Latest from the ATF on eForms..

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  • rsj1231

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 24, 2013
    1,174
    Harford County
    Copied from another forum...

    On Tuesday, Brandon [Allen Arms Tactical] had the opportunity to attend the ATF eForms Roundtable discussion. Several large industry members were represented there, as well as about 14 different ATF Deputy Chiefs, Assistant Chiefs, and so on. Lee Alston-Williams, Gary Schaible, and Kimberly Ramsburg of the NFA Branch were there as well.

    The meeting consisted of an introduction by Deputy Assistant Director Marvin Richardson and discussion between various ATF officials and the industry members. DAD Richardson explained that the ATF understood the frustrations of the industry with eForms specifically, and wait times in general. He stressed that he wanted his people to be professional and have a good ‘customer service’ relationship with the industry, and they understood in order to make eForms 2.0 a success, they would have to solicit advice from industry members.

    The entire ATF staff seemed very nice and empathetic to our problems, and all took a lot of notes on what was discussed during the meeting. Several of the industry members present were very ‘high speed’ IT guys, and gave the ATF IT & Security people several different ideas on how to make eForms 2.0 better, faster approval times, instant verifications using security tokens and licensing information that the NFA Branch already has on hand that is automatically selected in eForms, as you all know.

    The meat and potatoes of the actual Forms and discussion:

    Form 1’s: Will be brought up and allowed for individuals to utilize.

    Form 2’s: Came back online as of Monday. One dealer has already reported a 12hr turn around between submission and approval, which is a very positive step.

    Form 3’s: The industry was very insistent on Form 3’s being the priority, being ‘instant’ if possible, or at the least, a predictable timeline so everyone can better manage their cash flow. Form 3’s obviously are the highest volume Form the NFA Branch sees cross their desk. To our understanding, they will not be bringing Form 3’s and 4’s back to the old eForms site. They are completely rebuilding those modules, and will launch them with the new eForm site, which they are hoping to have running in 3-6 months.

    Form 4’s: These will be coming up with the new site. The ATF understands these are the priority for dealers, and for them as well, to reduce the amount of manpower needed to handle physical paper documents.

    FROM THE ATF/NFA BRANCH’S SIDE:

    The ATF and NFA Branch (Lee & Gary) tried to shed some light on what they deal with, and their frustrations. DAD Richardson told us he understands our frustrations with ATF always being behind. With any government bureaucracy, it takes time to respond to needs. If any of us need an updated IT system, or more manpower, we go out and pay for it, hire someone, and are done with it. The ATF isn’t that fast, and explained how they are always chasing the industry. They are trying their best. Stats below:

    - Started FY ’14 with 9 examiners. They are currently up to 16, looking to have 26 by end of year.

    - Reduced 8 week data entry backlog down to 1.5 weeks.

    - At a peak of 86,816 pending forms, they are down to 50,000 or so unprocessed. Form 4 wait time has decreased by approximately 35 days, SOT to SOT wait time is down 11 days.

    - They are training IOI’s to help handle Form processing. This to help reduce backlog, and give IOI’s a better understand of the paperwork, was our takeaway.

    - They are wanting <6 month waits on tax-paid transfers, and the industry believes they can help the NFA branch create software that will ‘automatically’ approve Form 3’s. ATF is going to look at if that can be done, or is statutorily regulated.​
     

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