1140-0107 supporting statement part A 2025. w pub cmt 10-23-25

National Firearms Act (NFA) Responsible Person Questionnaire

OMB Control Number 1140-0107

OMB Expiration Date: 12/31/2025

Department of Justice

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)

Information Collection Request (ICR)

OMB 1140-0107

NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire

(ATF Form 5320.23)

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

A. JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain the circumstances that make the information collection necessary.

The NFA requires that certain information be provided to ATF by applicants who want to make and register an NFA firearm (Form 1), who wish to apply to transfer and register and NFA firearm (Form 4), or who wish to apply for a tax-exempt transfer and registration (Form 5). 26 U.S.C. chapter 53. ATF’s implementing regulations are in 27 CFR 479.62, 479.63, 479.84, and 479.85. When one of these forms is filled out by an entity other than an individual, the entity provides the information on the form 1, 4, or 5. In such cases, each responsible person (RP) for that entity must provide the same information that is requested for an individual on the form 1, 4, or 5, but provides this information on a separate form. This is to ensure that each person is legally permitted to make, transfer, or receive an NFA firearm.

The NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire (ATF Form 5320.23) was created to identify the RP and type of firearm involved in the transaction. The form includes questions that help ATF determine if the RP is prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm. The RP must submit a Form 5320.23 as part of the application package with forms 1, 4, or 5. This information collection covers the Form 5320.23 and its attachments.

ATF has found that collecting a responsible person’s social security number, date of birth, race/ethnicity, and UPIN (if applicable) reduces delays in processing NICS background checks, which are part of the application approval process. Therefore, Form 5320.23 includes fields for this information. While it is optional, applicants may find it beneficial to include this information.

Form changes

ATF is making the following changes to the layout and overall design of the form in 2025, as part of renewing this ICR:

• revising the title to be shorter

• removing the photo box on the form and revising the instructions to reflect anticipated regulatory change to who must submit fingerprints or photographs and to shift from a passport-style photo to a copy of a photo identification card

• combining race/ethnicity items

• allowing additional types of electronic/digital signatures

• adding references to eForms

• adding instructions for married couples jointly making, transferring, and registering a firearm, as an ‘other legal entity’

• correcting typographical/grammar items

• removing specific firearm information other than the type of firearm

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information will be used.

The NFA Division within ATF uses the information on this form to determine whether the applicant may legally make, possess, or receive the firearm under federal, state, tribal, and local law. Sections 5812 and 5822 provides that ATF cannot approve an application if making or possessing the firearm would place the person in violation of law. The form asks the RP to respond, under penalties of perjury, to questions to determine whether they are prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms.

Submitting fingerprints, which RPs must do under this information collection, is necessary for background checks as part of determining whether the applicant or responsible person would be prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm, and is required by the Act.

The RP must submit the form in duplicate, one copy of which the RP submits to ATF with a photograph and fingerprints cards and the Form 1, 4, or 5 application. The RP sends the second copy (the CLEO copy) to the chief law enforcement officer the RP identifies on the form. The required CLEO copy allows local law enforcement authorities to provide additional information to aid ATF in assessing the person’s eleigibility to possess firearms.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the information collection involves using automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision for adopting this means of collection.

ATF Form 5320.23 is available on the ATF website in an electronically fillable format, which can be downloaded, printed, and submitted with a paper application. Although it is not available via eForms, it can be downloaded, completed electronically, and submitted as an attachment within eForms, which both decreases filing time and increases the accuracy and completeness of the filing.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication.

This information is not duplicative and requires a person to submit information relevant to the lawfulness of their request to receive a firearm; ATF must ascertain their identity and qualifications on a case-by-case basis for each transfer. As a result, each applicant must provide unique information for each application, and it is not possible to use that information for other purposes. ATF uses a uniform subject classification system to identify duplication and to ensure that any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use in this information collection before establishing the collection.

5. If the information collection impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden.

This information collection does not have a significant impact on small entities.

6. Describe the consequence to federal programs or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

Without this information collection, firearms could be transferred to persons whose possession would violate the law and present a public safety risk. Because a person’s status can change over time, the frequency cannot be reduced – they must submit the information each time they want to possess and register an NFA firearm. The statute also requires that they must do so for these purposes.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause the information collection to be conducted in a manner inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.6.

Requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly:

Although ATF does not require respondents to report information at any established frequency, the frequency is determined by how often any given person wants to make and register or transfer an NFA firearm. It is possible therefore that submitting an application to ATF might occur more than quarterly if a person applies more than once and during different quarters of the year.

There are no other special circumstances associated with this information collection, which is otherwise conducted in a manner consistent with 5 CFR 1320.6.

8. If applicable, provide a copy, and identify the date and page number, of the agency’s notice published in the Federal Register, as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

The 60-Day Notice was published in the Federal Register on August 15, 2025 (90 FR 39425). The comment period ended on October 14, 2025. ATF received three public comments on this ICR during the 60-day comment period, one from a licensed dealer in NFA firearms, and two from industry trade organizations, one of which represents retailers in the farm store industry, which includes federally licensed firearms dealers, and the other of which represents the firearms industry and recreational shooting and hunting. ATF appreciates the feedback from these commenters on the proposed changes. It is helpful to receive feedback, positive or negative, from persons impacted by our processes so we can make them more user-friendly and efficient.

Comment summaries

Topic 1

One commenter approved of ATF’s proposed change to remove the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) notification requirement and the corresponding extra copy in ATF Forms 5320.4 for that purpose. The commenter then suggested that the next step would be to retire ATF Form 5320.23 (“Form 23”), which is the responsible person (“RP”) questionnaire that accompanies some Forms 4, along with some ATF Forms 5320.1 (“Form 1”) and 5320.5 (“Form 5”). To clarify, Forms 1, 4, and 5 are application forms to make, transfer, and register NFA firearms for individual persons or companies, government organizations, and other legal entities. When an individual completes these forms, they enter the necessary personal identity information so that NICS can complete the required background check. However, when a legal entity completes these forms, it cannot provide the personal identity information for all of that entity’s responsible persons on the same form, which is designed for one person’s information (and which already has the entity’s information in some of those fields). So, ATF uses Form 23 for responsible persons to submit their personal identity information along with the primary form. Each responsible person completes their own Form 23.

The commenter stated that Form 23 duplicates the data that is entered on Forms 1, 4, or 5, raises mismatch risk, and leads to unnecessary RFCs and disapprovals. The commenter also pointed out that, on the eForms version of these forms, the transferee eligibility questions are presented for individual submissions. They stated that moving, and thus capturing, these same questions at the RP module for individual and trust/entity filings would create a single, uniform workflow across individual and trust submissions, thereby reducing duplication and errors. They also added that doing this would make the non-eForm version of Form 23 unnecessary for persons who submit an eForm version of Form 1, 4, or 5. Using ATF’s burden information in the notice for this ICR, the commenter estimated that eliminating Form 23 for eForm filings of Forms 1, 4, and 5 would save the public approximately 144,000 hours/year and roughly $3.3 million in respondent time (at $23/hour), while also saving ATF processing time.

ATF response

ATF agrees with the commenter that using an eForm instead of having to complete a paper form would save time and reduce hassles for respondents. Because of the significant programming cost and time necessary to migrate a form to the eForms platform and ensure it is fully integrated with other systems that process and account for the forms, it isn’t possible to do all the forms at the same time. So ATF is working through forms in a queue, as budget permits, and expects the Form 23 to be added to eForms soon. In the interim, as part of this ICR renewal, ATF is making the Form 23 into an electronically fillable and digitally signable form. This will save respondents substantial time and inconvenience until the Form 23 is in the eForms system.

We note, however, that the information being requested of each RP – even though it is the same personal identity information and qualification questions that are asked of individual persons – does not duplicate the information that would be included on a Form 1, 4, or 5 in such cases. If there is a need for a Form 23, that means there is a trust, company, or other legal entity completing the Form 1, 4, or 5, and therefore entering entity information into the required fields. Entities, however, can’t enter personal identity information, and an RP can’t enter their personal information into the same fields with entity information in them. Likewise, if there is more than one RP for the applying entity, each RP can’t enter their personal information into the same fields with other RP information in them. So each RP must complete those fields by submitting a separate form (a Form 23), even though it requests the same information for each RP as the Form 1, 4, or 5 requests for individual persons (when individuals apply, they do not also do a Form 23).

Topic 2

All three commenters expressed support for the changes ATF is making to streamline and revise Form 23. One industry trade organization stated that they strongly encourage and support these efforts, and specifically cited eForms and electronic signature, correcting typographical/grammar items, removing specific firearm information other than the type of firearm, and adding instructions for married couples to jointly make, transfer, and register NFA firearms. The other industry trade group stated the proposed changes reflect a clear commitment to modernizing regulatory processes while strengthening both public safety and operational efficiency. They specifically stated they appreciate the form’s clearer design and improved instructions, including the streamlined title and simplified formatting, removing the photo box and allowing ID cards in place of passport photos, consolidating race/ethnicity fields, and updating instructions for trusts, corporations, and married couples acting as joint applicants or transferees. They also stated the move to electronic filing, signatures, and fingerprints will significantly cut administrative burdens, streamline submissions, and reduce delays, allowing FFLs more time to focus on business and compliance needs.

ATF response

In response to the first commenter’s suggestion that ATF should make all efforts to modernize these NFA forms, and the other two commenters’ emphasis on how the current revisions are a strong step in that direction, we think the following information will be helpful. The proposed changes to these forms reflect larger corresponding changes the agency is proposing to its NFA regulations and across other NFA forms, as well. These changes have been developing for some time and are projected to take effect during the next year. In addition to allowing electronic signatures, ATF is also making its NFA forms electronically fillable as the ICRs come up for renewal, and expects to move to solely electronic forms in 2026. In addition, NFA is continuing to build the rest of its forms into its eForms platform, so applicants can complete and submit the forms online.

9. Explain any decision to provide any payments or gifts to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

ATF does not provide payments or gifts in connection with this collection.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

ATF has not assured respondents of confidentiality. However, the information being collected includes PII and is thus protected by the Privacy Act. The information is maintained by ATF in a system of records, Justice/ATF-008, Regulatory Enforcement Record System. The form that accompanies this ICR includes a Privacy Act statement that covers this information and informs respondents of the system of records, routine uses, etc.

The information on this form is also considered “tax information” or “tax return information” and any release is severely restricted under the Tax Reform Act (26 U.S.C. § 6103) and may be disclosed only to federal authorities for purposes of prosecuting violations of the NFA. It is protected as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private.

This information collection includes questions of a sensitive nature. These relate to whether the applicant is prohibited by law from receiving or possessing an NFA firearm, such as whether the applicant has been convicted of any crime, is a fugitive from justice, is a drug user, is an illegal alien, etc. ATF needs this information to determine whether the individual or responsible person is prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms.

12. Provide estimates of the information collection’s hour burden.

There are an estimated total 749,242 respondents to this information collection. Each respondent responds once per year. It will take each respondent 12 minutes (.20 hours) to provide their responses. Therefore, the total burden hours for this IC are 149,848.40 hours (749,242 respondents * .20 hours).

Because respondents must complete the process as a private individual and not on behalf of their official business, ATF assumes that they would not be doing the application during paid work time. Therefore, ATF calculated the monetized value of that time using a standard “leisure wage” formula. For this calculation, ATF used a methodology developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Because HHS’s methodology relies on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data that is updated on a monthly basis, we did not need to use an inflation-adjusted wage rate. Accordingly, consistent with HHS’s methodology, we used the BLS median weekly income for full-time employees as the base from which to calculate the hourly leisure wage. Based on this methodology, ATF attributes a rounded value of $23 per hour for time spent by respondents to complete the Form 1 applications. This results in a total of $3,446,504 (149,848 hours * $23).

Table 1. Estimated annualized respondent cost and hour burden (rounded)

Activity	Number of respondents	Frequency	Total annual responses	Time per response	Total annual burden (hours)	Hourly rate	Monetized value of respondent time
Complete RP Questionnaire	749,242	1	749,242	0.20	149,848	$23	$3,446,504

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record-keepers resulting from the information collection. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in Items 12 and 14).

There are no additional costs to this ICR.

14. Provide estimates of the annualized cost to the federal government.

ATF estimates no additional costs to the federal government associated with this collection. This is due to the current staffing and administrative capacity already in place to complete any marginal processing required under this information collection, with long-term staffing capacity serving as a sunk cost.

15. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments.

The agency has not made program adjustments associated with this information collection. However, the agency has made revisions to the form to make it easier to read and use. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of applicant responsible persons per year, rising from 115,829 applicants during the last renewal to 749,242, an increase of 633,413 responsible persons. However, there has been a decrease in the time burden due to changes in technology allowing electronic forms, reducing the number of respondents who must provide fingerprints and reducing the number of copies, allowing electronic fingerprints on-site, reducing respondents who must provide photographs, and substituting photocopied identification cards instead, all submitted electronically. As a result, there has been a corresponding decrease in the burden hours per respondent, from .5 hours to .2 hours each. These combined changes have resulted in resulting in an increase in total annual burden hours from 57,915 to 149,848 (an increase of 91,933 hours).

16. For information collections whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulations and publication.

ATF will not publish the results of this collection.

17. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

ATF intends to display the OMB expiration date for this information collection.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

B. INFORMATION COLLECTIONS EMPLOYING STATISTICAL METHODS.

This collection does not employ statistical methods.