1140-0037 Justification

DEPARTMENT of JUSTICE

BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES

Supporting Statement

Information Collection Requirement

1140-0037

Letter Application to Obtain Authorization for the Assembly of a Nonsporting Rifle or Nonsporting Shotgun for the Purpose of Testing or Evaluation

A. Justification:

1. 18 U.S.C. 922(r) prohibits the assembly, from imported parts, of any semiautomatic rifle or shotgun which is identical to any rifle or shotgun prohibited from importation under Section 925 (d) (3) . This prohibition precludes the circumvention of the importation prohibition on nonsporting rifles and shotguns by importing nonsporting firearms parts and assembling them in the United States using domestically produced frames or receivers capable of accepting imported parts. Section 922(r)(2) provides that the Attorney General may grant permission for the assembly of the prohibited firearms-for the purpose of testing and evaluation.

2. A person desiring authorization to assemble nonsporting semiautomatic rifles or shotguns shall submit a written request, in duplicate to the Director. Each such request shall be executed under the penalties of perjury and shall contain a complete and accurate description of the firearm to be assembled, and such diagrams or drawings as necessary to enable the Director to make a determination. The Director may require the submission of the firearm parts for examination and evaluation. If the submission of the firearm parts is impractical, the person requesting the authorization shall so advise the Director and designate the place where the firearm parts will be available for examination and evaluation.

3. Respondents have the option of submitting the request by email, fax or mail to the Director. It is reported that the majority of respondents fax their response.

4. An agency subject classification system is used to identify duplication. No similar information is available from other sources.

5. The collection of information has no impact on small businesses or other small entities.

6. Without the letter of application, there would be no mechanism for parties to obtain authorization to produce the firearms for testing and evaluation. Less frequent collection of this information would pose a threat to public safety.

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

8. Within ATF, there are industry analyst who work with the industry and aware of the industries needs and concerns. These concerns are taken into consideration for ATF’s information collections. A 60-day and 30-day notice has benn published in the Federal Register in order to solicit comments from the public. No comments were received.

9. No payment or gift is associated with this collection.

10. Respondents’ responses are kept in a secure location

11. Respondents are not required to maintain records of a sensitive nature.

12. It is estimated 5 respondents will request authorization annually, with a frequency of one request per year. The estimated average burden associated with this collection of information is 30 minutes per respondent, depending on individual circumstances. The annual burden associated with this information collection is 3 hours. Please note while this information collection has less than 10 respondents, ATF must continue to renew for OMB approval because the existing regulation (27 CFR 478.39) associated with the collection.

13. There is no start-up cost or annual cost associated with this collection.

14. There is no cost to the Federal Government.

15. There are no program changes or adjustments associated with this collection. There is no change in burden from the previous submission.

16. The results of this collection will not be published.

17. ATF does not request approval to not display the expiration date of OMB approval for this collection.

18. There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

B. This collection does not employ statistical methods.

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