1140-0013 Justification 508 2-16-17

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES

Information Collection Request

Supporting Statement

OMB 1140-0013 ATF Form 3 (5320.3)

Application for Tax-Exempt Transfer of Firearm

and Registration to Special Occupational Taxpayer

A. JUSTIFICATION
1.

The ATF Form 3 (5320.3) is required to apply for the transfer and
registration of a National Firearms Act (NFA) firearm subject to the
exemption from the transfer tax provided by 26 U.S.C. § 5852(d). Under the
provisions of 26 U.S.C. § 5812, an NFA firearm shall not be transferred until
the transferor has applied for and received approval from the Attorney
General (delegated to ATF) and paid the applicable transfer tax. The transfer
of an NFA firearm is subject to a tax of $200 or $5 (for a firearm classified as
an “any other weapon”) except for specific exempted transactions. The
statutory requirements are implemented in § 479.88, Title 27, Code of
Federal Regulations.
This form is filed by Federal firearms licensees who have paid the special
(occupational) tax to import, manufacture or deal in NFA firearms to transfer
an NFA firearm to a similarly qualified licensee.

2.

ATF Form 3 (5320.3) is required to be submitted and approved by ATF prior
to the transfer of a National Firearms Act weapon from one Special
Occupational Tax paying Federal firearms licensee to another Special
taxpaying licensee. The form is required whenever such a transfer is to be
made. The information on this form is used by NFA Branch personnel to
determine the legality of the application under Federal, State and local law.
Section 5822 provides that an application shall not be approved if the making
or possession would place the person making the firearm in violation of law.
The application is submitted in duplicate. The approval of the application
effectuates the registration of the firearm to the transferee. Both copies of the
application are noted to reflect the approval – one copy is returned to the
applicant for transmission to the transferee as proof of registration and the
other is retained by ATF as part of the National Firearms Registration and
Transfer Record. The information is used to verify any subsequent transfer
and registration of the firearm. In addition, registration information is used
to determine the non-registration of a firearm, a violation as specified in §
5861.

2

3.

ATF F 3 (5320.3) is available on the ATF website to download and print. The
form can also be faxed to ATF provided the transferor filed an affidavit with
the NFA Branch in accordance with ATF Industry Circular 89-6. As of
August 2013, the e-fillable ATF F 3 (5320.3) can be completed, submitted,
and filed electronically via ATF’s eForms platform: www.atfonline.gov.

4.

ATF uses a 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 information on this form is unique to the person supplying it and would
have minimal or no impact on small businesses or other small entities.

6.

The consequence of not conducting this collection of information would be a
violation of the Gun Control Act. ATF has no control over the frequency of
the submissions. Respondents submit the form only as often as is necessary to
comply with statutory and regulatory requirements.

7.

This collection is conducted in a manner consistent with the requirement in 5
CFR 1320.6.

8.

No public comments were received for either the 60-day or 30-day notices
that were published in the Federal Register.

9.

No payment or gift is associated with this collection.

10.

Respondents’ confidentiality is assured by 26 U.S.C. §§ 5848 and 6103 and 5
U.S.C. §§ 552 and 552a, and as indicated by the Privacy Act Notice contained
on the form. No other means of confidentiality is available.

11.

No questions of a sensitive nature are asked.

12.

The number of respondents is 10,500. Each respondent completes the form.
The total number of annual responses for this information collection is
177,500. It takes 30 minutes to complete the form. The total number of
burden hours is 88,750.

13.

The cost to the respondent is postage. It is estimated that half of the
respondents send the form back to ATF. 5,250 respondents will mail their
completed form. The cost to the respondent is $5.00.

14.

The estimate of annual cost to the Federal Government is as follows:

3

Printing
Distribution
Total

B.
None.

$700
$800
$1500

15.

The adjustments for this information collection are an increase in the number
of respondents by 4,500, and an increase in the number of responses by
107,000. As a result of these increases, the annual burden hours has
increased by 53,500 hours.

16.

The results of this collection will not be published.

17.

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

18.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.