Comment on FR Doc # 2026-09182

I generally support Docket No. ATF-2026-0001 because it would simplify Form 4473 procedures and reduce unnecessary burdens on lawful firearm transactions. The proposal contains several worthwhile reforms. These include extending the period during which a completed Form 4473 and associated background check may be used, allowing greater flexibility in establishing identity and residence, permitting electronic forms and automated population of routine information, and allowing licensees to attach copies of identification documents instead of manually transcribing every detail. I also support establishing a clear procedure under which a federal firearms licensee may conduct a background check for an intrastate transfer between two unlicensed individuals without taking the firearm into inventory or becoming the transferor. Individuals who voluntarily want a background check should have access to that service without turning a simple private transaction into a conventional dealer transfer. However, ATF should make unmistakably clear that an FFL conducting only a private-party background check is not required to collect or retain the private seller’s name, home address, identification-document information, or other personal information. The purpose of the background check is to determine whether the prospective recipient may lawfully possess the firearm. That determination depends upon the buyer’s identifying information and prohibited-person status—not the seller’s personal information. The Form 4473 can document the firearm, the prospective recipient, the NICS or state point-of-contact response, and the FFL that conducted the check without creating an unnecessary federal record concerning the private seller. Requiring seller information would discourage people from voluntarily using this service, create additional privacy and data-security concerns, and turn a limited background-check record into a broader record of private firearm ownership and disposition. It would add paperwork without improving the accuracy of the buyer’s background check. The proposed form’s “transferor/seller” identification block appears to request the trade name, address, and federal firearms license number of the licensee completing the form. ATF should clarify in the final rule, the form, and its instructions that this block refers only to the participating FFL and does not require the personal information of an unlicensed seller. Subject to that clarification, I support the proposed rule. It makes firearm transactions less tedious, gives FFLs and lawful purchasers more practical options, and provides access to voluntary background checks without unnecessarily converting private sellers into subjects of federal transaction records.