justification 1140-0016

Department of Justice

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Information Collection Request

Supporting Statement

OMB No. 1140-0016

Application for Registration of Firearms Acquired by Certain Government Entities

ATF F 10 (5320.10)

1. The registration of National Firearms Act (NFA) firearms is required by 26 U.S.C. 5841 and 27 CFR 479.101. Possession of an unregistered NFA firearm is illegal and the firearm is contraband. There was no provision in the NFA for the registration of unregistered NFA firearms which were acquired by State and local government agencies during the course of their official duties, such as by seizure and abandonment.

In order to assist these agencies, 27 CFR 479.104 provides for the limited registration of such firearms, for official use only. Registration is achieved by the filing of ATF F 10.

2. ATF F 10 is used by State and local government agencies to effect the registration of otherwise unregisterable NFA firearms. Once registered, the firearms cannot be transferred into commercial channels. If there were no means for registering these unregistered NFA firearms, the firearms would have to be destroyed or abandoned, thus hampering law enforcement agencies in performing their official duties.

The information on ATF F 10 is verified by ATF personnel during the processing of the application to ensure that an unregistered NFA firearm is being registered and that the applicant is a government agency eligible to possess the firearm. This information is also used by ATF to determine the lawful registration of an NFA firearm and/or to pursue the criminal investigation into an unregistered NFA firearm.

3. The form is available on the ATF website to down load and print. Individuals with disabilities (508 Compliant) can access this form. ATF requires an original signature on the form therefore the form must be mailed to ATF. ATF is planning on this form becoming fully electronic in the near future.

4. 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 for the purpose of this information collection.

5. The collection of this information has no effect on small business.

6. Respondents submit the form only as often as necessary to comply with statutory and regulatory requirements. If there were no means for registering these unregistered NFA firearms, the firearms would have to be destroyed or abandoned, thus hampering law enforcement agencies in performing their official duties.

7. There are no special circumstances associated with this information collection.

8. Efforts to consult with persons outside of agency were conducted by the ATF industry liaison. The liaison was involved during the creation of this information collection. A 60-day and 30-day Federal Register notice was published in order to solicit comments from the general public. No comments were received.

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

10. The forms are kept in a secured room at ATF headquarters. ATF personnel who process this application have been authorized and cleared. There is no statute, regulation, or agency policy that provides any assurance of confidentiality to the respondents.

11. No questions of a sensitive nature are associated with this information collection.

12. There are an estimated 1500 respondents who complete the form. Each respondent will respond 4 times for a total of 6,000 responses. It takes 30 minutes to complete the form. The total burden associated with this collection is 6000 x 30 minutes = 3,000 hours.

13. The cost to the respondent is postage. The respondents complete the form 4 times. The total responses are 6000 x .42 = $2,520.00

14. Estimates of annual costs to the Federal government are:

Printing $250

Salary 2660

Overhead 665

Total $3575

15. There are no program changes or adjustments associated with this collection.

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. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods

Not applicable.

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