Is There A Way To Determine What Forearms Are Registered To Me

Do I Have To Register My Gun?

Firearms | September two, 2020

I get this question a lot, and information technology'southward clear that there is some defoliation out there about what it means to "register" a firearm. Information technology is the purpose of this commodity to lend some clarity to the subject.

In order to comprehensively address the topic of firearms registration, I will make ii distinctions. The first distinction is betwixt the categories of firearms: those which are bailiwick to the National Firearms Act ("NFA Firearms"), and those which are not ("not-NFA Firearms"). (I am fugitive other often-used terms, like "Title I Firearms," "Title Two Firearms," or "Class III Firearms" as they are inaccurate and misleading.) The second distinction I volition brand is between registering a firearm, on the 1 paw, and undergoing an ownership transfer background bank check, on the other.

Categories of Firearms

Returning to the two types of firearms, "non-NFA Firearms" are the about commonly owned guns, and this category includes handguns (revolvers and semi-automated pistols) and long guns (rifles and shotguns). Only a scattering of states require registration of these types of guns. In fact, here in Pennsylvania we have laws that affirmatively prohibit registration of firearms. The premise of such a prohibition is that firearm registration is a step down a slippery slope, leading to eventual confiscation. Conversely, the motivation behind groundwork checks is to ensure that those who are "Prohibited Persons" (such as felons, for instance) are not immune to own guns.

Still, the police force still requires the transferee (the recipient) of certain not-NFA Firearms to undergo a background check (as mentioned above, for the purpose of making certain a transferee is not a "Prohibited Person"). This is done at a Federal Firearms Licensee ("FFL," i.e. a dealer) who runs a background check on the transferee through the NICS (the National Instant Criminal Background Check Organization) database, though hither in Pennsylvania we use the "PICS" (Pennsylvania Instant Check Organisation). This is always accompanied by the completion of an ATF Grade 4473, likewise equally the Pennsylvania State Law Application/Record of Auction form (SP four-113) which is the form that lists the various factors prohibiting gun buying.

(CAUTION: we have had many clients stumble into trouble by filling out one of these forms without a proper understanding of what they hateful – read the instructions on the back of the forms before completing them, considering an incorrect answer can lead to criminal charges.)

All Pennsylvania handgun transfers must exist subjected to a PICS check, with the completion of a Form 4473 by the transferee of the handgun. However, PICS checks (and therefore ATF Course 4473s) are not required for long gun (i.e. rifles and shotguns) transfers in Pennsylvania (as long as the barrels are not shortened). That means that a handgun which is owned in Pennsylvania simply which was not properly transferred at an FFL (with a PICS check and ATF Form 4473) is an illegal handgun, and its possession will subject the owner to criminal penalties. (At that place are some exceptions to this, though, such as transfers betwixt a parent and an adult kid.) A long gun, however, every bit indicated above, can be transferred in Pennsylvania without an FFL-completed PICS check and ATF Course 4473, and therefore you can transfer ownership of a long gun in Pennsylvania with only a paw milk shake. (It is, notwithstanding, strongly recommended that at least a Pecker of Sale always be completed for such transfers.)

What's the Difference Between Background Checks and Registrations?

As distinguished from a background check equally described higher up, the registration of firearms is not permitted in Pennsylvania. In those other states requiring firearms registration, the process usually involves bringing the firearm to the local police station for the purpose of alerting the municipality of its presence in their jurisdiction. This is an boosted step that some other states crave, and is typically washed almost immediately after the ownership transfer and NICS background check. (Residents of other states should check their local laws on specific procedures.)

It has been claimed, and rightly and so, that many states' groundwork check procedures in fact constitute 'dorsum door' registrations, since the concluding result is the same – the regime knows who has what guns. Pennsylvania is a good example of this. Fifty-fifty though we have a statute on the books which specifically outlaws any firearm registration, a dealer-facilitated groundwork cheque must back-trail all handgun transfers, the form that the transferee fills out is and then kept by the dealer, and a re-create is sent to the Pennsylvania State Police.

However, the storage of firearm purchaser data, while currently an unfortunate feature of our firearms transfer procedure, is not a necessary feature of a background cheque per se. In other words (and hither I describe not what the constabulary is, simply what information technology could be) it would exist entirely reasonable for a dealer to behave a groundwork cheque on a transferee past simply calling the state constabulary and getting a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' on the transferee, without generating unnecessary paperwork for storage purposes. The land law could limit its record-keeping to the fact that a background check was done on a specific firearm at a specific dealer, without any reference to the identity of the transferee. Only the dealer would maintain a photocopy of the transferee's driver'southward license, which he would only exist mandated to provide to constabulary enforcement if a warrant was issued for its provision, in the case that a crime had been committed with the firearm in question.

Such a process would foreclose a background cheque from becoming a 'dorsum door' registration, only would besides address legitimate law enforcement needs. Since this is non the case at present, the only firearms owners in Pennsylvania who are currently non field of study to whatever kind of 'back door' registration are those who have purchased their long guns privately.

Registering an NFA Firearm

Returning to the police as information technology is, the other category of firearms is "NFA Firearms," which term is defined as including any of the following: (A) a "short-barreled shotgun," the barrel(s) of which measure(due south) less than 18 inches, or the overall length of which is less than 26 inches; (B) a "short-barreled burglarize," the barrel of which measures less than 16 inches, or the overall length of which is less than 26 inches; (C) "whatever other weapon" ("AOW") (a pen gun, for example); (D) a machine gun; (E) a silencer (a/k/a "suppressor"); or (F) a destructive device (a grenade, for instance). As in all other states, in Pennsylvania all NFA Firearms must be registered with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (which is all the same commonly referred to equally the "ATF").

A "Grade iv" is the ATF class required to transfer and register an NFA Firearm. Upon approving of a Course four, an owner is issued a "revenue enhancement postage stamp" (since the National Firearms Act is merely a chapter inside the Internal Acquirement Code), and merely so may the bidder have possession of the NFA Firearm.

Pennsylvania prohibits the possession of "destructive devices," calling them "Prohibited Offensive Weapons," but allows for the possession of any of the other above-listed NFA Firearms, provided they are properly registered with the ATF.

Let usa keep in heed, then, that the PICS background bank check (in theory at least) but ensures that a transferee is non a Prohibited Person, and, with some exceptions, nearly all firearms (both NFA and non-NFA) are subject to background checks. Registration, on the other paw, while required for the transfer of NFA Firearms, is not officially permitted in Pennsylvania. May we be precise in our terminology, and zealous to proceed these terms distinct, both in theory and in do, remembering that background checks are intended to continue guns out of the hands of the bad guys, whereas registration may eventually keep them out of the hands of the skillful guys.

Josh Bodene, Esq., an associate in the constabulary firm of Trinity Law, is a firearms enthusiast and handles all aspects of firearms police.