Each licensed dealer shall enter into a record each receipt and disposition of firearms, and the record is maintained in BOUND FORM in the format the regulation prescribes. One exception sits at the front of the rule: adjustment or repair of a firearm returned to the person it came from ON THE SAME DAY is outside it. Everything else goes in. Before commencing or continuing a firearms business, a dealer must also inventory the firearms possessed for that business and record them in the same book — so the record does not begin with the first sale, it begins with what is already on the shelf.

The two halves of an entry run on different clocks, and this is the single most common place to slip. An acquisition must be recorded not later than the CLOSE OF THE NEXT BUSINESS DAY following the purchase or acquisition. A disposition must be recorded not later than SEVEN DAYS following the transaction. Acquisitions are therefore the tighter duty by some distance, which is the reverse of what instinct suggests — the firearm arriving feels less eventful than the firearm leaving, and has far less time attached to it.

An acquisition entry shows the date of receipt; the name and address, or the name and license number, of the person from whom it was received; the name of the manufacturer and importer if any; the model; the serial number, including any associated license number as a prefix, or separated by a semicolon if the firearm was remanufactured or imported; the type; and the caliber or gauge. Where a licensee records a duplicate entry with the same firearm and acquisition information — closing out an old book, for instance — the disposition column must carry a reference to the date and location of the later entry, giving the new date, book name or number, page and line. Where a disposition is to a non-licensee, the Form 4473 obtained is retained UNTIL THE TRANSACTION IS RECORDED separate from the licensee’s 4473 file, and kept readily available for inspection.