2A Newsletter: January 14th

NICS Gun Sales Numbers for 2021 Released

The numbers are out for December 2021 NICS transactions which means we now know the total adjusted number for all gun sales in 2021: 18.1 million. That is the second highest record for total gun sales in a single year. The NICS record in 2020 took the cake, still claiming the number one spot which had over 21 million gun sales that year. A huge win, regardless.

You can bet that the internet is going wild right now, thanking President Biden for being the best gun salesman of all-time for a U.S. president’s first year presidential term. It’s a great start to a new year when gun control groups are feeling disheartened. This is a clear sign that the American people have spoken, we just need to keep up the pressure. Whether that’s writing to your elected officials for the first time, choosing where you spend your money more carefully so as to not support anti-2A businesses, or introducing more friends to guns — Like we mentioned in last week’s newsletter, anti-gun laws are a comin’.

Just take a look at the state of Washington; they recently introduced three new bills to prohibit carrying weapons at election-related offices, restrict possession of weapons in more locations and are even looking to ban 80 percent frames and receivers with House Bill 1618, House Bill 1630 and House Bill 1705. Indiana is also looking to pass some anti-gun legislation such as S.30 which would ban carrying in hospitals along with extending the NICS 3-day check period into 30-days instead! And we're still only in January.

Constitutional Carry gaining more ground in multiple states

As you all must know by now, we love giving updates on the Constitutional Carry movement. Adding to the states on deck that are getting ready to pass Constitutional Carry legislation is Alabama and Indiana. You’d think the southern states would have already all had this in the bag, but not to worry, Alabama is still working on getting it done! Alabama did try to pass a definitive Constitutional Carry law in 2021 but ironically, it was their state Sheriff’s Association that opposed and stonewalled it. 

For Indiana, their bill HB1077 has already been passed at the state house level, it just needs to go through the state senate now and then get signed by their governor. Five states passed Constitutional Carry in 2021 and we expect to see up to six more states pass similar legislation in 2022. The states to keep your eyes on are Indiana, Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska, Florida and Ohio. We will keep you updated as the year goes on, fingers crossed on this being the year that we have over half the country with Constitutional Carry!

New ATF e-Forms System Explained

Part of the reason that the ATF has become so slow and delayed in their processing of applications for various Forms is because they have been using a physical paper process which takes a lot of manpower to process, not to mention a significant amount of space to keep the paperwork. Obviously, we would prefer for there to be no National Firearms Act at all but the ATF released a new electronic system that allows you to file all these documents online — which is actually a great step in the right direction in optimizing the process. In theory, it will get guns and related NFA items like suppressors into the hands of their owners a lot faster. To get started see the new ATF eForms portal here. If you've already submitted a paper form recently, you can also cancel your existing paper form to resubmit the application via eForms in hopes of getting a quicker approval or response.

If you’ve ever had the fortune of sending an application to the ATF to process Forms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 9 you’re probably familiar with the infamous wait times that come with getting those approved. Just as some contextual background, these are what those individual forms are for:

Form 1 - Application to Make and Register Firearm

Form 2 - Notice of Firearms Manufactured or Imported

Form 3 - Application for Tax-Exempt Transfer of Firearm and Registration to Special Occupational Taxpayer (SOT NFA)

Form 4 - Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm

Form 5 - Application for Tax Exempt Transfer and Registration of Firearm

Form 9 - Application and Permit for Permanent Exportation of Firearms

Will the ATF’s servers crash and cause further delays in Form approval times? Perhaps, but there are bound to be some kinks in the new electronic system initially and it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic. To see a more in depth explanation for how this will work and affect you, see what Ammoland says you need to know about the ATF’s new eForms system. 

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