ATF Form 4473 is the federal Firearms Transaction Record you fill out at a licensed gun dealer before buying a firearm. It captures your identifying information and a set of yes-or-no eligibility questions, and the dealer uses your answers to run a background check through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Lying on it is a federal felony punishable by up to ten years in prison.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties
When You Have to Fill One Out
Federal law requires licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers to have a buyer complete Form 4473 and pass a NICS check before transferring any firearm. That covers gun shops, sporting goods stores, pawn shops, and any seller operating under a Federal Firearms License (FFL), including licensed sellers at gun shows. It applies to both handguns and long guns, with no distinction in the paperwork.
Buying from a private individual who isn’t a licensed dealer is different. Federal law doesn’t require Form 4473 or a NICS check for those sales, a gap sometimes called the “private sale exemption.” Some states have closed it by requiring background checks on all transfers, but the federal requirement runs only through licensees.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
What the Form Asks You For
The buyer’s portion opens with the basics: full legal name, current home address, date of birth, height, weight, sex, and ethnicity, plus whether you live within city limits. That level of detail helps the FBI distinguish you from other people with similar names when the check runs.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). ATF Form 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record Revisions
You’ll need a valid government-issued photo ID, usually a state driver’s license or military ID. If your ID doesn’t show your current address or legal name, expect to bring supplemental documentation. Non-U.S. citizens must present a valid immigration-issued form of identification and an alien number. Nonimmigrant visa holders also have to address whether they meet one of the narrow exceptions that let them purchase a firearm, such as holding a valid hunting license.4FBI UCR NICS. An FFL Tip Sheet for Processing NICS Checks for Non-U.S. Citizens/Aliens
After the identifying information comes the eligibility questions. The first asks whether you are the actual buyer of the firearm, aimed at stopping straw purchases where someone buys on behalf of a person who can’t legally get a gun. The rest track the federal prohibited-person categories.
The Prohibited Categories the Questions Cover
The eligibility questions map directly to nine categories of people federal law bars from possessing firearms. If any apply to you, an honest answer will stop the sale. A dishonest answer is a felony.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
- Anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, regardless of the sentence actually served.
- Anyone currently under indictment for a crime that could result in more than one year in prison.
- Fugitives from justice, meaning anyone with an active warrant or who has fled a jurisdiction to avoid prosecution or testimony.
- Anyone who currently uses illegal drugs or is addicted to a controlled substance, including marijuana regardless of state legalization.
- Anyone a court or other authority has found to be a danger to themselves or others due to mental illness, or who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution.
- Anyone discharged from the military under dishonorable conditions.
- Anyone who was a U.S. citizen and formally renounced that citizenship.
- Anyone subject to a qualifying domestic violence restraining order.
- Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
Two of these trip up buyers who assume they’re in the clear. The drug question asks about current use, not distant history, and because marijuana remains a controlled substance under federal law, a state-legal cardholder must still answer “yes” and will be denied. The restraining order prohibition applies only to orders issued after a hearing where the subject had notice and a chance to participate; temporary ex parte orders generally do not trigger it.
The Penalties for Lying or Straw Purchasing
A false statement on Form 4473 is a federal felony under 18 U.S.C. § 922(a)(6), carrying up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 924 – Penalties That includes checking “no” where the truthful answer is “yes,” using a fake ID, or misrepresenting who the actual buyer is. The ATF actively refers these cases for prosecution.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Federal Prosecutors Aggressively Pursuing Those Who Lie in Connection With Firearm Transactions
Straw purchases carry steeper penalties. Federal law now treats buying a firearm on behalf of someone who is prohibited, or with intent to illegally resell it, as a standalone offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If the straw-purchased weapon is later used in a felony, an act of terrorism, or a drug trafficking crime, the maximum sentence rises to 25 years.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Don’t Lie for the Other Guy
A separate penalty applies to any prohibited person who ends up in possession of a firearm regardless of how they got it. That violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) carries up to 15 years. A prohibited person who lies on the form and completes the purchase can face both the false-statement charge and the unlawful-possession charge.
What the Dealer Does After You Sign
Once you finish your portion, the dealer checks your photo ID against what you wrote, verifying that name, address, date of birth, and physical description all line up. Any mismatch has to be resolved before the sale can move forward. The dealer also records the firearm details: manufacturer, model, caliber or gauge, and serial number. By signing, the dealer certifies that they examined your ID, believe the information is accurate, and have no reason to think the sale would be illegal.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Firearms Transaction Record – ATF Form 4473
Then the dealer contacts NICS, either through a secure online portal or a dedicated FBI phone line. The system searches federal databases, including the National Crime Information Center, the Interstate Identification Index, and the NICS Index, for disqualifying records. In some states the dealer calls a state Point of Contact instead of the FBI directly, and that agency runs the NICS check plus any state-level searches.8Federal Bureau of Investigation. About NICS
Most checks return a result within minutes, in one of three forms:
- Proceed: no disqualifying records found, and the dealer can complete the sale.
- Denied: a disqualifying record was identified, and the sale is blocked.
- Delayed: something needs further investigation by an FBI examiner before a determination can be made.
If the check comes back delayed, the FBI has three business days to reach a final answer. Once that window closes without a decision, federal law lets the dealer complete the transfer at their discretion; they aren’t required to, but they can. Some states have eliminated this default-proceed option through their own waiting periods.
Buyers between 18 and 20 face a more thorough process under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. NICS examiners reach out to state juvenile justice, mental health, and local law enforcement agencies for records that aren’t automatically in federal databases. If those agencies return information that needs investigation, the review window extends from three business days to ten, and the dealer cannot use default-proceed during that time.9Federal Bureau of Investigation. NICS Enhanced Background Checks for Under-21 Gun Buyers Showing Results If the initial check comes back clean, the sale proceeds at normal speed.
If You Get Denied by Mistake
Common names, outdated records, and database errors produce a meaningful number of erroneous denials each year, and federal regulations give you a defined path to challenge one. The dealer will provide the name and address of the agency that ran the denial (either the FBI or your state’s Point of Contact) along with the unique transaction number for your check. You submit a written request to that agency asking for the reason. The agency must respond within five business days with the explanation and instructions on what to send in support of an appeal, which may include fingerprints if the issue is mistaken identity.10eCFR. Subpart A – The National Instant Criminal Background Check System
Your first appeal goes to the denying agency. If the underlying record came from a different source, like a state court or local police department, and the denying agency can’t resolve it, you can take the challenge directly to whichever agency created the record. Writing to the FBI’s NICS Operations Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia is another option. If the record gets corrected within 30 days of the original check, the system will issue a “proceed” to the dealer. After 30 days, the dealer has to run a new check.
If you’re repeatedly denied in error or your name frequently matches flagged records, you can apply for a Unique Personal Identification Number through the FBI’s Voluntary Appeal File. A UPIN gives NICS examiners immediate access to your verified information so future checks clear faster. Providing your Social Security number on the application isn’t required, but it speeds things up significantly, especially with common names.11Federal Bureau of Investigation. Voluntary Appeal File
How Long the Form Sticks Around
After a completed sale, the dealer keeps the original Form 4473 on the business premises for at least 20 years. If a NICS check was run but the sale never went through, the form is kept for five years from the date of the check.12eCFR. 27 CFR 478.129 – Record Retention These records aren’t stored in any centralized government database while the dealer is in business. They stay at the shop, accessible only during ATF compliance inspections, trace requests, or criminal investigations. If a dealer goes out of business permanently with no successor, all 4473s must be shipped to the ATF’s National Tracing Center within 30 days so firearms can still be traced if they later turn up in a crime.13Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Licensee Quick Reference and Best Practices Guide
The FBI’s side works in reverse. When a NICS check results in a proceed, all identifying information about the buyer must be destroyed within 24 hours of the dealer receiving the approval. Other non-identifying audit log data, other than the transaction number and date, is destroyed within 90 days.14eCFR. 28 CFR 25.9 – Retention and Destruction of Records in the System The FBI does not keep a long-term database of approved firearm purchases. The lasting record of your sale is the Form 4473 sitting in your dealer’s files.