FAQ

I've had an Approved eForm 4. How can I contribute?

Visit the /r/NFA community on Reddit and find the eForm 4 Megathread stickied on the main page. Review and follow the submission guidelines for that Megathread & post. Shortly after posting, you data will be included in these dashboards.

What information do I need for posting my approval to the /r/NFA Megathread?

Submit your data using the form on this site. Using this form helps to provide consistent data for our dashboards. Here's a breakdown of the questions ask:


First Page of Form

Final Page of Form

How do I determine my eForm 4 "pending" date?

Check your email - on your "pending" date, you would have received an email from sender eforms.notifications@atf.gov & the first sentence of that email will say: "This is to advise you that the status of your eForms submission with the subject Permit/Control number has changed to SUBMITTED/IN PROCESS"


If I want to contribute & have an older eForm 4 Approval - should I post it?

Yes - if it's an eForm 4 Approval, the data has value even if it's months old - it doesn't need to be posted immediately after you receive the Approval email. 

Can I post the information from a friends eForm 4 Approval?

Yes, if it's an eForm 4 Approval & they do not intend to post & you know the required information than more data adds value. Please ask your friends permission before you post. 

Data Dictionary - what do all the fields mean?

Specific date eForm was submitted or certified by user. On this date, the user receives an email notifying you that your form status has, "changed to SUBMITTED/IN PROCESS"

Specific date eForm was approved. On this date, the user receives an email notifying you that your form status has, "changed to APPROVED"

Day of the week a form was approved - calculated based on APPROVED field  [=CHOOSE(WEEKDAY("APPROVED",1),"Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday")]

Duration of wait for approval - calculated based on PENDING & APPROVED field [="APPROVED"-"PENDING"]

US State where owner resides - for this dataset, State is recorded using the 2-character abbreviation for State

eForms may be submitted for ownership approval by various entity types - the most common types being INDIVIDUAL (single owner) & TRUST (legal entity, 1 or more owners)

Entity who transfers final ownership to purchaser. There are currently 4 DEALER types in this dataset: 

There are 2 separate options for supplying the required fingerprints on an eForm 4 submittal:

Users are asked to specify PRINT TYPE or the value is derived by DEALER, because different dealers have established different norms in their process:

=IFS("DEALER"="SS", "Electronic", "DEALER"="CA", "Paper", "DEALER"="LGS", "Likely Paper?", "DEALER"="", "No Info", DEALER="No Info", "No Info")

This field indicates if an Approval exceeded a waiting period of 90 Days. This is derived from the calculated field WAIT (Total) [="APPROVED"-"PENDING"]. The 90 DAY? field is a boolean checkbox & is calculated using the formula: =IF("WAIT"<91,TRUE)

10. USER (character, derived value)

This is the Reddit username of the person providing information for a record

11. NUMBER OF RESPONSIBLE PARTIES (RP) (number, user defined)

A Trust will have 1 or more Responsible Parties (RP), depending on individual need or desire - with each RP the ATF requires a corresponding photo, set of fingerprints, & background check. Because of this additional content required for every additional RP, eForm 4's with multiple RP's may increase wait time.

12. TIMESTAMP (time, user defined)

When an eForm 4 submittal is reviewed & approved, the applicant is notified via email. This field is the timestamp of that approval email, converted to Eastern Standard Time (EST).

13. SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED PAPER PRINTS (checkbox, user defined)

When a user specifically mentions mailed paper fingerprint cards were used, this box is checked.

14. SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED ePRINTS (checkbox, user defined)

When a user specifically mentions an electronic fingerprint scan was used or an EFT file was uploaded, this box is checked.

15. APPROVER (character, user defined)

Every form approval receives a signature by the ATF Examiner who reviewed an eForm 4. Users may include this detail - names may be converted to "FIRSTNAME, LASTNAME INITIAL."

16. CONTACT REP (checkbox, user defined)

If a user mentions contacting their Congressional representative or similar, this checkbox is selected.

17. CONTACT ATF (checkbox, user defined)

If a user mentions contacting the ATF via email or phone, this checkbox is selected. This includes mention of emailing IPB@usdoj.gov

18. FIRST CAN (checkbox, user defined)

If a user mentions this is their first Form 4 or first silencer, this checkbox is selected.

19. MANUFACTURER (character, user defined)

If a user specifies the type of item they received, the manufacturer field is completed. 

20. MODEL (character, user defined)

If a user specifies the type of item they received with model specifics, the model field is completed. 

21. F4 ITEM (character, user defined)

eForm 4's may be completed for a variety of items - these items including Machine Guns (MG), Any Other Weapon (AOW), Short Barrel Rifles (SBR), & Silencers. Most often, eForm 4's are submitted for Silencers - this field will default to Silencer unless otherwise indicated by a user.

22. DISAPPROVED (character, user defined)

eForm 4's may be returned disapproved for a variety of reasons - when a user provides information for a Disapproved eForm 4, this checkbox is selected.

23. BATCH (checkbox, derived)

A record will be considered to have "Batch" Approval when all of the following conditions are met:

24. CALIBER (character, derived or user provided)

Derived from user provided information on Manufacturer & Model

25. USER CAN COUNT (number, derived)

This is a formula field that counts the number of records by "USER" field - formula is =COUNTIF("USER",B2)

26. MORE THAN ONE? (checkbox, derived)

This is a formula field that will check the checkbox if a user submitted 2 or more records - formula is =IF("USER CAN COUNT" > 1, TRUE)

27. PENDING MONTH (name) (number, derived)

This is a formula field that will complete the month number from the "PENDING" date field - formula is =MONTH("PENDING")

28. PENDING WEEK (character, derived)

Week number of each year, sequentially numbered.

29. APPROVED MONTH (name) (number, derived)

This is a formula field that will complete the month number from the "PENDING" date field - formula is =MONTH("APPROVED")

30. APPROVED WEEK (character, derived)

31. EXCEED 90 DAYS? (checkbox, derived)

32. HOUR OF APPROVAL EMAIL (number, derived)

=HOUR("TIMESTAMP")

33. AM / PM (character, derived)

34. SIGNIFICANT OUTLIER (checkbox, derived)

Outliers are typically the result of an FFL permanently closing or military PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders.