Articles Posted in FAQ’s

NFA and International Travel

Recently we had  a client ask if it was permissible to travel into international waters with Title II firearms or those restricted by the NFA. 

The ATF responded that it was not permissible.  Although we see no indication in the NFA that this is a restricted activity.

What if you want to travel to several states on a trip and bring a firearm which is restricted by the NFA? 

When traveling across state lines, it is important to get pre-approval to bring Title II weapons with you.  Each location would require a separate Form 20 approval.  The ATF will allow you to have a date range of up to 1 year for the travel time and will also accept more than 1 Form 20 at the same time.

If you have a question about traveling with a NFA weapon,  Contact a NFA Gun Trust Lawyer®.

Many of my clients are converting their quicken trusts to NFA trusts to deal with the problems in owning, transferring, and possessing Title II firearms in a trust that was created from a form, dealer, quicken, legal zoom or other generic form.

Last week I got a review copy of the new 2009 version of Quicken and was hoping that they had dealt with many of the problems I have addressed in the past.  Unfortunately, they minor changes seem to have done little to address the defects, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and potential creation of invalid trusts by Quicken.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Quicken 2009 an article I wrote on the Florida Estate Planning Lawyer’s Blog deals with the problems of Quicken from a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer’s prospective.  This is only a subset of the problems that are evident from the perspective of someone who wants to own or purchase Title II weapons.

We not have lawyers we work with in over 35 states to prepare and provide clients with locally reviewed and created NFA firearms trusts.  If you are looking for a professionally prepared and reasonably priced NFA trust, prepared an attorney licensed in your state, that complies with the NFA, your states gun and trust laws along with detailed instructions on how to the Firearms Trust, make NFA purchases with out creating technical violations, and how to avoid the common procedural violations, Contact a NFA trust attorney.

An individual may submit ATF Form 5320.20, to temporarily or permanently transport his firearm in interstate commerce.  The ATF will approve this form for up to one year as long as the individual is going back and forth to the same location.  In that way the individual does not have to ask for permission every time they wish to move the firearm in interstate commerce.  There is a place on the form to indicate whether the move is permanent or temporary; the 5320.20 may not be used to transfer title and the ATF will check to see if the State indicated allows for the possession of the type of firearm to be transported.

If you have a question about class 3 firearms ownership, possession, or transfer please Contact a Gun Trust Lawyer®.

In the rare event that you change states between the time you send in your form 4 transfer tax and the time it is approved you must void the original transfer and make a new application from the state you moved to.  If it is purchase by an individual, you must also obtain a new law enforcement signature prior to resubmitting the forms.  The ATF is able to use the transfer funds from the previous transfer and the fingerprint cards as long as the dealer that voids the transfer contacts the ATF prior to sending in the void and requests that they use the same fee and not refund the money.

This may be a good opportunity to evaluate the additional benefits that a NFA firearms Trust offer
over individual ownership.  For more information Contact a NFA Trust Lawyer.

If you want to purchase a Class 3 firearm from an estate a class 3 dealer must be used as a transfer agent if the items will be crossing state lines.  If the executor, item, and the purchaser are in the same state there is no reason to use a class 3 transfer agent unless your state requires this.

This is the same whether the class 3 firearm is going to an heir of the estate, a business, or an individual.

If you have a question about the transfer of weapons under the National Firearms Act  you should contact a Gun Trust Lawyer®.

Just like with transfers to individuals, a trustee of a NFA firearms Trust can not be a prohibited person.  It is important that if all trustees certify that they are not prohibited if a trust contains class 3 firearms.  If a trustee becomes a prohibited person they must resign and the ATF must be notified of the change.  If there is no trustee, the settlor must appoint a new qualified trustee and also notify the ATF of the change in the trust.  The following persons are prohibited from receiving a firearm or being a trustee in a trust that contains items restricted by the National Firearms Act:

1. anyone who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
2. any fugitive from justice;
3. any unlawful user or who is addicted to any controlled substance;
4. anyone who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;
5. any alien who is illegally or unlawfully in the US or except as provided in 18 U.S.C 922(y)(2), has been admitted to the US under a non-immigrant visa;
6. anyone who has been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces;
7. anyone who was a US citizen and has renounced his or her citizenship;
8. anyone who is subject to a court order that:

1. was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice and at which such person had an opportunity to participate;
2. restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and
3. (I) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or (II) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury, or

anyone who has been convicted in any court of a crime of domestic violence; to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce,  or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

If you have questions of whether you are a prohibited person or trustee in terms of NFA items, you should Contact a NFA Trust Attorney.