Why did ATF make the Form 4 process faster?

[John from MD]

Maybe I am overly suspicious but I just keep wondering why the ATF actually made the process faster. Is it for the money? ($200 per) Did congress get in their Sh*t?

I'm waiting for the other shoe to fall.

 

[Boats]

Defacto registration. The feds are disallowed by law from keeping a registry of gun owners. However, the ATF is absolutely allowed to keep records of NFA items and, more importantly, applications thereof (approved or denied).

 

[John from MD]

Defacto registration. The feds are disallowed by law from keeping a registry of gun owners. However, the ATF is absolutely allowed to keep records of NFA items and, more importantly, applications thereof (approved or denied).

That's a good theory for sure.

 

[DutchV]

I hear they hired a contractor to deal with the forms. Contractors have to hit performance targets, so stuff gets done.

 

[lazarus]

Could just be they finally got the executive leadership and funding in place to make internal reforms. I've got no visibility on what they have going on, but maybe the finished the modernization of some internal applications they use for the review officers so some IT modernization is finally hitting its stride.

Sometimes stuff is manual as hell.

We had a process a few years back where paper came into one facility, but final processing of the workload was done at another physical location. It would require the intake to be done, then everything boxed up and shipped 200 miles away to the other facility. As you can imagine that added days and significant processing costs. But there just wasn't the staff available at the one facility to do the actual processing and that facility received almost all mail. The other facility had the people, but didn't have the ability or equipment to receive the paperwork in the volumes required to do initial processing.

Finally they got a process in place to get the paperwork scanned and could skip mailing it, but it was still a really manual process to review the scanned images. FINALLY they updated the system so that the scanned info was truly digitized so all of the manual keying to input the data from the scanned images wasn't need (with the exception of damaged/badly hand written forms where the OCR couldn't pick it up).

Step one about 18 or so years ago saved about a million bucks a year, several days in the workload processing, and a few thousand clerical work hours on the shipping process. The second one about 12-15 years ago saved about 10,000-15,000 clerical work hours a year on the keying process as well as sped processing time on average of several days.

Basically, half of the workload of the staff disappeared. Which allowed them to focus all of that on actually processing things, customer outreach, etc. Which sped up case processing significantly. In the end what took about 1-3 months on average dropped to 1-4 weeks on average for the same amount of clerical staff and about a million dollars in shipping. Not including being able to repurpose storage space at the second facility for other purposes.

That system continues to get updates and tweaks which improve clerical efficiency here and there, accuracy, etc. None nearly as beneficial as those early modernizations of the process and introduction of the original system. Now it is closer to more like getting more done with the same number of people as the workload naturally increases (cause more people in the country, and more stuff coming in every year).

 

[whistlersmother]

Somewhere else there was a post that ATF no longer holds applications after one that is delayed NICS from the FBI. Meaning only that form is held while those after it with instant approval are processed.

If true, that would eliminate a major bottleneck.

As to the "why?" - that's what we have MDS for - conspiracy theories, some true, some not

 

[BurkeM]

Efficiency is cheaper. Paperless is cheaper.

 

[E.Shell]

I just had a Form 5320.20 done and it was clearly handled by a contractor. He emailed me with a question and "Contractor" appeared in his sig block.

 

[smdub]

I just had a Form 5320.20 done and it was clearly handled by a contractor. He emailed me with a question and "Contractor" appeared in his sig block.

Same. DOJ contractor handled my Form 20.

 

[Alea Jacta Est]

Not accidental or coincidental

What BATFE giveth, suggests strongly BATFE will take th away.

When something stinks, don’t be in a hurry to step in it

C’mon y’all. It’s right there in the laws of thermodynamics

NO FREE LUNCH

 

[AbolishTheNFA]

When something is free you are the product.

 

[Bountied]

I hear they hired a contractor to deal with the forms. Contractors have to hit performance targets, so stuff gets done.

If it was the FT employees they'd get nothing done, which is why it was taking 12+ months to get approvals before.

 

[Bountied]

Efficiency is cheaper. Paperless is cheaper.

Since when has the government been concerned with making things cheaper and more efficient?

 

[E.Shell]

Since when has the government been concerned with making things cheaper and more efficient?

Since they took over human trafficking.

 

[Bob A]

@Alea Jacta Est
Not accidental or coincidental
What BATFE giveth, suggests strongly BATFE will take th away.
When something stinks, don’t be in a hurry to step in it
C’mon y’all. It’s right there in the laws of thermodynamics
NO FREE LUNCH


Just as you said:

Sudden efficiency in dotGov activity is immediately suspect, especially in an area that is under attack by the OBiden administration and the Swamp that feeds it.

Eliminating paperwork means downsizing departments, which is unthinkable, or reshuffling them to create more infringements and problems for We the Enemy.

Watch this space; nothing they do is for our benefit.

Nothing.

Especially from BATFE.