ATF Form 1 eFile Walkthrough: Death and Taxes

With the focus on short-barreled-everything, we figured it only appropriate to spend a little time talking about the legal process to obtain your very own not-so-long gun. One way is to wait for a regular tax stamp, another is to complete an ATF Form 1 eFile.

Despite the undisputed sex appeal of SBRs, the extraneous red tape required to get one is more than a little intimidating at times. In a rare stroke of common sense, the ATF has established an electronic system for filing some of their NFA-related forms, including the Form 1 “Application to Make and Register a Firearm.”

This is the form to use when you are making an SBR yourself. If you’re purchasing a factory-configured SBR, you’ll need to file a Form 4, which is a separate process.

It should be noted that “making” a firearm doesn’t require a professional assembly line or QC shop. Slapping a store-bought 10.5-inch AR upper on a lower you already own counts as “making” a firearm. In this case, you’d simply file a Form 1 to get the lower approved to take shorty uppers.

The screenshots you see here were for the registration of a spare Palmetto State Armory lower. In this case, we obtained a receiver from PSA on a standard Form 4473. Then, we e-filed a Form 1 for that receiver before building it out.

The e-file process itself is surprisingly user-friendly. The website does run a little slow and sometimes requires multiple clicks on something to get it to work. But it does run. Here’s what we had to do to get our Form 1 into the pipeline:

HOW TO FILE AN ATF EFORM 1

1. Create user profile on the ATF eForms portal

Enter your basic contact info like name, address, and phone number. Then, choose a password. Your username is automatically generated by the system. Once all the required fields are filled in and submitted, you’ll receive an email from ATF with your information.

Save your user name and ATF pin. These are importaint and something you’ll need every time you file a form 1 or form 4.

2. Log in to eForms and select the appropriate form to file

In this case, we’re filing a Form 1, as an individual. There are “special instructions” for individuals, mostly to do with fingerprints.

3. Fill out the digital version of the ATF Form 1 eFile

This consists of several pages’ worth of information, including:

Eligibility Questions: Just like the 4473, there’s a list of questions about your criminal history and citizenship in order to determine eligibility.

List of Responsible Persons: All of the individuals covered by this application. Current policy requires each person being listed to fill out a questionnaire and submit fingerprints. You must also upload a photo of yourself to include with the application.

Fingerprints must be in the form of an .EFT file. These are encrypted special files that normal people don’t really have access to on their own, but that doesn’t mean they are hard to acquire. Googling “fingerprinting near me” will normally yield many results, and at least some of those services will offer what the ATF requires.

Print Scan partnered with a local UPS Store was our method of getting prints. Same day, easy, $65. National Gun Trusts is another popular service.

CLEO Notification: There’s no longer a requirement for the applicant to get permission from their respective chief law enforcement officer (CLEO), but you do have to send a copy to your CLEO for the purpose of notification.

If you’re not sure who your CLEO is, it’s not hard to find. If you called 911, who would likely respond? That’s likely your most local agency. Google their name, jump on their website, and finding who the Chief is should be pretty easy and normally on the front page.

Line Item: You’re required to select or manually enter the make, model, and description of the firearm you intend to register.

Electronic Documents: Any supporting photos or documents. You can probably ignore this unless the form was rejected previously and the ATF asked for additional information. If that’s the case, this is where it would be submitted.

4. SIGN & SUBMIT

With the removal of the $200 fee for an SBR, SBS, or suppressor tax stamp, you can skip the “pay” part and just “Sign & Submit”.

5. Wait

The wait is the hardest part, but it’s not as painful as it used to be. What used to be measured in months is now measured in days (normally). At the time of writing, ATF claims eForm 1 wait time is averaging 6 days. But that changes daily, and there is no guarantee of when your form will clear.

That’s it. All in all, the process is a little tedious but, for this first-timer, much less intimidating than initially expected.

When your Form 1 comes back approved, don’t forget to get it engraved: Engraving ATF Form 1 Items: Friggin’ Laser Beams [HOW-TO GUIDE]