Can I Have A Gun That's Not Registered

Do I Take To Register My Gun?

Firearms | September 2, 2020

I get this question a lot, and it's clear that there is some confusion out there about what it means to "annals" a firearm. It is the purpose of this commodity to lend some clarity to the subject field.

In order to comprehensively address the topic of firearms registration, I will make two distinctions. The first distinction is between the categories of firearms: those which are field of study to the National Firearms Act ("NFA Firearms"), and those which are not ("non-NFA Firearms"). (I am avoiding other ofttimes-used terms, similar "Title I Firearms," "Title II Firearms," or "Class Three Firearms" as they are inaccurate and misleading.) The 2nd distinction I will make is between registering a firearm, on the one hand, and undergoing an ownership transfer groundwork check, on the other.

Categories of Firearms

Returning to the two types of firearms, "non-NFA Firearms" are the nearly unremarkably owned guns, and this category includes handguns (revolvers and semi-automatic pistols) and long guns (rifles and shotguns). Only a handful of states crave registration of these types of guns. In fact, hither in Pennsylvania nosotros take laws that affirmatively prohibit registration of firearms. The premise of such a prohibition is that firearm registration is a step down a slippery gradient, leading to eventual confiscation. Conversely, the motivation behind background checks is to ensure that those who are "Prohibited Persons" (such as felons, for instance) are not immune to own guns.

However, the law notwithstanding requires the transferee (the recipient) of sure non-NFA Firearms to undergo a background check (as mentioned above, for the purpose of making sure a transferee is not a "Prohibited Person"). This is washed at a Federal Firearms Licensee ("FFL," i.east. a dealer) who runs a groundwork check on the transferee through the NICS (the National Instant Criminal Background Check System) database, though here in Pennsylvania we employ the "PICS" (Pennsylvania Instant Check Organization). This is always accompanied past the completion of an ATF Class 4473, as well as the Pennsylvania State Police Application/Tape of Sale form (SP 4-113) which is the class that lists the diverse factors prohibiting gun buying.

(Circumspection: we have had many clients stumble into trouble past filling out 1 of these forms without a proper understanding of what they mean – read the instructions on the back of the forms before completing them, because an incorrect answer tin lead to criminal charges.)

All Pennsylvania handgun transfers must be subjected to a PICS check, with the completion of a Form 4473 by the transferee of the handgun. Yet, PICS checks (and therefore ATF Form 4473s) are not required for long gun (i.east. rifles and shotguns) transfers in Pennsylvania (as long as the barrels are not shortened). That ways that a handgun which is endemic in Pennsylvania only which was not properly transferred at an FFL (with a PICS bank check and ATF Form 4473) is an illegal handgun, and its possession will bailiwick the owner to criminal penalties. (At that place are some exceptions to this, though, such every bit transfers between a parent and an adult child.) A long gun, yet, as indicated above, can be transferred in Pennsylvania without an FFL-completed PICS check and ATF Form 4473, and therefore you can transfer buying of a long gun in Pennsylvania with just a hand shake. (It is, still, strongly recommended that at least a Bill of Sale always be completed for such transfers.)

What's the Departure Betwixt Background Checks and Registrations?

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

It has been claimed, and rightly so, that many states' background bank check procedures in fact constitute 'back door' registrations, since the final effect is the same – the government knows who has what guns. Pennsylvania is a good example of this. Even though we take a statute on the books which specifically outlaws any firearm registration, a dealer-facilitated background cheque must accompany all handgun transfers, the form that the transferee fills out is then kept by the dealer, and a copy is sent to the Pennsylvania Land Constabulary.

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

Such a process would prevent a background bank check from becoming a 'dorsum door' registration, but would likewise address legitimate constabulary enforcement needs. Since this is non the case at present, the only firearms owners in Pennsylvania who are currently not subject field to whatever kind of 'back door' registration are those who have purchased their long guns privately.

Registering an NFA Firearm

Returning to the law as it is, the other category of firearms is "NFA Firearms," which term is divers as including whatever of the following: (A) a "brusque-barreled shotgun," the butt(due south) of which measure(s) less than 18 inches, or the overall length of which is less than 26 inches; (B) a "brusk-barreled rifle," the barrel of which measures less than xvi inches, or the overall length of which is less than 26 inches; (C) "any other weapon" ("AOW") (a pen gun, for example); (D) a machine gun; (E) a silencer (a/k/a "suppressor"); or (F) a destructive device (a grenade, for example). As in all other states, in Pennsylvania all NFA Firearms must be registered with the federal Agency of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (which is yet commonly referred to as the "ATF").

A "Class 4" is the ATF form required to transfer and register an NFA Firearm. Upon approval of a Form 4, an owner is issued a "revenue enhancement postage" (since the National Firearms Act is but a affiliate within the Internal Revenue Code), and simply then may the applicant take possession of the NFA Firearm.

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

Let the states keep in mind, then, that the PICS groundwork cheque (in theory at least) simply ensures that a transferee is non a Prohibited Person, and, with some exceptions, nearly all firearms (both NFA and non-NFA) are discipline to groundwork checks. Registration, on the other paw, while required for the transfer of NFA Firearms, is not officially permitted in Pennsylvania. May we be precise in our terminology, and zealous to go on these terms singled-out, both in theory and in practice, remembering that background checks are intended to keep guns out of the hands of the bad guys, whereas registration may eventually keep them out of the hands of the good guys.

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