Is My Gun Registered In My Name Still

Practice I Have To Annals My Gun?

Firearms | September 2, 2020

I get this question a lot, and it'south clear that there is some defoliation out there well-nigh what it means to "register" a firearm. It is the purpose of this article to lend some clarity to the subject.

In lodge to comprehensively address the topic of firearms registration, I will make two distinctions. The outset distinction is between the categories of firearms: those which are subject to the National Firearms Human action ("NFA Firearms"), and those which are non ("non-NFA Firearms"). (I am avoiding other frequently-used terms, like "Championship I Firearms," "Championship II Firearms," or "Class 3 Firearms" as they are inaccurate and misleading.) The second distinction I volition make is between registering a firearm, on the one hand, and undergoing an ownership transfer background check, on the other.

Categories of Firearms

Returning to the two types of firearms, "non-NFA Firearms" are the most usually owned guns, and this category includes handguns (revolvers and semi-automated pistols) and long guns (rifles and shotguns). Only a handful of states crave registration of these types of guns. In fact, here in Pennsylvania we have laws that affirmatively prohibit registration of firearms. The premise of such a prohibition is that firearm registration is a step down a slippery slope, leading to eventual confiscation. Conversely, the motivation behind background checks is to ensure that those who are "Prohibited Persons" (such equally felons, for instance) are non allowed to own guns.

However, the law still requires the transferee (the recipient) of sure non-NFA Firearms to undergo a background check (every bit mentioned above, for the purpose of making certain a transferee is not a "Prohibited Person"). This is done at a Federal Firearms Licensee ("FFL," i.e. a dealer) who runs a background bank check on the transferee through the NICS (the National Instant Criminal Groundwork Check Arrangement) database, though here in Pennsylvania we utilize the "PICS" (Pennsylvania Instant Check Organisation). This is e'er accompanied by the completion of an ATF Form 4473, besides as the Pennsylvania State Police Application/Record of Sale form (SP 4-113) which is the form that lists the various factors prohibiting gun ownership.

(Caution: we have had many clients stumble into trouble by filling out one of these forms without a proper understanding of what they mean – read the instructions on the back of the forms before completing them, because an incorrect answer can lead to criminal charges.)

All Pennsylvania handgun transfers must be subjected to a PICS check, with the completion of a Form 4473 by the transferee of the handgun. However, PICS checks (and therefore ATF Course 4473s) are not required for long gun (i.e. rifles and shotguns) transfers in Pennsylvania (as long as the barrels are non shortened). That means that a handgun which is owned in Pennsylvania simply which was not properly transferred at an FFL (with a PICS check and ATF Form 4473) is an illegal handgun, and its possession volition subject the owner to criminal penalties. (In that location are some exceptions to this, though, such as transfers between a parent and an adult child.) A long gun, all the same, equally indicated in a higher place, tin exist transferred in Pennsylvania without an FFL-completed PICS bank check and ATF Grade 4473, and therefore you can transfer ownership of a long gun in Pennsylvania with just a hand milkshake. (It is, withal, strongly recommended that at least a Beak of Sale always be completed for such transfers.)

What'southward the Deviation Between Groundwork Checks and Registrations?

As distinguished from a background cheque as described higher up, the registration of firearms is non permitted in Pennsylvania. In those other states requiring firearms registration, the process usually involves bringing the firearm to the local constabulary station for the purpose of alerting the municipality of its presence in their jurisdiction. This is an boosted footstep that some other states crave, and is typically done nearly immediately later the ownership transfer and NICS background bank check. (Residents of other states should check their local laws on specific procedures.)

It has been claimed, and rightly so, that many states' background check procedures in fact establish 'back door' registrations, since the concluding result is the same – the regime knows who has what guns. Pennsylvania is a good example of this. Even though nosotros have a statute on the books which specifically outlaws any firearm registration, a dealer-facilitated background check must accompany all handgun transfers, the form that the transferee fills out is and then kept past the dealer, and a copy is sent to the Pennsylvania State Constabulary.

Nevertheless, the storage of firearm purchaser information, while currently an unfortunate feature of our firearms transfer procedure, is not a necessary feature of a background check per se. In other words (and here I depict non what the police is, but what it could be) it would be entirely reasonable for a dealer to conduct a background cheque on a transferee by simply calling the state police and getting a 'thumbs upwards' or 'thumbs down' on the transferee, without generating unnecessary paperwork for storage purposes. The land police could limit its record-keeping to the fact that a groundwork bank check was washed on a specific firearm at a specific dealer, without any reference to the identity of the transferee. Only the dealer would maintain a photocopy of the transferee'due south driver's license, which he would just be mandated to provide to police force enforcement if a warrant was issued for its provision, in the case that a offense had been committed with the firearm in question.

Such a process would forbid a groundwork check from becoming a 'dorsum door' registration, but would also accost legitimate law enforcement needs. Since this is not the case at nowadays, the but firearms owners in Pennsylvania who are currently not subject to whatever kind of 'back door' registration are those who have purchased their long guns privately.

Registering an NFA Firearm

Returning to the law equally it is, the other category of firearms is "NFA Firearms," which term is defined every bit including any of the following: (A) a "short-barreled shotgun," the barrel(due south) of which measure(s) less than 18 inches, or the overall length of which is less than 26 inches; (B) a "brusque-barreled rifle," the barrel of which measures less than 16 inches, or the overall length of which is less than 26 inches; (C) "whatsoever other weapon" ("AOW") (a pen gun, for example); (D) a machine gun; (E) a silencer (a/grand/a "suppressor"); or (F) a destructive device (a grenade, for example). As in all other states, in Pennsylvania all NFA Firearms must be registered with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (which is nevertheless commonly referred to equally the "ATF").

A "Form iv" is the ATF form required to transfer and register an NFA Firearm. Upon blessing of a Course 4, an possessor is issued a "tax stamp" (since the National Firearms Act is merely a chapter within the Internal Revenue Lawmaking), and only and then may the applicant take possession of the NFA Firearm.

Pennsylvania prohibits the possession of "destructive devices," calling them "Prohibited Offensive Weapons," but allows for the possession of any of the other higher up-listed NFA Firearms, provided they are properly registered with the ATF.

Permit u.s.a. proceed in mind, then, that the PICS background cheque (in theory at least) just ensures that a transferee is not a Prohibited Person, and, with some exceptions, nearly all firearms (both NFA and non-NFA) are subject to background checks. Registration, on the other hand, while required for the transfer of NFA Firearms, is not officially permitted in Pennsylvania. May we be precise in our terminology, and zealous to keep these terms distinct, both in theory and in practice, remembering that groundwork checks are intended to keep guns out of the hands of the bad guys, whereas registration may somewhen go on them out of the hands of the good guys.

Josh Bodene, Esq., an associate in the police house of Trinity Police force, is a firearms enthusiast and handles all aspects of firearms law.