Glossary

An application ATF treats as given up because a deficiency was not corrected and returned within the period allowed. The merits are never reached.

A firearm coming into the business — the receipt side of the bound record, and the one on the tighter clock.

The license reissued after a change to the business, such as a move or a correction. It runs for the remainder of the original term rather than starting a new one.

Defined narrowly around components — cases, primers, bullets, or propellant powder for use in a firearm other than an antique firearm — with carve-outs for loose shotgun shot and empty non-metallic hulls without a primer.

A category the firearm definition expressly excludes, so an antique is outside the rules that follow from being a firearm.

Ammunition subject to its own identification and labeling rules, including the opaque black coloring on the projectile and the governmental-or-export legend on the package.

Application to Make and Register a Firearm. Filed in duplicate under penalties of perjury; the Director approval both permits the making and effectuates registration.

Application for a tax-exempt transfer between two persons qualified under the NFA part — the route trade between qualified licensees moves on.

Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm. Filed by the transferor; the transferee may not take possession until it is approved.

The Application for an Amended Federal Firearms License — used to move the business to a new location.

Special Tax Registration and Return. Filing it properly, signed and on time, is what constitutes compliance with the special tax.

The import permit application. Part I is used by licensed importers and by other licensees; Part II is the service-member permit.

The application for a federal firearms license, executed under penalties of perjury.

Where the records go when a business closes absolutely, within 30 days — the alternative being any ATF office in the division.

The Record of Acquisition and Disposition, kept in bound form, recording every firearm into and out of the business.

Days on which State offices are open. The distinction matters because the background check clocks are counted in these rather than in calendar days.

A change in actual or legal control of a licensed corporation — direct or indirect, by stock ownership, by operation of law, or otherwise — which starts a notification clock.

The official who issues, amends, and endorses licenses. Distinct from the Director of Industry Operations, who handles denials, hearings, and revocations.

A person who acquires, holds, or disposes of firearms as curios or relics. The license covers that activity alone and does not permit a business otherwise requiring a license.

Importation permitted so the goods can be examined and tested to decide whether they may be imported at all. Admission is provisional, and the Director may require export or destruction if the answer is no.

Firearms of special interest to collectors for some quality other than sporting or defensive use, falling within one of three categories — age of at least 50 years excluding replicas, museum curator certification, or substantial value from novelty, rarity, or historical association.

A person engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail, of repairing firearms or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms, or any pawnbroker. Part-time activity counts.

A restricted category carrying its own transfer requirements, including the sworn statement of reasonable necessity, and its own place in the license fee schedule.

The official who receives hearing requests and conducts the proceedings that follow a denial, suspension, revocation, or civil fine.

The status that stops a person shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving firearms. Certain events remove it; others merely appear to.

The end of a licensed business. It triggers notification, the disposal of former licensee inventory, and the delivery of the records.

A firearm leaving the business — the second half of a bound-record entry, recorded within seven days of the transaction.

The fact-specific test, decided on the totality of the circumstances, that makes a seller a dealer. There is no minimum number of firearms and no minimum number of transactions.

One of the events that can remove a disability, alongside a pardon, a reversal, a setting aside, or a restoration of civil rights — unless it forbids firearms expressly or does not fully restore firearms rights.

A weapon that expels a projectile by an explosive, its frame or receiver, a muffler or silencer, or a destructive device — and also a weapon parts kit that may readily be completed to expel a projectile. Antiques are excluded.

The firearms transaction record completed on a transfer to a non-licensee, and retained until the business is discontinued.

The firearms remaining when a license ends, which must be liquidated or transferred within the period the regulation allows.

The part the regulation treats as the firearm itself: on a handgun, the part housing the sear or equivalent; on a long gun, the part housing the bolt or breechblock. Partially complete versions are included.

The statute Part 478 carries out — the commerce side of federal firearms law, as distinct from the National Firearms Act.

A temporary location that becomes part of the licensed premises for the duration, which is why no separate fee or license is required to trade there.

A person engaged in the business of importing or bringing firearms or ammunition into the United States. Only a licensed importer may engage in that business.

The mental state the false-statement provisions turn on. It reaches a statement the person knew was untrue, and not an honest mistake.

The amount due with the application, set by license type and term. An insufficient fee is one of the ways an application fails before its merits are reached.

The place named on the license. A license is obtained for each business and each place at which the applicant is to do business.

A firearm whose transfer and possession are prohibited except in the categories the regulation excepts — government transfers and possession, and lawful possession predating May 19, 1986.

A person engaged in the business of manufacturing firearms or ammunition, including part-time operations.

Two or more pistols or revolvers, in any combination, sold or otherwise disposed of to one unlicensed person at one time or during any five consecutive business days.

The tax-and-registration regime Part 479 carries out, covering machine guns, destructive devices, and certain other firearms.

The central registry of NFA firearms in the United States not under the control of the United States. Approval of a making or transfer application is what places a firearm on it.

The ATF office whose request for record information a licensee must answer immediately, and in no event later than 24 hours after receipt.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System — contacted before a transfer to a non-licensee, and the source of the Proceed, Delayed, and Denied responses.

The notice ATF issues when an application is denied. Receiving it starts the clock to request a hearing.

An act that removes a disability arising from a conviction — presidential for a federal conviction, or by a State or foreign pardoning authority — subject to the two conditions that can take that relief away.

The regulation governing commerce in firearms and ammunition, and the rulebook a federal firearms licensee lives under.

The companion regulation governing the National Firearms Act side: machine guns, destructive devices, and certain other firearms subject to registration.

Firearms a licensee owns personally rather than as business inventory. A later sale from it escapes the counter regime only where the holding period and all three recording conditions are met.

Part of the test for being engaged in the business — the purpose of obtaining pecuniary gain, as opposed to improving or liquidating a personal collection.

A firearm, including a frame or receiver, produced by someone other than a licensed manufacturer and never given a serial number by one when produced. Also written PMF.

The clean NICS response, carrying a unique identification number, at which point the transfer may go ahead.

A person to whom a licensee may not transfer a firearm, identified either by an event in their history or by a personal condition or standing.

A conclusion taken as true in civil and administrative proceedings unless the person produces reliable evidence otherwise — used in the engaged-in-the-business test.

A term the book uses in two distinct senses. On the NFA side (§§ 11.2, 11.3), each individual behind a non-licensee entity for whom the Form 1 or Form 4 information must be furnished. At closing (§ 3.5), a person of the former licensee to whom the remaining inventory may be transferred, where receipt, possession, sale, or other disposition is not prohibited by law.

The right of certain persons to carry on a licensed business after a death, secured by furnishing the license for endorsement within the period allowed, and running only for the remainder of the term.

A post-1986 machine gun transferred to a qualified dealer for demonstration to governmental customers, approved only on specific evidence including letters from those entities.

What a licensee must have available, with the transfer of a handgun conditioned on it and a written notification given to the purchaser.

The individual number placed on the frame or receiver in a manner not susceptible of being readily obliterated, altered, or removed, subject to minimum depth and print size.

One of the restricted firearms whose transfer carries requirements beyond an ordinary counter transaction.

The annual tax on the OCCUPATION of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in NFA firearms. Separate from the license fee, due on or before July 1, and never prorated.

The receipt issued on a properly completed return with full payment. It evidences that the occupational tax is paid and nothing more.

The standard certain importations must meet — generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes.

The tax on an NFA firearm transfer, payable by the transferor, and evidenced by the National Firearms Act stamp affixed to the approved application.

The standard attached to certain violations, and the word that separates a mistake from the conduct that costs a license.