored.US law does not distinguish firearms action type for legal possession for convicted criminals vs. law-abiding. Once convicted of a sufficiently serious crime, you lose all 2nd Amendment rights for life effectively.