Comment on FR Doc # 2026-09182
Cheryl MilitelloOpposeOther
Summary: The commenter opposes the ATF's proposal to remove the question asking if the person filling out Form 4473 is the actual buyer. They argue that this change would make it harder to prosecute straw purchases and allow gun traffickers to go unpunished.
The ATF proposed a major revision of Form 4473, the form used to initiate a background
check and record the details of a gun sale.
● The current form asks the person filling out the form if they are the actual buyer of the
gun. This question plays a crucial role in ensuring that the background check and federal
recordkeeping requirements serve their intended purposes.
● Federal law prohibits making false statements on this form. So a person who falsely
attests on the current form to be the buyer of the gun when in fact they are buying the
gun for someone else is violating the law and can be prosecuted.
● The ATF is proposing to remove this question from the form, replacing it with a question
about straw purchases. Federal law defines straw purchases to only include instances
where the person signing the form has reasonable cause to believe the person on
whose behalf they are buying the gun is not eligible to possess it.
● This revision would make it impossible to prosecute someone who buys a gun on behalf
of another person, unless there was reasonable cause to believe that person was
prohibited from owning a firearm — allowing gun traffickers to go unpunished.