Responsibilities of a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) Un

OMB NO.

1110-0026

Responsibilities of a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL)
Under the
National Instant Criminal Background Check System
In accordance with the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Act), the National Instant
Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has been established within the Criminal Justice Information
Services (CJIS) Division of the FBI for the purpose of performing instant background checks on
prospective firearms transferees. The following outlines certain NICS-related responsibilities of each
FFL. These responsibilities also apply to an FFL=s officers, employees, agents, or other representatives.
In the event of a conflict between this outline and a Federal law or regulation, the provisions of the law or
regulation shall control.
An FFL is responsible for understanding and complying with the Gun Control Act of 1968, as amended,
Brady, 28 C.F.R. Part 25, other applicable provisions of law or regulation, and other pertinent policies,
procedures, or guidance as have been or may be established by the FBI (CJIS) or by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
USE OF NICS
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Authorized use of the NICS is limited to the purpose of obtaining information on whether receipt
of a firearm by a prospective transferee would violate federal or state law.

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FFLs, their officers, employees, agents, and/or other representatives are permitted to request
background checks of the NICS only for the authorized purpose.

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Accessing or using the NICS, or permitting access or use of the NICS by another, for any
unauthorized purpose is a violation of Federal law, sanctions for which may include criminal
prosecution; a civil fine not to exceed $10,000, and/or cancellation of NICS inquiry privileges.
ACCESS TO NICS

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Calls to the NICS Section may be initiated from any telephone including pay and/or cellular
phones. However, FFLs should understand the risk of call interception and monitoring when
using a cellular phone.

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When enrolling in the NICS, the FFL will select a code word consisting of six to ten alphabetical
and/or numeric characters.

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FFLs are not required to change their code word; conversely, a code word will remain active
indefinitely if there is no request for change. However, FFLs are encouraged to change their code
words if they suspect that unauthorized persons have gained knowledge of the code word, or that
authorized personnel are misusing the system.

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FFLs shall limit knowledge of their code word to themselves, their officer(s), employee(s),
agent(s), and/or other representative(s) whose duties include performing background checks in
compliance with the Gun Control Act, as amended.

OMB NO.

1110-0026

DISCLOSURE
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FFLs may not disclose the NICS response (APROCEED@, ADELAYED@, or ADENIED@, and NICS
Transaction Number [NTN]) to persons other than (1) the prospective firearm purchaser, (2) the
FBI NICS Section (or its) agent or a participating State Point of Contact, (3) ATF, (4) authorized
representatives of the foregoing, or (5) others as authorized by law.
AUDITS

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FFLs are required to accurately record the NTN they receive in a NICS response on the
appropriate ATF form for audit and inspection purposes, consistent with the 27 CFR Part 178.124
record keeping requirements.

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FBI Supervisory staff will periodically monitor telephone inquiries as an internal quality
assurance measure as well as to ensure proper use of the system.
FFL DATA INTEGRITY

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The FFL shall notify the FBI NICS Section of changes in contact information, such as telephone
number or mailing address.
INDIVIDUAL=S REQUESTING NICS CHECKS ON THE FFL=S BEHALF

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Individuals requesting NICS checks on the FFL=s behalf (including FFL officers, employees,
agents, and/or other representatives) shall understand and agree to abide by the security
guidelines outlined herein. Appendix A is provided as a tool that FFLs may use to document
such an individual=s acknowledgment.

A person is not required to respond to any collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
The FBI has created the FFL Officer/Employee Acknowledgment of Responsibilities so that it is easily understood and requires
the least possible burden on you to provide us with information. The reporting burden for collection of information on the FFL
Officer/Employee Acknowledgment of Responsibilities Form is computed as: 1) learning about the documents, three minutes; 2)
completing the FFL Officer/Employee Acknowledgment of Responsibilities Form, two minutes, for an estimated average of five
minutes per response. If you have comments regarding the accuracy of the estimates, or suggestions for making this form
simpler, you can write the Federal Bureau of Investigation, NICS Operations Center, P. O. Box 4278, Clarksburg, West Virginia
26302-4278.
Privacy Act Statement: Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a, we are providing the following information
regarding this collection of information. The authority under which this information is being collected is the Brady Handgun
Violence Prevention Act (Public Law 103-159) and title 28 CFR part 25. The principal purposes for which the information will
be used are to enroll an FFL into the NICS, log a user onto the FBI NICS E-Check, and identify FFLs that submit NICS checks.
The information collected may be shared with other government agencies for authorized purposes and with certain other persons
and entities for other purposes as provided for in the most recently published routine uses for the NICS (Justice/FBI-018). The
form requests both mandatory and optional information. If you omit mandatory information we may not be able to process your
request.

OMB NO.

1110-0026

FFL Officer/Employee Acknowledgment of Responsibilities
under the

National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
(10/07/02)
Being an officer or employee of the following named Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL):
Name of FFL

FFL Number

Business Name (if different from FFL name)
FFL Address
City

State

Zip

I, the undersigned, hereby acknowledge that I have read and understand my obligations and
responsibilities under the NICS as an FFL officer or employee, as detailed in the FBI outline:
Responsibilities of a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) under the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS) (10/07/02). In consideration of being permitted access to
NICS-related information as part of my employment, I accept and agree to comply with these
obligations and responsibilities. I further acknowledge my legal obligation to the NICS, my
employing FFL, and affected firearms transferees to safeguard all NICS-related information to
which I may be exposed and to protect it from unauthorized use or disclosure. I also
acknowledge that all communications with the NICS, including telephone or electronic dial-up,
are subject to monitoring and recording by the FBI or its representatives, and that my
participation in any communications with the NICS constitutes my consent to such monitoring
and recording.
Officer/employee signature

______________________________

Officer/employee name

______________________________

Date signed

______________________________

Witnessed on behalf of the FFL by:
Witness signature

______________________________

Witness name

______________________________

Witness title/position in FFL

______________________________

COMPLETED COPIES OF APPENDIX A TO BE RETAINED BY FFL
DUPLICATE LOCALLY AS REQUIRED

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