In another edition of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, at the same time the U.S. Department of Justice is arguing to limit the ruling on post office carry, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has published a proposed rule that would make it easier to transport National Firearms Act (NFA) items across state lines.
Under current federal law, a gun owner must fill out an ATF Form 5320.20, Application to Transport Interstate or to Temporarily Export Certain National Firearms Act (NFA) Firearms (Form 20) in advance of the travel dates. It can be used for a single trip or multiple trips to the exact same location.
While the form applies to machine guns, short-barreled rifles (SBRs), short-barreled shotguns (SBSs) and “destructive devices,” suppressors and items deemed any other weapons (AOWs) under the NFA are exempt. The approval is valid for only one year at a time.
To complicate things further, the form must be filled out by hand, in duplicate, and sent to the ATF via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), by fax, or by email. The proposed new rule would allow the form to be submitted electronically, greatly streamlining the process.
“ATF is revising this information collection, OMB control number 1140-0010, to make the form electronically fillable and allow it to be submitted by email,” the proposed final rule states. “In addition, ATF will have made the form part of its online eForms platform by the time this ICR completes the renewal process, both of which result in full electronic submission. In the process of these changes, ATF has also made the second copy automatically auto-fill, when it was previously completed by the respondent in addition to the primary form. ATF also made some additional small edits to the form to make it easier to read and made a slight revision to the title to clarify the type of transportation covered.”
The notice also notes that the change should result in a 50% time savings for those submitting the form, from about 20 minutes to about 10.
“In addition, respondents no longer incur mailing time and costs,” the notice stated. “There has also been a decrease in the number of respondents per year, from 20,000 respondents during the last renewal to 12,878 during this renewal, a decrease of 7,122 respondents. These combined changes have resulted in a decrease in total annual burden hours from 6,667 hours to 2,151, a decrease of 4,516 hours, and a corresponding decrease in the monetized time value for this ICR.”
The 60-day comment period for anyone wanting to weigh in on the proposal runs through January 27.
While the proposed change is a positive thing, considering all the detrimental final rules President Joe Biden’s DOJ published throughout his four-year term, some pro-gun groups still feel like the Trump DOJ’s vigorous defense of what is left of the NFA after the $200 tax on NFA items was removed in the One Big Beautiful bill overshadows other pro-gun moves the administration has made.
“GOA and GOF condemn Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) for doubling down on enforcement of an archaic and unconstitutional law while simultaneously offering legal theories that would expand federal power to historic levels,” GOA said in a news release revealing the DOJ’s actions.
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