Justification for OMB 1140-0032 6.24.2022

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Supporting Statement Information Collection Request (ICR)

OMB 1140-0032

Records of Acquisition and Disposition, Dealers of Type 01/02 Firearms, and Collectors of Type 03 Firearms [Records of Acquisition and Disposition, Collectors of Firearms]

1. Justification

1. Necessity of Information Collection (IC)

The recordkeeping requirements established by 18 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section (§) 923, under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), as amended, grants the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) the authority to inquire about the disposition of any firearm, during the course of a criminal investigation. Specifically, these regulations require a uniform recordkeeping format. These regulations also grant ATF officers the authority to examine dealers and collectors records, during firearms tracing or compliance inspections, per 27 CFR §§ 478.23(c) (1) and (2). In the case of the latter, compliance inspections, these activities are conducted under the authority of 18 U.S.C. §§ 923(g) (1) (A), (B), (C), and (D).

2. Needs and Uses

Federal firearms licensees (FFLs) and dealers of firearms are required to use the Firearms Transaction Record/ Registro de Transacción de Armas de Fuego – ATF Form 4473 (5300.9) and (5300.9A) (ATF Form 4473 (5300.9/9A)) and properly record the acquisition and disposition (A&D) of firearms, by entering the required information (i.e., description of firearm, acquisition receipt, and disposition information), into a proper record book as mandated by 27 Code of Federal Regulation (CFR) § 478.125(e). The dealer must record this information no later than the close of the next business day after the acquisition of a firearm, and no later than seven days following date of disposition of firearms. The records must be maintained in bound form under the required format. ATF may use the recorded information during criminal investigations or government compliance inspections. The record retention requirement for this collection of information is 20 years.

Unlike other FFLs, licensed collectors are not required to use ATF Form 4473 (5300.9/9A). In fact, collectors records are established by entering the required information (i.e., a description of the firearm(s), acquisition receipt, and firearm disposition information), into the proper record book, as mandated by 27 CFR § 478.125(f). The collector must also record this information no later than the close of the next business day after the date of acquisition, or within seven (7) days of the disposition of curios and relics firearm(s). These records must be maintained in bound form in the required format. ATF may use the collected information during criminal investigations or government inspections. The record retention requirement for this collection of information is 20 years.

3. Use of Information Technology

Dealers and collectors must record and maintain the required firearm information on the premises of the licensee, along with the description of the firearm, acquisition receipt, and disposition information, in accordance with the format required by 27 CFR §§ 478.125(e) and 478.125(f). Per ATF Ruling 2016-1, regarding the approved use of information technology for A&D records, dealers and collectors may keep electronic records to fulfill the requirements of this IC.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

ATF uses a subject classification system to identify duplication and ensure that no previously submitted information can be used for the purposes of this collection.

5. Minimizing Burden on Small Business

This collection of information has no significant impact on small businesses.

6. Consequences of Not Conducting or Less Frequent Collection

Less frequent collection of this information would increase the threat to public safety since A&D records can be used during criminal investigations and firearms traces.

7. Special Circumstances

There are no special circumstances associated with this collection. This requirement is conducted in a manner consistent with 5 CFR § 1320.6.

8. Public Comments and Consultations

No comments were received during the 60-day Federal Register (FR) notice period. However, a 30-day FR notice will be published to solicit public comments.

9. Provision of Payments or Gifts to Respondents

No payment or gift is associated with this collection.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

The records for this IC are maintained on the premises of the licensee in a secured location. Confidentiality is not assured.

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

No records of a sensitive nature are maintained.

12. Estimate of Respondent’s Burden

There are 114,001 respondents for this IC. Each respondent will report once annually. Therefore, the total responses are also 114,001.

The estimated time to complete each report is 3 hours. As such, the annual time burden associated with inspections reporting is 342,003 hours, which can be calculated as follows: 3 (total hours to create each inspection report) * 114,001 (# of respondents).

ATF does not have a data source to estimate the number of records produced annually per respondent. Assuming that the average respondent creates or maintains one (1) record each, and the time needed to do so is estimated at 3 minutes, (3 minutes divided by 60 minutes for 1 hour or .05. Therefore, the total record creation and maintenance burden for this IC is 5,700 hours, which is equal to .05 (3 minutes or time taken to create and maintain each record) * 114,001 (# of respondents).

Therefore, the combined total annual burden hours for this collection are 347,703, which is equal to 342,003 (total inspection report hours) + 5,700 total record creation/maintenance hours).

13. Estimate of Cost Burden

There is no public cost associated with this collection.

14. Cost to the Federal Government

There is no cost to the Federal Government.

15. Reason for Change in Burden

During the last renewal in 2020, the total respondents and responses to this collection were 51,976. However, due to the addition of Type 01/02 firearms dealers and Type 03 firearms collectors to this collection, the total respondents and responses have increased by 62,025 to 114,001. Consequently, the total burden hours have also increased by 189,176 to 347,703, since the last renewal in 2020, during which the total burden was 158,527 hours.

16. Anticipated Publication Plan and Schedule

The results of this information collection will not be published.

17. Display of Expiration Date

ATF does not request approval to omit the Office of Management and Budget expiration date for this collection.

18. Exception to the Certification Statement

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

2. This Collections of Information Employs No Statistical Methods.

4