ATF eForms Has Sped Up Background Checks

It has been nearly four and a half years since the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) introduced its eForms system, including the much-anticipated electronic Form 4 for suppressors and other NFA items. It has significantly reduced processing times compared to the old paper-based system, which could take up to a year.

Still, as with all things in the digital age, there have been downsides, notably system outages and updates that don’t always go as planned. Overall, however, eForms has greatly improved the background check process.

Check Please, Check Mate!

The most important thing to know about eForms is that it hasn’t really changed the background check process, and checks are still required. It just took the process into the 21st century, even if it doesn’t seem to be about two decades late.

“The eForms has drastically sped up the process now that it has been up and running for a while,” explained Jason Ebig, owner and operator of L&L Arms LLC in suburban Detroit. “In the past, with paper forms, we were seeing six to 12-month timeframes on approvals. Now with the eForms system, I am seeing individuals in as fast as two days, and trusts as fast as a few weeks.”

However, for some items, including destructive devices, automatic firearms, including machine guns and other National Firearm Act (NFA) items, the process can be a little slower.

“You still wait, and need to be a patient person,” added Mike Rust, general manager and vice president of retail operations at H&H Shooting Sports in Oklahoma City.

Rust told Shooting Industry that the approval times for items like suppressors are creeping up, but said, “It is still short compared to a couple of years ago.”

The Infamous Forever Form 4!

Where eForms has helped significantly is with the Form 4, which is used to apply for the tax-paid transfer and registration of an existing NFA firearm. The ATF and most dealers agree that it is now completed via ATF eForms for faster approval.

It can be used for transfers from a dealer to an individual, a trust, or a corporation.

“ATF’s own data from March 2026 puts the median individual eForm 4 at six days. The infamous ‘Forever Form 4’ used to mean a nine-to-12-month wait. What used to take a year now takes a week,” said Brady Kirkpatrick, the founder of Gun Made, an online platform and search engine designed to help users find and compare firearms, ammunition, and accessories across hundreds of dealers.

Kirkpatrick, who is based in Omaha, Nebraska, told Shooting Industry, “It was a quiet workflow change in March 2024, when ATF stopped processing forms first-in-first-out and started approving them the moment the FBI background check cleared. That single shift is what produced the ‘thousands of approvals in a week’ headlines.”

More Than Just Filling Out a Form

Even as eForms has brought the background check and transfer process online, users still need to provide passport-style photos and two fingerprint cards (FD-258) to complete the process as part of Form 4. That may sound straightforward, it has led to some confusion.

“With the eForms system, folks need to have electronic fingerprints in the proper ‘.eft file format,’ as well as a passport-style photograph electronically,” Ebig told Shooting Industry.

Ebig added that while he can take passport-style photos for customers, dealers must make it clear to customers whether that is an option.

Many customers may not know it is a requirement. Moreover, the FD-258 fingerprint cards can be created by authorized personnel at local law enforcement agencies, such as the local police or sheriff’s office, at certified Live Scan locations, or by professional private fingerprinting services. Self-ink kits are not recommended, even in the digital era.

Customers must also safeguard their information when completing the process, which includes creating a password and PIN, neither of which should be shared with anyone, including dealers, as these are, in essence, confidential signatures, explained Rust.

Is It Down?

The biggest downside to eForms may be its susceptibility to the same outages as Facebook, Netflix, and other online services. Factor in that it is part of the overly taxed and underfunded government infrastructure and eForms, and there are times when it is down.

“On a quiet Tuesday, eForms is a great system. On any day a rule changes, it’s a coin flip,” warned Kirkpatrick. “The pattern is unmistakable. Every major reliability event since 2021 has been triggered by either a rule change or a demand surge.”

That included the pistol brace registration window in 2023, but January 1 of this year was a real stress test, added Kirkpatrick, who noted that approximately 150,000 eForms hit the system in a single day after the $200 tax stamp was removed on some NFA items.

“Normal daily volume is about 2,500 checks,” Kirkpatrick told Shooting Industry. “The system took a 60-time spike and kept running.”

Unfortunately, when eForms is down, it can leave customers unhappy.

“There are days when certifications were scheduled, and we’d get the spinning ‘blue wheel of death,’” said Rust, comparing the issue to other digital outages. “It could be as simple as an update at the NFFA branch not working, and we know it is going to be one of those days.”

Get It Right, You Don’t Get Another Chance

One notable downside of eForms is that the old paper system allowed handwritten corrections. That’s gone with eForms. ATF’s own Form 1 guidance even states that once forms are submitted, no changes can be made.

“On the old paper system, an examiner would send you an error letter giving you 30 days to fix a typo,” noted Kirkpatrick.

“On eForms, the platform processes your typo straight to rejection. Then you start over at the back of the line,” he added, and explained it happens a lot! “It’s not a fringe issue, either. ATF’s own NFA Division has said roughly 40% of tax-paid applications come in incomplete or with errors. So, roughly four in 10 filings are at risk.”

The good news is that the mistakes will require just a few weeks of waiting to resolve, not a full year!

Claim Your Advantage Every Week!