[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 89 (Friday, May 8, 2026)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25243-25255]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09154]
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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
27 CFR Part 479
[Docket No. ATF-2026-0336; ATF No. 2025R-13P]
RIN 1140-AB00
Joint Registration for Spouses Under the National Firearms Act
AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives,
Department of Justice.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
(``ATF'') proposes amending Department of Justice (``Department'')
regulations to authorize spouses to file a joint application to make,
transfer or receive, and register a firearm under the National Firearms
Act (``NFA''). If the joint application is approved, both spouses would
have a joint right to make or possess the firearm(s), and transferring
the firearm(s) between the
[[Page 25244]]
registered spouses would not constitute a further transfer within the
meaning of the NFA, thus not requiring a transfer application.
DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing, and must be submitted on
or before (or, if mailed, must be postmarked on or before) July 7,
2026. Commenters should be aware that the federal e-rulemaking portal
comment system will not accept comments after midnight Eastern Time on
the last day of the comment period.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 1140-AB00, by
either of the following methods--
Federal e-rulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Mail: ATF Rulemaking Comments; Mail Stop 6N-518, Office of
Regulatory Affairs; Enforcement Programs and Services; Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; 99 New York Ave. NE;
Washington, DC 20226; ATTN: RIN 1140-AB00.
Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and
number (RIN 1140-AB00) for this notice of proposed rulemaking (``NPRM''
or ``proposed rule''). ATF may post all properly completed comments it
receives from either of the methods described above, without change, to
the federal e-rulemaking portal, https://www.regulations.gov. This
includes any personally identifying information (``PII'') or business
proprietary information (``PROPIN'') submitted in the body of the
comment or as part of a related attachment they want posted. Commenters
who submit through the federal e-rulemaking portal and do not want any
of their PII posted on the internet should omit it from the body of
their comment and any uploaded attachments that they want posted. If
online commenters wish to submit PII with their comment, they should
place it in a separate attachment and mark it at the top with the
marking ``CUI//PRVCY.'' Commenters who submit through mail should
likewise omit their PII or PROPIN from the body of the comment and
provide any such information on the cover sheet only, marking it at the
top as ``CUI//PRVCY'' for PII, or as ``CUI//PROPIN'' for PROPIN. For
detailed instructions on submitting comments and additional information
on the rulemaking process, see the ``Public Participation'' heading of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. In accordance
with 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(4), a summary of this rule may be found at https://www.regulations.gov. Commenters must submit comments by using one of
the methods described above, not by emailing the address set forth in
the following paragraph.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Regulatory Affairs, by email
at [email protected], by mail at Office of Regulatory Affairs; Enforcement
Programs and Services; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives; 99 New York Ave. NE; Washington, DC 20226, or by telephone
at 202-648-7070 (this is not a toll-free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Attorney General is responsible for enforcing the National
Firearms Act (``NFA''), as amended, 26 U.S.C. chapter 53.\1\ Congress
and the Attorney General have delegated the responsibility for
administering and enforcing the NFA to the Director of ATF
(``Director''), subject to the direction of the Attorney General and
the Deputy Attorney General. See 28 U.S.C. 599A(b)(1), (c)(1); 28 CFR
0.130(a)(1)-(2); Treas. Order No. 221(2)(a), (d), 37 FR 11696-97 (June
10, 1972).\2\ Accordingly, the Department and ATF have promulgated
regulations to implement the NFA in 27 CFR part 479.
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\1\ Some NFA provisions still refer to the ``Secretary of the
Treasury.'' However, the Homeland Security Act of 2002, Public Law
107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, transferred the functions of ATF from the
Department of the Treasury to the Department of Justice, under the
general authority of the Attorney General. 26 U.S.C. 7801(a)(2); 28
U.S.C. 599A(c)(1). Thus, for ease of reference, this NPRM refers to
the Attorney General where relevant.
\2\ In Attorney General Order Number 6353-2025, the Attorney
General delegated authority to the Director to issue regulations
pertaining to matters within ATF's jurisdiction, including under the
NFA, Gun Control Act, and Title XI of the Organized Crime Control
Act. ATF's jurisdiction also includes the Arms Export Control Act
and the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act.
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Firearms subject to NFA provisions include machine guns, a shotgun
having a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length, a rifle
having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length, a weapon
made from a rifle, a weapon made from a shotgun, silencers, destructive
devices, and any other weapons as defined by the NFA. 26 U.S.C.
5845(a). Section 5841 requires the Attorney General to maintain the
National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (``NFRTR''), a
central registry of NFA firearms in the United States that are not
possessed by or under the control of the United States. Section 5841
also requires that all NFA firearms must be registered by their maker,
manufacturer, or importer.
The NFA also sets requirements for making and transferring
firearms. Under section 5822, makers must apply to the Attorney
General, and the Attorney General must approve making NFA firearms,
before they may be made. Section 5822 also requires makers to identify
themselves in the application in such manner as the Attorney General
may by regulations prescribe. Section 5812 contains the same
requirements for transferring NFA firearms, except that transferors
must identify the transferees in the application in such manner as the
Attorney General may by regulations prescribe.
Pursuant to 27 CFR 479.62, one of ATF's regulations implementing
the NFA, ATF has prescribed that no person may make an NFA firearm
unless the person has filed with the Director a completed application
on ATF Form 5320.1, Application to Make and Register NFA Firearm
(``Form 1''), in duplicate, executed under the penalties of perjury,
and has received the Director's approval to make the firearm. This
approval also registers the firearm to the applicant in the NFRTR. If
the applicant is a partnership, company (including a limited liability
company), association, trust, or corporation (``entity''), but is not a
licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer qualified under this part,
the entity must complete Form 1 with information about the entity
instead of an individual, and each ``responsible person'' of the entity
must complete ATF Form 5320.23, NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire
(``Form 23''), which requests the same information as Form 1 requires
for individual makers.
Similarly, pursuant to Sec. 479.84, no person may transfer an NFA
firearm unless the parties to the transfer have submitted an
application on ATF Form 5320.4, Application to Transfer and Register
NFA Firearm (Tax-Paid) (``Form 4''), in duplicate, executed under the
penalties of perjury, and have received the Director's approval to
transfer the firearm to the applying transferee.\3\ As with
applications to make firearms, this approval also registers the firearm
to that transferee. Form 4 requires that the parties identify the
transferee by name and address and, if the transferee is a person not
qualified as a manufacturer, importer, or dealer under this part, the
transferee must be further identified in the manner prescribed in Sec.
479.85. In
[[Page 25245]]
addition, Sec. 479.84 requires that if the transferee is an entity but
is not a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer qualified under
this part, the entity must complete Form 4 with information about the
entity instead of an individual, and each responsible person of the
entity must complete Form 23, which requests the same information as
Form 4 requires for individual transferees.
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\3\ In some cases, the transfer qualifies as tax-exempt, such as
transfers as part of an estate. See Sec. 479.90a. In those cases,
the same requirements apply, but the transferor would submit ATF
Form 5320.5, Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-
Exempt) (``Form 5'') instead of Form 4. For easier reading, ATF
discusses the transfer aspects of this rule with references only to
Form 4, rather than both, because tax-exempt transfers in this
context are a small proportion.
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Individuals who qualify as responsible persons for a trust may
lawfully possess NFA firearms registered to the trust. Likewise, trust
applications created by spouses allow each spouse--if named in the
trust and qualified as a responsible person to the trust like any other
person who is a party to a trust--to lawfully and independently possess
the NFA firearm registered to the trust. The trust documents received
by ATF that involve spouses are generally substitutes for jointly
registering NFA firearms rather than primarily for estate planning or
other trust purposes.
ATF has received inquiries from the public and from members of the
firearms industry requesting that ATF permit spouses to jointly make,
transfer or receive, and register NFA firearms. A number of spouses
have formed trusts to permit them to jointly possess firearms. However,
forming a trust, and subsequently registering NFA firearms to the trust
as the maker or transferee, can be time-consuming and costly. As a part
of the application process, the trust (also an ``entity'') must
identify each person who is part of the trust, and ATF must determine
the trust's legal sufficiency and the legal authority of each person in
the trust--including whether they may qualify as ``responsible
persons''--before ATF may initiate a background check. See 27 CFR
479.85 and 479.63; see also 81 FR 2658 (Jan. 15, 2016). ATF reviews the
trust as a legal instrument. Reviewing the trust as a legal instrument
and scrutinizing the trust's responsible persons often requires
additional time before ATF can approve the trust's application to make
or transfer firearms. For example, current processing times for paper
Form 4 applications are 59 days for trust applications and 49 days for
individual applications, a difference of 10 days; likewise, electronic
Form 4 applications take 11 days for trust applications and 7 days for
individual applications, a difference of 4 days.\4\
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\4\ See ATF, Current Processing Times (last updated Jan. 27,
2026), https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/current-processing-times
[https://perma.cc/27C7-JGG5]. ATF updates processing times
routinely, most often on a weekly basis.
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II. Proposed Rule
A. Proposed Regulatory Amendments
ATF has determined that it is unnecessarily burdensome for spouses
who desire to jointly register an NFA firearm to have to create a trust
to do so. The current process also imposes administrative burdens on
ATF, which must review each trust's legal instruments and determine
whether they meet statutory requirements. ATF's processing times for
applications involving trusts are thus longer than for applications by
individuals. Permitting spouses to jointly register NFA firearms would
relieve applicants and ATF of unnecessary burdens caused by the current
roundabout process, which ATF has determined provides little public
safety benefit.
Permitting spouses to jointly register firearms would also
alleviate legal hurdles after the death of NFA registrants who have
registered firearms in their name only. After spouses die as sole NFA
firearm registrants, surviving spouses can end up possessing a firearm
not registered to them in the NFRTR and may fail to transfer that
property during probate. When this occurs, the NFA firearm cannot
subsequently be transferred because the current possessor is not the
registered owner. Allowing spouses to jointly register firearms would
alleviate this problem. It would also allow spouses to obtain a federal
registration status that aligns with marital property ownership in some
locations. NFA firearms registered to one spouse may be joint marital
property under some state laws, even though ATF currently allows only
one spouse to register the firearm.
ATF agrees with the general public and industry members that
allowing spouses to jointly make, transfer or receive, and register NFA
firearms would reduce burdens while still complying with the NFA's
requirements. These firearms would remain registered in the NFRTR, and
both spouse applicants would undergo background checks, thereby
ensuring the same level of public safety currently afforded by
registering individuals or parties under a trust. Section 5841 of the
NFA provides that the NFRTR must include the ``identification and
address of person entitled to possession of the firearm.'' There is
nothing under this provision that precludes spouses from being jointly
registered or from each being able to possess the firearm. Amending the
regulations to allow spouses to jointly make, transfer or receive, and
register NFA firearms would be consistent with 26 U.S.C. 5811-5812,
5821-5822, and 5841 by still requiring all makers, transferors, and
transferees to submit applications, receive Attorney General approval,
pay tax (if applicable), and register their NFA firearms.
However, ATF also believes that it is reasonable to limit joint
individual registration to spouses. Allowing non-marital joint
registration could result in pretextual joint registrations that
attempt to circumvent the NFA's transfer provisions and the Gun Control
Act's interstate transfer restrictions, e.g., 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3), both
of which require approval by the Attorney General. Such attempts are
unlikely within a marriage, since both parties typically live in the
same household and may legitimately share property. ATF's concern with
regard to administering the NFA is the person's right to possess the
property, and more specifically in this context, documentation of their
right to own property jointly with another person. Marriages document a
legal relationship between two persons and are generally verifiable
through official documents, such as marriage licenses, divorce decrees,
etc. (or equivalents), from beginning to dissolution. Unlike other
relationships, marriages by themselves also establish property rights
to joint or marital property under relevant state laws; other familial
relationships do not establish property rights or a binding
relationship merely due to the persons being in the same family.
Property rights in those cases are usually established by an estate
plan, a trust, or a partnership--which both document and establish a
relationship between the parties and establish property rights. They
are all alternative means to register NFA firearms. Married couples can
also make use of these mechanisms, but because the marriage itself
establishes the relationship and property rights, ATF believes that is
unnecessary.
Based on these considerations, this proposed rule responds to the
inquiries by proposing to amend the regulations in 27 CFR 479.62,
479.63, 479.84, 479.85, and 479.101 so that spouses would be able to
jointly make, transfer or receive, and register NFA firearms without
needing to create a trust. This rule also proposes amending Sec. Sec.
479.62 and 479.84 by adding new paragraphs to explain that applicants
who are spouses filing jointly would need to provide documents
demonstrating a legal marriage, which can include a marriage
certificate or proof of a legal marriage otherwise recognized under
state law. Where no marriage certificate is available, applicants would
be able to submit some other evidence of marriage (e.g., affidavits,
joint tax returns). If
[[Page 25246]]
spouses filing jointly falsely attest to marriage, they would be
subject to charges for making a false statement on an NFA form.\5\
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\5\ See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(6); 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(2); 18
U.S.C. 1001, which make it a felony to provide false information on
a firearms application or to the government in general.
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ATF is considering whether to include common-law marriages in the
seven states that permit them or grandfathered common-law marriages in
the seven states that permit common-law marriages that occurred before
a certain date. However, ATF is not in a position to assess whether a
particular couple meets the specific state's requirements to constitute
a common-law marriage. ATF would therefore propose accepting common-law
marriages for joint registration that can be reliably verified, such as
by a state document acknowledging that couple's common-law marriage. To
this end, ATF welcomes comments on how a common-law marriage could be
reliably verified as a part of the NFA application process. ATF also
seeks public comment on all aspects of this proposal to accommodate
allowing spouses to jointly register NFA firearms.
ATF also notes that other non-conflicting changes to Sec. Sec.
479.63(a) and 479.85(a), and a new Sec. 479.27 are being proposed in a
separate notice of proposed rulemaking to address submitting
photographs and fingerprints with NFA applications. Concurrent
revisions to Forms 1, 4, 5, and 23 will accompany this and the other
rules in any final stages.
B. Processes for Spouses Filing Jointly
If finalized as proposed, ATF would also revise the forms discussed
below to incorporate joint registration for spouses. The following
explains how the process would work and how the forms would operate or
be revised in conjunction with this rule.
1. Making and Registering NFA Firearms as Spouses Filing Jointly
Spouses who wish to jointly make and register an NFA firearm would
submit Form 1 by selecting the type of application in box 2 as ``other
legal entity'' and noting on the form that the firearm is being jointly
registered. The instructions on the form would clarify that ``other
legal entity'' includes joint spouses. Joint spouses making a
destructive device would check box ``a'' under item 1, application
type, and remit $200 (machine guns and destructive devices are subject
to a $200 tax). Joint spouses making other types of NFA firearms would
check box ``b'' under item 1, ``$0 making tax for other types of NFA
firearms,'' and remit $0. This is because, as of January 1, 2026,
Congress reduced the tax paid for all NFA firearms except machine guns
and destructive devices to $0 \6\ (which is not the same as tax-exempt;
tax-exempt status is reserved for certain specifically designated
transfers, like ``by law'' transfers, discussed below). Each spouse
would then complete Form 23 to submit their individual information
following the form's instructions, as outlined above, and submit their
two Forms 23 with their Form 1 application.
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\6\ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Public Law 119-21, 139 Stat. 72
(2025).
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2. Transferring and Registering NFA Firearms as, or to, Spouses Filing
Jointly
Spouses who wish to acquire and register a firearm together, and
individuals who currently have a firearm registered to themselves and
wish to add their spouse, would follow the same registration process.
Spouses who want to jointly transfer or receive, and register, NFA
firearms would use Form 4. They would select the type of transfer in
box 2b as ``other legal entity'' and note on the form that the transfer
is being jointly registered. The instructions on the form would clarify
that ``other legal entity'' includes joint spouses. Each spouse would
then complete Form 23, to submit their individual information following
the form's instructions. Spouses registering their firearms jointly
must complete a Form 4 for each registered firearm that they transfer
or receive and register jointly, but they may submit copies of their
original Forms 23 to include with each successive Form 4 if their
information has not changed in the interim.
Although Form 4 is for tax-paid transfers and registration, if the
NFA firearm involved is not a machine gun or destructive device, the
spouses would not have to pay taxes to transfer from a trust or
individual registration to joint registration, or to transfer and
register a new firearm jointly, because of the recent change to $0-tax
rates. Therefore, when transferring these $0-tax firearms to joint-
spouse registration, persons would check the ``$0 for any other type of
NFA firearm'' box under item 1, Transfer type, on Form 4. However,
because machine guns and destructive devices are still subject to a
$200 NFA tax, persons transferring a machine gun or destructive device
to joint-spouse registration would check the ``$200 for machine gun or
destructive device'' box under item 1 instead.
3. Transferring Jointly Registered Firearms Upon Divorce or Separation
Should a married couple divorce or separate after jointly
registering a firearm, they would have the same options that already
exist for dealing with this joint property as for other similar
property. In the case of a divorce or separation, a court decree or
order that transfers the firearm to a specific party would be a
transfer ``by operation of law,'' and would be handled in the same way
as other transfers by law (such as through estate probate), which are
tax-exempt and accomplished via Form 5.
The spouses may also voluntarily agree to transfer the firearm to
one spouse individually because both are registrants. As of January 1,
2026, such voluntary transfers have a $0 tax (unless the firearm is a
machine gun or destructive device). The spouses would request this
transfer via Form 4, and check the $0-tax box under item 1, transfer
type. If the spouses are transferring or registering a machine gun or
destructive device, they are still subject to a $200 tax under the NFA.
In that case, the spouses would check the $200 tax box under item 1,
transfer type, on Form 4.
4. Spouse Becomes Prohibited From Possessing Firearms
In the event a jointly registered spouse becomes prohibited from
possessing firearms under federal, state, or local law, the prohibited
spouse does not legally need to change the registration status, but the
prohibited spouse may not possess (physically or constructively) the
firearm. See Henderson v. United States, 575 U.S. 622, 624 (2015).
III. Statutory and Executive Order Review
A. Executive Orders 12866 and 13563
Executive Order 12866 (Regulatory Planning and Review) directs
agencies to assess the costs and benefits of available regulatory
alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory
approaches that maximize net benefits.
Executive Order 13563 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review)
emphasizes the importance of agencies quantifying both costs and
benefits, reducing costs, harmonizing rules, and promoting public
flexibility.
This proposed rule would amend 27 CFR 479 to reduce burdens on
spouses who wish to jointly register to make, transfer or receive, and
register NFA firearms so they would be able to do so without needing to
create a trust.
[[Page 25247]]
The Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') has determined that
this proposed rule would be a ``significant'' rule under Executive
Order 12866. Therefore, OMB has reviewed this rule. ATF provides the
following analysis to comply with Executive Orders 12866 and 13563.
1. Need Statement
ATF has determined that it can reduce the regulatory burden for
spouses who both desire to jointly register an NFA firearm without
having to create a trust to do so. Furthermore, ATF has determined that
permitting spouses to jointly register an NFA firearm without having to
do so through a trust would pose no additional risk to public safety.
Allowing spouses to jointly register firearms would also alleviate
legal hurdles after the death of NFA registrants who have registered
firearms in their name only. After spouses die as sole NFA firearm
registrants, surviving spouses can end up possessing a firearm not
registered to them in the NFRTR and fail to transfer that property
during probate. This scenario may result in circumstances where an NFA
firearm cannot subsequently be transferred because the current
possessor is not the registrant.
2. Savings
Allowing joint-spouse registrations would eliminate the need to
create a legal trust, which would provide annual savings to spouses who
currently are unable to register NFA firearms jointly. Spouses would
also be able to transfer their firearms from a trust to a joint
registration with a $0 tax (except transfers of machine guns and
destructive devices, which would still incur a $200 tax). Although many
spouses who jointly own firearms under a trust might not have a need to
transfer to joint registration instead, some might, and many individual
owners who wanted to register jointly with their spouse but did not
create a trust for that purpose are likely to transfer from individual
registration to joint registration. These combined factors would likely
create an incentive for spouses who have wanted to register firearms
jointly with their spouse to do so during the first year, if this rule
is finalized as proposed. No longer having to expend funds to create
and possibly maintain a legal trust to effectuate joint ownership would
constitute savings for the portion of the public who want to jointly
register but would have had to create a trust to do so before this
proposed rule, if finalized. While ATF calculated only savings from no
longer having to create a trust in this analysis, ATF requests comments
from the public as to whether there are any costs for maintaining
trusts established to jointly own NFA firearms that would also
constitute savings arising from this rule.
ATF does not have direct data on the number of NFA trusts
transferees have created for the purposes of married couples jointly
registered. As a result, using historical data on the annual number of
NFA trust applications submitted to ATF from 2016 to 2025, ATF searched
for applications in which the owners were a man and a woman with the
same last name, as an estimated proxy for applications involving
married couples. Based on these search parameters, ATF estimates that
4.4 percent of trust applications meet these factors and, while not a
complete set of joint-registration trusts, it represents the best
proxy. Table 1 provides the historical number of trust applications
from years 2016 through 2025 and the estimated subset of trust
applications that might consist of married couples.
Table 1--Historical Number of NFA Trust Applications, Estimated Subset of Trusts for Married Couples, and
Estimated Portions of That Subset by Firearm Type
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Estimated
Total number Estimated Estimated number to
Year of trust total NFA machine gun/ switch to
applications married couple DD married joint
trusts trusts registration *
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2016............................................ 33,080 1,456 20 1,436
2017............................................ 57,428 2,527 35 2,492
2018............................................ 77,803 3,423 48 3,375
2019............................................ 91,269 4,016 56 3,960
2020............................................ 140,060 6,163 86 6,077
2021............................................ 197,392 8,685 122 8,563
2022............................................ 266,839 11,741 165 11,576
2023............................................ 304,489 13,398 188 13,210
2024............................................ 320,509 14,102 198 13,904
2025............................................ 300,940 13,241 186 13,055
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* Estimated number to switch also represents trusts involving all other NFA firearms.
ATF then input these historical application numbers into
forecasting software to project the likely future trend in number of
NFA trusts that spouses who wish to jointly register would generate
over the next 10 years, if the current growth trend were to continue in
the absence of this proposed rule's changes. Table 2 provides the
projected numbers for the next 10 years.
Table 2--Projected Number of New NFA Joint-Spouse Applications
(Not switching from a trust or single ownership)
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Number of new
Year joint-spouse
applications
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1.................................................... 12,550
2.................................................... 11,856
3.................................................... 11,162
4.................................................... 10,468
5.................................................... 9,774
6.................................................... 9,080
7.................................................... 8,386
8.................................................... 7,692
9.................................................... 6,998
10................................................... 6,304
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[[Page 25248]]
Based on an internet search, fees to create a trust for NFA
firearms could range from $59.95 to $300, but a small number of dealers
also offer free trusts as a purchase incentive, so ATF included $0 in
the cost range as well, resulting in an average (rounded) cost of $119
per trust.\7\ For illustrative purposes, ATF used one hour as the
average time it might take to generate an NFA trust for spouses, since
the time could vary widely depending on unrelated factors. Once the
trust is formed, a trustee would also need to have the legal documents
notarized. Based on an internet search, it costs an average of $9 to
have documents notarized.\8\ Again, for illustrative purposes, ATF used
15 minutes (0.25 hours) as the hourly burden to notarize legal
documents, based on the best available estimate from anecdotal
experience. Fees such as fingerprinting and photographing are not
included in this estimate because fingerprints and photographs are
required for both persons regardless of whether they file jointly, as
individuals, or as parties to a trust.
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\7\ See, e.g., Silencer Central, How To Set Up An NFA Trust
(June 18, 2024), https://www.silencercentral.com/blog/how-nfa-trusts-work/ [https://perma.cc/H7ME-P24X]; National Gun Trusts,
National Firearms Act NFA Gun Trust, https://www.nationalguntrusts.com/products/buy-nfa-gun-trust [https://perma.cc/CU93-852E]; Gun Trusts Guru, 50-State ATF 41F Compliant NFA
Gun Trusts, https://www.guntrustguru.com/ [https://perma.cc/YT4D-LD3L]; Texas Gun Trust, https://www.texas-gun-trust.com/ [https://perma.cc/39UQ-XG7C]; Silencer Shop, Single Shot NFA Gun Trust,
https://www.silencershop.com/single-shot-nfa-gun-trust.html [https://perma.cc/QH7U-NSH4].
\8\ National Notary Association, 2026 Notary Fees By State (last
updated Jan. 14, 2026), https://www.nationalnotary.org/knowledge-center/about-notaries/notary-fees-by-state [https://perma.cc/MZ22-AEXF].
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Spouses jointly making, transferring or receiving, and registering
NFA firearms would likely be doing so in their leisure time; therefore,
ATF estimated a leisure wage rate based on methodology from Health and
Human Services (``HHS''), updated to account for the latest available
data.\9\ The HHS methodology is to first obtain the average U.S. median
non-leisure weekly wage from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (``BLS''),
and divide it by 40 hours to derive the median hourly non-leisure wage.
Step two is to obtain the average U.S. real household income before
taxes and after taxes from the Census Bureau, and divide the post-tax
income by the pre-tax income to determine the net household income
rate. Step three applies the net income rate to the median non-leisure
hourly rate derived in step one, to calculate the hourly leisure wage.
Table 3 shows the steps and data used under this methodology to
determine the leisure wage.
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\9\ Jennifer R. Baxter, et al., Valuing Time in U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services Regulatory Impact Analyses: Conceptual
Framework and Best Practices (June 2017), https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/private/pdf/257746/VOT.pdf.
Table 3--Calculating Leisure Wage
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Inputs for leisure wage rate Numerical inputs Source
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1a. Median non-leisure weekly $1,214............. News Release, Bureau
wage. of Labor and
Statistics, Usual
Weekly Earnings for
Wage and Salary
Workers, third
quarter 2025, (Dec.
4, 2025), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/wkyeng_12042025.pdf
[https://perma.cc/MD6E-TYDX?type=image].
1b. Median non-leisure hourly $30.35............. $1,214 median weekly
wage. wage/40 hours a
week = $30.35.
2a. Real household income pre- $83,730............ U.S. Census Bureau,
tax. Income in the
United States:
2024, (Sept. 9,
2025), https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2025/demo/p60-286.html
[https://perma.cc/RU47-LLBX].
2b. Real household income $72,330............ U.S. Census Bureau,
post-tax. Post-Tax Household
Income Summary
Measures by
Selected
Characteristics:
2023 and
2024,https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.census.gov%2Fprograms-surveys%2Fdemo%2Ftables%2Fp60%2F286%2FtableB1.xlsx&wdOrigin=BROWSELINK in=BROWSELINK
[https://perma.cc/M33M-EWY7].
2c. Net household income rate 86 percent......... $72,330 post-tax
income/$83,730 pre-
tax income = .86
net household
income rate.
3a. Hourly leisure wage...... $26.10............. $30.35 hourly non-
leisure wage * .86
net household
income rate =
$26.10 hourly
leisure wage.
3b. Rounded hourly leisure $26.00............. ....................
wage.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on the methodology outlined by HHS, the estimated leisure
wage is $26, which is used to calculate the hourly savings.
Based on the fees, costs, and time used in this example for
creating a trust and notarizing the legal documents, ATF estimates for
purposes of this analysis that the per-couple savings from this
proposed rule could be $185 per application. Table 4 illustrates the
savings that would accrue from removing the need to create an NFA trust
to jointly register an NFA firearm using this analysis.
Table 4--Savings From Removing Need To Create a Trust to Jointly Register NFA Firearms
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hourly leisure
Regulatory action Item cost wage value Subtotal
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost to create trust............................................ $119 $26 $145
Notary.......................................................... 9 7 16
-----------------------------------------------
Per-trust total cost (savings).............................. .............. .............. 161
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on the savings generated per couple, or per trust, ATF
estimated the annual savings that would flow from this proposed rule
over the next 10 years. Table 5 provides the annual estimated savings
from no longer
[[Page 25249]]
creating a trust to jointly register as spouses to make, transfer or
receive, and register an NFA firearm.
Table 5--Annual Savings From No Longer Filing as a Trust
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Future married
registrants that
Year would not have to Savings
create a trust
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1................................. 12,550 $2,020,602
2................................. 11,856 1,908,863
3................................. 11,162 1,797,125
4................................. 10,468 1,685,386
5................................. 9,774 1,573,648
6................................. 9,080 1,461,909
7................................. 8,386 1,350,171
8................................. 7,692 1,238,432
9................................. 6,998 1,126,693
10................................ 6,304 1,014,955
-------------------------------------
Total......................... ................. 14,162,828
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ATF estimates that this proposed rule could save married couples
who wish to jointly register $14.2 million over 10 years in trust-
creation savings they would otherwise incur.
Table 6--Ten-Year Savings Undiscounted and Discounted
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Year Undiscounted 3% Discount rate 7% Discount rate
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...................................................... $2,020,602 $1,904,611 $1,764,872
2...................................................... 1,908,863 1,746,880 1,558,201
3...................................................... 1,797,125 1,596,722 1,371,018
4...................................................... 1,685,386 1,453,829 1,201,657
5...................................................... 1,573,648 1,317,905 1,048,588
6...................................................... 1,461,909 1,188,666 910,403
7...................................................... 1,350,171 1,065,837 785,812
8...................................................... 1,238,432 949,155 673,625
9...................................................... 1,126,693 838,366 572,754
10..................................................... 1,014,955 755,222 515,952
--------------------------------------------------------
Total.............................................. 14,162,828 12,061,971 9,886,930
--------------------------------------------------------
Annualized......................................... ................. 1,414,031 1,407,676
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In total, this proposed rule would provide a 10-year undiscounted
cost savings of $14.2 million or an annualized net cost savings of $1.4
million at 3 percent and $1.4 million at 7 percent.
3. Costs
Spouses who are currently individually registered, or have created
a trust, for NFA firearms but wanted to jointly register their existing
NFA firearms, would now have the option to switch their firearms from
trusts to joint registrations (using Form 4) if this rule is finalized
as proposed. Or there may be a subset of sole NFA owners who would
choose to switch their sole ownership to a joint ownership and would
thus transfer their NFA firearm (using Form 4) to include their spouse.
All persons transferring an NFA firearm are already required to
submit a Form 4 to both transfer and register the firearm. Married
couples filing jointly would constitute an `entity' in terms of the
categories on the form. As a result, they would file one Form 4 and
then each spouse would complete and attach a Form 23 with their
individual information for the purposes of a background check, just as
occurs with other entities. Spouses would be considered responsible
persons for the married couple entity. These requirements already exist
for all transfers and are thus sunk costs. Married couples who choose
to transfer a firearm as joint registrants would be no different and
would incur no additional costs beyond those already required to
complete these forms and supporting documentation.
Other than for machine guns and destructive devices, since January
1, 2026, applicants making, transferring, and registering their NFA
firearms no longer pay the $200 NFA making or transferring tax. As a
result, other than married couples who want to jointly own machine guns
or destructive devices, switching to joint registrations would include
only a $0 making or transferring tax, which ATF believes would
encourage an increase in such transfers if this proposed rule is
finalized. However, either way, the transfer tax is also already an
existing tax for transfers established by statute and incorporated in
the regulations for all transfers that do not fall into one of the tax-
exempt statuses established by statute, which would not apply here. Any
such tax is therefore also a sunk cost and a married couple who chooses
to transfer a firearm as joint registrants would occur no additional
tax fees beyond those already required with any transfer.
As a result, this rule would generate no costs for registering
jointly beyond those already required for all transfers.
[[Page 25250]]
5. Regulatory Alternatives
Alternative 1. Maintaining the status quo. This would require
spouses to continue creating trusts to jointly register NFA firearms.
There are $0 costs and $0 incremental benefits to maintaining the
status quo. However, under these circumstances, for example, if a
surviving spouse was not registered under a trust covering the firearm,
and the firearm consequently was not transferred as part of an estate
during probate, the surviving spouse would thereafter be unable to
legally transfer the NFA firearm--because the surviving spouse would
not be the registered owner--and the spouse also would not legally be
able to retain the firearm for the same reason. This kind of situation
would continue under the status quo alternative. This alternative was
rejected because the proposed rule provides high net benefits with only
minimal application costs per couple, while also alleviating the
hassles and complexities of creating and maintaining trusts for dual-
registration purposes and situations like the one described above.
Alternative 2. Rulemaking (proposed alternative). This proposed
alternative would rescind the need for spouses to register as a trust
to have joint ownership of an NFA firearm. This rule would provide
deregulatory savings to married couples wishing to purchase such
firearms and facilitate the purchase without having to file and
register as a trust. This alternative was accepted due to the savings
this rule would provide for the public and the lack of negative impact
on public safety. Spouses who are jointly registered through a trust,
or who would do so in the future without this rule, would receive the
same joint registration benefits pursuant to this rule without the cost
and hassle of creating a trust and going through the trust approval
process at ATF. Other married couples that wanted to register jointly
but chose to register the firearm to one spouse instead of going
through the trust process, or such couples who would do so in future
without this rule, would instead be able to jointly register. In
addition, the proposed rule has an annualized benefit of $1.4 million
at 3 percent and 7 percent. This alternative was selected because the
benefits, both monetized and qualitative, exceed costs.
Alternative 3. Guidance instead of rulemaking. This alternative was
rejected because the regulations currently say the opposite of what is
being proposed and any guidance would then conflict with the
regulations. This would create confusion and the proposed joint
registration would not have the same force and effect as the
regulation, thereby resulting in unreliable registrations for spouses
under the guidance, if it should be litigated or other similar
situations. While guidance would theoretically allow for the same
benefits as the proposed rulemaking, these issues would nullify them.
B. Executive Order 14192
Executive Order 14192 (Unleashing Prosperity through Deregulation)
requires an agency, unless prohibited by law, to identify at least ten
existing regulations to be repealed or revised when the agency publicly
proposes for notice-and-comment or otherwise promulgates a new
regulation that qualifies as an Executive Order 14192 regulatory action
(defined in OMB Memorandum M-25-20 as a final significant regulatory
action under section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866 that imposes total
costs greater than zero). In furtherance of this requirement, section
3(c) of Executive Order 14192 requires that any new incremental costs
associated with such new regulations must, to the extent permitted by
law, also be offset by eliminating existing costs associated with at
least ten prior regulations. However, this proposed rule would not be
an Executive Order 14192 regulatory action. This rule as proposed would
not be a significant regulatory action as defined by Executive Order
12866 and it would not impose total costs greater than zero. This
proposed rule would remove the previously existing regulatory
requirements that caused spouses who wished to register jointly to
create trusts and save the public costs and burdens of complying with
them. ATF therefore expects this proposed rule, if finalized as
proposed, to qualify as an Executive Order 14192 deregulatory action
(defined in OMB Memorandum M-25-20 as a final action that imposes total
costs less than zero).
C. Executive Order 14294
Executive Order 14294 (Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal
Regulations) requires agencies promulgating regulations with criminal
regulatory offenses potentially subject to criminal enforcement to
explicitly describe the conduct subject to criminal enforcement, the
authorizing statutes, and the mens rea standard applicable to each
element of those offenses. This proposed rule would not create a
criminal regulatory offense and is thus exempt from Executive Order
14294 requirements.
D. Executive Order 13132
This proposed rule would not have substantial direct effects on the
states, the relationship between the federal government and the states,
or the distribution of power and responsibilities among the various
levels of government. Therefore, in accordance with section 6 of
Executive Order 13132 (Federalism), the Director has determined that
this proposed rule would not impose substantial direct compliance costs
on state and local governments, preempt state law, or meaningfully
implicate federalism. It thus does not warrant preparing a federalism
summary impact statement.
E. Executive Order 12988
This proposed rule meets the applicable standards set forth in
sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988 (Civil Justice
Reform).
F. Regulatory Flexibility Act
Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (``RFA''), 5 U.S.C. 601-612,
agencies are required to conduct a regulatory flexibility analysis of
any proposed rule subject to notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements
unless the agency head certifies, including a statement of the factual
basis, that the proposed rule would not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. Small entities
include certain small businesses, small not-for-profit organizations
that are independently owned and operated and are not dominant in their
fields, and governmental jurisdictions with populations of less than
50,000.
ATF performed an initial regulatory flexibility analysis (``IRFA'')
of the impacts on small businesses and other entities that would occur
due to this proposed rule, if finalized as proposed. Based on the
information from this analysis, ATF found--
Direct costs and savings: there are no direct costs or
savings to small businesses or entities. Direct costs and savings from
this proposed rule would apply only to individuals.
Indirect costs: an unknown number of small businesses deal
in NFA trusts, including firearms dealers and law firms that provide
other types of goods or services, as well as businesses for which gun
trusts are their only service. This proposed rule would indirectly
cause an unknown reduction in revenue for these small businesses
because it would cause some individuals (married couples) to no longer
need an NFA gun trust (other persons might still need NFA gun trusts,
such as siblings who wish to jointly
[[Page 25251]]
own an NFA firearm). ATF has no data source from which to determine how
many NFA gun trusts involve married couples versus other parties, or
what portion of such businesses' revenue stems from creating gun
trusts, so cannot ascertain the impact to these businesses or how many
might be impacted. However, it is possible that a small portion of
these affected businesses whose only line of business is NFA gun trusts
could go out of business altogether due to this proposed rule if
married couples constitute the bulk of their clients.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA)
The RFA establishes ``as a principle of regulatory issuance that
agencies shall endeavor, consistent with the objectives of the rule and
of applicable statutes, to fit regulatory and informational
requirements to the scale of the businesses, organizations, and
governmental jurisdictions subject to regulation. To achieve this
principle, agencies are required to solicit and consider flexible
regulatory proposals and to explain the rationale for their actions to
ensure that such proposals are given serious consideration.'' Public
Law 96-354, sec. 2(b), 94 Stat. 1164 (1980).
Under the RFA, the agency is required to consider whether the
proposed rule would have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. Agencies must perform a review to determine
whether the proposed rule would have such an impact. If the agency
determines that it would, the agency must prepare an IRFA (or a
regulatory flexibility analysis, for a final rule) as described in the
RFA.
ATF determined that the rule affects a variety of large and small
businesses (see item 3 below). Based on the requirements above, ATF
prepared the following IRFA assessing the proposed rule's impact on
small entities.
1. Reasons Why the Agency Is Considering Acting
This proposed rule would reduce burdens and costs to individuals
because it would allow spouses to jointly register firearms, and would
alleviate legal hurdles after a registered owner spouse dies and reduce
the need for spouses to create legal trusts instead (which cost money
and time). ATF also does not anticipate this rule creating significant
economic cost for small entities, as this rule directly affects
individuals not businesses.
2. Objectives of, and Legal Basis for, the Proposed Rule
The objective of this proposed rulemaking is to reduce the
regulatory burden of NFA firearms ownership on the public. Federal law
does not prohibit persons from jointly owning an NFA firearm if both
persons have undergone the requisite background checks, complied with
the statutory and regulatory requirements, and are not prohibited
persons. Therefore, ATF would permit spouses to jointly register NFA
firearms as proposed in this rule. ATF also believes that it is
reasonable to limit joint registration to spouses. Allowing non-marital
joint registration could result in pretextual joint registrations that
attempt to circumvent the NFA's transfer provisions and the Gun Control
Act's interstate transfer restrictions, e.g., 18 U.S.C. 922(a)(3), both
of which require approval by the Attorney General. Such attempts are
unlikely within a marriage, since both parties typically live in the
same household and legitimately share property.
3. Describing and, Where Feasible, Estimating the Number of Small
Entities to Which the Proposed Rule Would Apply
It is possible that there may be indirect costs to another
industry--businesses that create trusts, some of which could be small
businesses. These include firearms dealers and law firms that provide
other types of goods or services, as well as businesses for which gun
trusts are their only service. Because not all law firms and dealers
provide trust services, let alone NFA gun trust services, and some that
do offer such services do not advertise their services or have an
internet presence, there are an unknown number of businesses that
create trusts specifically for NFA firearms.
ATF found five businesses that advertise on the internet as
providing services specifically to create NFA gun trusts.\10\ Using the
online operational information provided by these five businesses, ATF
determined that three of them advertise services only for NFA gun
trusts; they have no other business goods or services.\11\ To the
extent that these and other small businesses provide only NFA gun trust
services, they may be adversely impacted by this rule, and possibly go
out of business altogether if their client base consists heavily of
married couples. Other businesses, such as the other two that ATF
identified that specifically advertise NFA gun trust services,\12\ also
offer other goods and services--such as retail firearms sales, other
kinds of trusts, or other law services. This proposed rulemaking would
have an unknown indirect effect on their revenue, but because married
couples make up only part of the population that seek to create gun
trusts,\13\ and these small businesses have other revenue sources in
addition to NFA gun trusts, ATF expects the impact to them would be
smaller. ATF has no information on the size of these businesses and is
treating them, for purposes of this analysis, as if they are small
entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ See footnote 7, supra.
\11\ See footnote 7, National Gun Trusts, Gun Trusts Guru, and
Texas Gun Trust, supra.
\12\ See footnote 7, Silencer Central and Silencer Shop, supra.
\13\ For example, friends, relatives such as siblings or parent
and child, investors in a specific firearm, etc., also may seek to
create NFA gun trusts, and this rule would not affect them or their
interest in creating a trust.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two of the businesses that offer NFA trust services advertise that
their only services are to facilitate NFA firearms trust applications.
4. Proposed Rule's Projected Reporting, Record-Keeping, and Other
Compliance Requirements, Including an Estimate of the Classes of Small
Entities Which Would Be Subject to the Requirement and the Type of
Professional Skills Necessary To Prepare the Report or Record
The proposed rule imposes no additional reporting, record-keeping,
or other compliance requirements or costs. This rule would rescind
costs to and requirements on the public.
5. Relevant Federal Rules Which Might Duplicate, Overlap, or Conflict
With the Proposed Rule
This proposed rule would not duplicate or conflict with other
federal rules.
6. Significant Alternatives to the Proposed Rule Which Accomplish the
Stated Objectives of Applicable Statutes, and Which Minimize Any
Significant Economic Impact the Proposed Rule Might Have on Small
Entities
ATF considered the alternative of maintaining the status quo with
respect to joint ownership of NFA weapons. Maintaining the status quo
would alleviate the indirect costs to companies that facilitate NFA
trust applications. However, ATF determined that the direct, economic
benefits to the public would significantly outweigh the indirect costs
to a few businesses incurred from the proposed rule.
[[Page 25252]]
G. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996
This proposed rule may have a significant, indirect economic impact
on five entities that provide NFA-specific trust services. Assuming
these five businesses represent the entire industry providing such
services and would all be impacted, if they are small entities, then a
substantial number of small entities under the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, 15 U.S.C. 657 and 5 U.S.C.
601 note, might be indirectly impacted by this proposed rule because it
may indirectly reduce their revenue-generating activities. Because this
proposed rulemaking does not impose additional compliance activities
(it reduces compliance activities), ATF does not anticipate imposing
any enforcement activities against any small entity affected by this
proposed rulemaking.
H. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
This proposed rule does not include a federal mandate that might
result in the expenditure by state, local, and tribal governments, in
the aggregate, or by the private sector, of $100 million or more in any
one year, and it would not significantly or uniquely affect small
governments. Therefore, ATF determined that no actions are necessary
under the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995.
I. Paperwork Reduction Act
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (``PRA''), 44 U.S.C.
3501-3521, agencies are required to submit to OMB, for review and
approval, any information collection requirements a rule creates or any
impacts it has on existing information collections. An information
collection includes any reporting, record-keeping, monitoring, posting,
labeling, or other similar actions an agency requires of the public.
See 5 CFR 1320.3(c). This proposed rule would create the need to revise
four existing information collections covered under the PRA. The
involved information collections are OMB 1140-0011: Application to Make
and Register NFA Firearm, which includes ATF Form 5320.1 (``Form 1'');
OMB 1140-0014: Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-
Paid), which includes ATF Form 5320.4 (``Form 4''); OMB 1140-0015:
Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Exempt), which
includes ATF Form 5320.5 (``Form 5''); and OMB 1140-0107: NFA
Responsible Person Questionnaire, which includes ATF Form 5320.23
(``Form 23''). This rule would require the forms for all four of these
information collections to be slightly modified to allow joint
application by spouses, as described in section II of this preamble.
This proposed rule might also generate a one-time increase in the
number of respondents submitting Forms 4 and 23 during the first year,
if the rule is finalized as proposed, because persons with registered
firearms who want to jointly register them with their spouse might
submit transfer applications that year on Forms 4 to register them
jointly, and the spouses would need to submit Forms 23 with Forms 4.
How many might do so is too speculative to estimate.
Form 5 would also likely experience a small increase in the number
of respondents in later years, due to possible transfers due to court
orders during divorce, but that amount is too speculative to estimate.
Impacted Information Collection Request (``ICR'') 1
Title: Application to Make and Register NFA Firearm.
OMB control number: 1140-0011.
Form number: ATF Form 5320.1 (``Form 1'').
Summary of the information collection: Any person other than a
qualified manufacturer who wishes to make and register an NFA firearm
must submit a written application to ATF on a form prescribed by ATF.
26 U.S.C. 5822. They must also identify the firearm they are making and
themselves as the maker. Finally, individuals must include their
fingerprints and a photograph with the application. In Sec. 479.62,
ATF prescribed ATF Form 5320.1 (``Form 1''), Application to Make and
Register NFA Firearm, for these required purposes.
Need for information and proposed use: ATF's NFA Division uses the
information on this form to determine whether the applicant may legally
make and register the firearm under federal, state, tribal, and local
law. Section 5822 provides that ATF cannot approve an application if
making or possessing the firearm would place the person making the
firearm in violation of law. The form asks individual applicants to
respond, under penalties of perjury, to questions to determine whether
they are prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms. For a
trust or legal entity, which cannot answer these questions on Form 1
because it is not an individual, each responsible person for that trust
or legal entity instead provides this information when they submit Form
5320.23, NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire (covered by OMB control
number 1140-0107).
Description of the respondents affected by this ICR: Individuals or
households.
Number of respondents: 148,975 annually.
Frequency of response: Once, as needed.
Response time estimate: 12 minutes (overall reduction from 30
minutes, due to conversion to eForm and other technological changes).
Burden of response: 29,795 hours total for all respondents.
Impacted ICR 2
Title: Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Paid).
OMB control number: 1140-0014.
Form number: ATF Form 5320.4 (``Form 4'').
Summary of the information collection: Persons with an NFA firearm
must apply to ATF for approval to transfer and register the firearm as
required by the NFA. 26 U.S.C. 5812. ATF Form 5320.4 (``Form 4''), the
prescribed means for submitting this application, facilitates and
records the firearms transfer and also serves as proof of registration
once approved.
Need for information and proposed use: ATF's NFA Division uses the
information on this form to determine whether the applicant may legally
transfer and register the firearm under federal, state, tribal, and
local law. The form also identifies the transferor, transferee, and
firearm(s). 26 U.S.C. 5812 provides that ATF cannot approve an
application if receiving or possessing the firearm would place the
person receiving the firearm in violation of law. The form asks
individual transferees to respond, under penalties of perjury, to
questions to determine whether they are prohibited by federal law from
possessing firearms. For a trust or legal entity, which cannot answer
these questions on Form 4 because it is not an individual, each
responsible person for that trust or legal entity instead provides this
information when they submit Form 5320.23, NFA Responsible Person
Questionnaire (covered by OMB control number 1140-0107).
Description of the respondents affected by this ICR: Individuals or
households.
Number of respondents: 546,424 annually.
Frequency of response: Once.
Response time estimate: 12 minutes per (overall reduction from 30
minutes, due to conversion to eForm and other technological changes).
Burden of response: 109,285 hours total for all respondents.
[[Page 25253]]
Impacted ICR 3
Title: Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-
Exempt).
OMB control number: 1140-0015.
Form number: ATF Form 5320.5 (``Form 5'').
Summary of the information collection: Persons with an NFA firearm
must apply to ATF for approval to transfer and register the firearm as
required by the NFA. 26 U.S.C. 5812. ATF Form 5320.5 (``Form 5''), the
prescribed means for submitting this application if the transfer is
tax-exempt, facilitates and records the firearms transfer and also
serves as proof of registration once approved. Applicants also use the
form to claim an exemption from paying the otherwise-required transfer
tax and provide the information necessary to support their claim.
Need for information and proposed use: ATF's NFA Division uses the
information on this form to determine whether the applicant may legally
transfer and register the firearm under federal, state, tribal, and
local law, and to determine whether the transfer qualifies for tax-
exempt status. The form also identifies the transferor, transferee, and
firearm(s). 26 U.S.C. 5812 provides that ATF cannot approve an
application if receiving or possessing the firearm would place the
person receiving the firearm in violation of law. The form asks
individual transferees to respond, under penalties of perjury, to
questions to determine whether they are prohibited by federal law from
possessing firearms. For a trust or legal entity, which cannot answer
these questions on Form 5 because it is not an individual, each
responsible person for that trust or legal entity instead provides this
information when they submit Form 5320.23, NFA Responsible Person
Questionnaire (covered by OMB control number 1140-0107). ATF also uses
Form 5 to effect a transfer resulting from operation of law, for
example, a firearm in an estate being transferred to a beneficiary, or
a firearm being transferred as a result of bankruptcy. Persons may also
use Form 5 to facilitate temporarily conveying a firearm for repair,
and its subsequent return.
Description of the respondents affected by this ICR: federal
government, state, local, or tribal governments, individuals under
certain circumstances.
Number of respondents: 17,322 annually.
Frequency of response: once.
Response time estimate: 12 minutes (overall reduction from 30
minutes, due to conversion to eForm and other technological changes).
Burden of response: 3,464 hours total for all respondents.
Impacted ICR 4
Title: NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire.
OMB control number: 1140-0107.
Form number: ATF Form 5320.23 (``Form 23'').
Summary of the information collection: When a trust or other legal
entity (including corporations, etc.) must submit Form 1 as the maker,
or is identified as the transferee on Form 4 or ATF Form 5320.5 (``Form
5''), Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Exempt), it
is not able to submit individually identifying information for purposes
of a background check. When one of these forms is filled out by an
entity other than an individual, the entity provides the information on
Forms 1, 4, or 5. In such cases, each responsible person for that
entity must provide the same information that is requested for an
individual on Form 4, or 5, but does so on a separate form. This is to
ensure that each responsible person for the entity is legally permitted
to make, transfer, or receive an NFA firearm. As a result, ATF Form
5320.23 (``Form 23'') is required for any responsible person (as
defined in 27 CFR 479.11) who is part of such trust or other legal
entity.
Need for information and proposed use: ATF's NFA Division uses the
information on this form to determine whether the applicant may legally
make, possess, or receive the firearm under federal, state, tribal, and
local law. Sections 5812 and 5822 provide that ATF cannot approve an
application if making or possessing the firearm would place the person
in violation of law. The form asks the responsible person to respond,
under penalties of perjury, to questions to determine whether they are
prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms.
Description of the respondents affected by this ICR: Entity
responsible persons.
Number of respondents: 749,242 annually.
Frequency of response: once.
Response time estimate: 12 minutes (overall reduction from 30
minutes, due to conversion to eForm and other technological changes).
Burden of response: 149,848 hours total for all respondents.
IV. Public Participation
A. Comments Sought
ATF requests comments on the proposed rule from all interested
persons. ATF specifically requests comments on the clarity of this
proposed rule and how it may be made easier to understand. In addition,
ATF requests comments on the costs or benefits of the proposed rule and
on the appropriate methodology and data for calculating those costs and
benefits.
All comments must reference this document's RIN 1140-AB00 and, if
handwritten, must be legible. If submitting by mail, you must also
include your complete first and last name and contact information. If
submitting a comment through the federal e-rulemaking portal, as
described in section IV.C of this preamble, you should carefully review
and follow the website's instructions on submitting comments. Whether
you submit comments online or by mail, ATF will post them online. If
submitting online as an individual, any information you provide in the
online fields for city, state, zip code, and phone will not be publicly
viewable when ATF publishes the comment on https://www.regulations.gov.
However, if you include such personally identifying information
(``PII'') in the body of your online comment, it may be posted and
viewable online. Similarly, if you submit a written comment with PII in
the body of the comment, it may be posted and viewable online.
Therefore, all commenters should review section IV.B of this preamble,
``Confidentiality,'' regarding how to submit PII if you do not want it
published online. ATF may not consider, or respond to, comments that do
not meet these requirements or comments containing excessive profanity.
ATF will retain comments containing excessive profanity as part of this
rulemaking's administrative record, but will not publish such documents
on https://www.regulations.gov. ATF will treat all comments as
originals and will not acknowledge receipt of comments. In addition, if
ATF cannot read your comment due to handwriting or technical
difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, ATF may not be
able to consider your comment.
ATF will carefully consider all comments, as appropriate, received
on or before the closing date.
B. Confidentiality
ATF will make all comments meeting the requirements of this
section, whether submitted electronically or on paper, and except as
provided below, available for public viewing on the internet through
the federal e-rulemaking portal, and subject to the Freedom of
Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). Commenters who submit by mail and who
do not want their name or other PII posted on the internet should
[[Page 25254]]
submit their comments with a separate cover sheet containing their PII.
The separate cover sheet should be marked with ``CUI//PRVCY'' at the
top to identify it as protected PII under the Privacy Act. Both the
cover sheet and comment must reference this RIN 1140-AB00. For comments
submitted by mail, information contained on the cover sheet will not
appear when posted on the internet but any PII that appears within the
body of a comment will not be redacted by ATF and may appear on the
internet. Similarly, commenters who submit through the federal e-
rulemaking portal and who do not want any of their PII posted on the
internet should omit such PII from the body of their comment and any
uploaded attachments. However, PII entered into the online fields
designated for name, email, and other contact information will not be
posted or viewable online.
A commenter may submit to ATF information identified as proprietary
or confidential business information by mail. To request that ATF
handle this information as controlled unclassified information
(``CUI''), the commenter must place any portion of a comment that is
proprietary or confidential business information under law or
regulation on pages separate from the balance of the comment, with each
page prominently marked ``CUI//PROPIN'' at the top of the page.
ATF will not make proprietary or confidential business information
submitted in compliance with these instructions available when
disclosing the comments that it receives, but will disclose that the
commenter provided proprietary or confidential business information
that ATF is holding in a separate file to which the public does not
have access. If ATF receives a request to examine or copy this
information, it will treat it as any other request under the Freedom of
Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552). In addition, ATF will disclose such
proprietary or confidential business information to the extent required
by other legal process.
C. Submitting Comments
Submit comments using either of the two methods described below
(but do not submit the same comment multiple times or by more than one
method). Hand-delivered comments will not be accepted.
Federal e-rulemaking portal: ATF recommends that you
submit your comments to ATF via the federal e-rulemaking portal at
https://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions. Comments will
be posted within a few days of being submitted. However, if large
volumes of comments are being processed simultaneously, your comment
may not be viewable for up to several weeks. Please keep the comment
tracking number that is provided after you have successfully uploaded
your comment.
Mail: Send written comments to the address listed in the
ADDRESSES section of this document. Written comments must appear in
minimum 12-point font size, include the commenter's first and last name
and full mailing address, and may be of any length. See also section
IV.B of this preamble, ``Confidentiality.''
Disclosure
Copies of this proposed rule and the comments received in response
to it are available through the federal e-rulemaking portal, at https://www.regulations.gov (search for RIN 1140-AB00).
List of Subjects in 27 CFR Part 479
Administrative practice and procedure, Arms and munitions, Exports,
Imports, Military personnel, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping
requirements, Seizures and forfeitures, Taxes, Transportation.
For the reasons discussed in the preamble, ATF proposes to amend 27
CFR part 479 as follows:
PART 479--MACHINE GUNS, DESTRUCTIVE DEVICES, AND CERTAIN OTHER
FIREARMS
0
1. The authority citation for 27 CFR part 479 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 26 U.S.C. 5801-5812; 26 U.S.C. 7801; 26 U.S.C. 7805.
0
2. Amend Sec. 479.62 by:
0
a. In paragraph (a), removing the words ``ATF Form 1 (5320.1),
Application to Make and Register a Firearm'' and adding in their place
the words ``ATF Form 5320.1 (``Form 1''), Application to Make and
Register NFA Firearm''; and
0
b. Revising the introductory text of paragraph (b) and paragraphs
(b)(1), (b)(2), and (b)(6), adding a paragraph heading to paragraphs
(b)(3)-(5), and adding a new paragraph (b)(7), to read as follows:
Sec. 479.62 Application to make
* * * * *
(b) Preparing ATF Form 5320.1 (``Form 1''). The applicant must
provide all the information called for on Form 1, including:
(1) Application type, i.e., tax-paid or tax-exempt. If making the
firearm is subject to the $200 tax, the applicant must submit payment
in that amount with the application in accordance with the instructions
on the form;
(2) Applicant's identity. If an individual, the applicant must
provide the applicant's name, address, and birthdate, and also comply
with the identification requirements prescribed in Sec. 479.63(a). If
other than an individual, the applicant entity (including a married
couple filing jointly) must enter the entity's name (or ``spouses
filing jointly,'' if a married couple), address, and employer
identification number, if any, as well as the full name and address of
each responsible person or spouse filing jointly. Each responsible
person or spouse filing jointly must also comply with the
identification requirements prescribed in Sec. 479.63(b);
(3) Firearm description. * * *
(4) License number. * * *
(5) Tax stamp. * * *
(6) Nonimmigrant alien documents. If any applicant (including, if
other than an individual, a spouse filing jointly, or any responsible
person) is an alien admitted under a nonimmigrant visa, applicable
documents demonstrating that the nonimmigrant alien falls within an
exception to 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5)(B) under 18 U.S.C. 922(y)(2), or has
obtained a waiver of that provision under 18 U.S.C. 922(y)(3).
(7) Joint registration documents. If the applicants are spouses
filing jointly (a married couple), they must submit with the
application documents demonstrating a legal marriage, including a
marriage certificate, license, or proof of a marriage otherwise
recognized under state law. In the event a marriage certificate,
license, or equivalent is not available, applicants can submit other
evidence of marriage (such as affidavits, joint tax returns).
* * * * *
0
3. Amend Sec. 479.63 by:
0
a. Revising the section heading, the introductory text of paragraph
(a), and the introductory text of paragraph (b);
0
b. In paragraph (b)(1), adding ``(or by ``spouses filing jointly'' and
address, if a married couple)'' between the words ``place of business''
and the comma, and adding the words ``or a married couple filing
jointly'' between the words ``in the case of a trust'' and the comma in
two places;
0
c. In paragraph (b)(2)(i), removing the word ``Documentation'' and
adding in its place the word ``Documents'', and adding the words
``marriage certificates, licenses, or other proof of marriage
recognized under state law,'' before the words ``partnership
agreements'';
0
d. In paragraph (b)(2)(ii), adding the words ``or spouse filing
jointly'' after the
[[Page 25255]]
words ``responsible person'', adding the words ``or spouse's'' after
the words ``responsible person's'', and adding ``(if applicable)''
after the word ``position''; and
0
e. In paragraphs (b)(2)(iii) and (iv), by adding the words ``or spouse
filing jointly'' after the words ``responsible person'' wherever they
appear.
The revisions read as follows:
Sec. 479.63 Applicant identity.
(a) Each individual applicant must:
* * * * *
(b) If the applicant is not an individual, and is not a licensed
manufacturer, importer, or dealer qualified under this part, but is a
partnership, company (including a limited liability company (LLC)),
association, trust, corporation, or married couple filing jointly, the
applicant must:
* * * * *
0
4. Amend Sec. 479.84, by:
0
a. In paragraph (b)(9), adding the words ``or spouse filing jointly''
after the words ``responsible person''; and
0
b. Revising paragraphs (a), (b) introductory text, (b)(2), and (b)(5)
and adding paragraph (b)(10) to read as follows:
Sec. 479.84 Application to transfer.
(a) General. Except as otherwise provided in this subpart, no
person may transfer a firearm in the United States unless the
transferor submits an application, ATF Form 5320.4 (``Form 4''),
Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm (Tax-Paid), to the
Director in duplicate, executed under the penalties of perjury, to
transfer the firearm and register it to the transferee, and the
Director has approved the application. If the transferee is not a
licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer qualified under this part,
but is a partnership, company (including a limited liability company
(LLC)), association, trust, corporation, or a married couple filing
jointly, the transferee must furnish all information required on Form 4
for each of the transferee's responsible persons or spouses filing
jointly.
(b) ATF Form 5320.4 (``Form 4''). The transferor and transferee
must provide all the information called for on Form 4, including:
* * * * *
(2) The transferor's identity by name and address and, if the
transferor is not an individual, the title or legal status (such as
spouse or owner) of the person executing the application in relation to
the transferor;
* * * * *
(5) The transferee's identity by name and address and, if the
transferee is not qualified as a licensed manufacturer, importer, or
dealer under this part, additional identity information in the manner
prescribed in Sec. 479.85;
* * * * *
(10) If the applicants are spouses filing jointly (a married
couple), they must submit applicable documents demonstrating a legal
marriage with the application, including a marriage certificate,
license, or proof of a marriage otherwise recognized under state law.
In the event a marriage certificate is not available, applicants can
submit other evidence of marriage (such as affidavits, joint tax
returns).
* * * * *
0
6. Amend Sec. 479.85 by:
0
a. Revising the section heading, paragraph (a) introductory text, and
paragraph (b) introductory text;
0
b. In paragraph (b)(1), adding ``(or last name(s) and primary address
of the married couple filing jointly)'' between the words ``place of
business'' and the comma, and adding the words ``or a married couple
filing jointly'' between the words ``in the case of a trust'' and the
comma;
0
c. In paragraph (b)(2)(i), removing the word ``Documentation'' and
adding in its place the word ``Documents'', and adding the words
``marriage certificates, licenses, or other proof of marriage
recognized under state law,'' before the words ``partnership
agreements'';
0
d. In paragraph (b)(2)(ii), adding the words ``or spouse filing
jointly'' after the words ``responsible person'', adding the words ``or
spouse's'' after the words ``responsible person's'', and adding ``(if
applicable)'' after the word ``position''; and
0
e. In paragraphs (b)(2)(iii) and (iv), adding the words ``or spouse
filing jointly'' after the words ``responsible person'' wherever they
appear.
The revisions read as follows:
Sec. 479.85 Transferee identity.
(a) Each individual transferee must:
* * * * *
(b) If the transferee is not an individual, and is not a licensed
manufacturer, importer, or dealer qualified under this part, but is a
partnership, company (including a limited liability company (LLC)),
association, trust, corporation, or a married couple filing jointly,
the transferee must:
* * * * *
0
7. Amend Sec. 479.101 by:
0
a. Revising the section heading; and
0
b. Adding paragraph (g).
The revision and addition read as follows:
Sec. 479.101 Registering firearms.
* * * * *
(g) A firearm may be registered jointly to spouses. The marriage
must be recognized under state law, and each spouse must meet the
requirements of this part, including retaining proof of registration.
Robert Cekada,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2026-09154 Filed 5-7-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-FY-P