Is there any reason for me to keep my 4473s
- Thread starter bwalker36
- Start date
ParallelCode
Member
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2019
- Messages
- 440
Are you an FFL or did you get copies as a customer?
dogtown tom
Member
I think you answered your own question.
Riomouse911
Member
It may help if you bought a particular gun with collector provenance, in an insurance claim for your agent or if a gun gets stolen and you need to provide a serial number so it can be entered as such.
other than those situations, it’s really up to you if you want to keep them. If you do, keep them safe. There is a lot of identifying info on them scammers would love to have.
Stay safe.
other than those situations, it’s really up to you if you want to keep them. If you do, keep them safe. There is a lot of identifying info on them scammers would love to have.
Stay safe.
I like the idea of keeping serial numbers, so I'll probably inventory everything that isn't NFA throw that in my binder then toss the forms. Nothing I bought was special I'm not there in my collecting yet...one day.
I never got a copy of a 4473 so I'm curious as well why/how you got copies?
CoalCrackerAl
Member
I keep mine in the box the gun came with.
bannockburn
Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 26,319
I have never received a copy of the Form 4473 with any of my gun purchases.
The one thing I do hang on to though is the sales receipt.
The one thing I do hang on to though is the sales receipt.
dweis
Member
I keep and have always kept mine along with bills of sale for any gun I have sold or traded in. Generally I am not a saver, but I want my own legal record of when a gun came into and left my possession.
AlexanderA
Member
This. I've never gotten copies of 4473's as a customer. Nor have I asked for copies.
The necessary information can be found on a bill of sale or receipt. These items also have the all-important cost basis of the gun, which is not mentioned on the 4473.
AlexanderA
Member
Let me also state what readers of this site should know: the Form 4473 is not registration. It's transactional in nature. The originals can be deleted by dealers after 20 years, and if the dealers go out of business before that time, they are sent to an ATF warehouse (think: the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark) where they disappear for practical purposes. A copy of a Form 4473 has no significance at all.
This was changed last year with the Frame/Receiver Rule. Now all records must be retained by the FFL no matter how old the records are.
Riomouse911
Member
Every gun I have bought I have either been given a copy, or offered a copy, of the 4473. That may just be a Ca. thing, but it seems pretty universal as I have bought or transferred guns from a lot of dealers over the decades. 
Heck, now they give you a copy of the form when you buy ammo, as that now has to be “approved” by the Orwellian bureaucracy that has been installed in this state.
Stay safe.
Heck, now they give you a copy of the form when you buy ammo, as that now has to be “approved” by the Orwellian bureaucracy that has been installed in this state.
Stay safe.
dogtown tom
Member
You don't know ATF regs any better than you know trusts.
Dealers CANNOT "delete" or destroy Form 4473's after 20 years.
AlexanderA
Member
OK. (I haven't kept up with the recent changes.) But data retrieval becomes a real issue with old records. If you have a gun that you bought 30 or 40 years ago, you can be pretty sure that it's dropped out of the picture.
shoobe01
Member
Another vote for never gotten a 4473, never occurred to me I could even ask. I tend to keep all receipts and invoices, but never the yellow form. Bought in KS, MO, MA, IN and... maybe somewhere else? I forget.
So it turns out I'm not smart as I took them out of my safe. PA for handguns has a form you fill out for the state police. Its a point of sale transaction form similar to a 4473. So I don't have any copies of my 4473. Not sure if I need to keep these though haha. So same question different form.
dogtown tom
Member
That seems to be a PA specific question. Does PA require it?
Reloadron
Contributing Member
First dogtown tom is likely the most knowledgeable current FFL holder in here. Not to say any of the others aren't knowledgeable or up to date. Now that said I will go a little off topic.
Last summer Cabela's had a gun that I wanted and I had about $1,000 in Cabela's bucks plus I get a 5% vet discount. My local Cabela's is in Avon Lake about a 45 min ride all Interstate. So I go to Cabela's and buy the gun. Chatting with the nice older gentleman (hell actually I was likely older) who helped me. We got through the paper work and here in Ohio if you have a CHL (Concealed Handgun License) there is no NICS check. So I get my gun and my receipts and as I exit the store I noticed I had a 4473 which I thought was odd. During the early and mid 90s my wife and I had a brick and mortar gun shop and if a buyer wanted a copy I gave them a copy but not a normal part of the transaction. About two hours after I get home I get a call from a very nice customer service rep at Cabela's, she was a sweetheart and very polite. The sales guy gave me their original 4473 I told her I thought that was odd when I looked at everything. Saturday afternoon getting late and I really did not want to do another round trip so how about first thing Monday morning I just certify mail it to them and I will cover the certify mailing. She would get back to me real soon so now it was me, her and the department head. the department said he needed to be in my area so could he stop and the form. Sure, cool with me. Guy shows and turns out we know some people in common. Nice guy and he hands me a $100 gift card in appreciation. Hell, that was not at all necessary.
Ron
Last summer Cabela's had a gun that I wanted and I had about $1,000 in Cabela's bucks plus I get a 5% vet discount. My local Cabela's is in Avon Lake about a 45 min ride all Interstate. So I go to Cabela's and buy the gun. Chatting with the nice older gentleman (hell actually I was likely older) who helped me. We got through the paper work and here in Ohio if you have a CHL (Concealed Handgun License) there is no NICS check. So I get my gun and my receipts and as I exit the store I noticed I had a 4473 which I thought was odd. During the early and mid 90s my wife and I had a brick and mortar gun shop and if a buyer wanted a copy I gave them a copy but not a normal part of the transaction. About two hours after I get home I get a call from a very nice customer service rep at Cabela's, she was a sweetheart and very polite. The sales guy gave me their original 4473 I told her I thought that was odd when I looked at everything.
Saturday afternoon getting late and I really did not want to do another round trip so how about first thing Monday morning I just certify mail it to them and I will cover the certify mailing. She would get back to me real soon so now it was me, her and the department head. the department said he needed to be in my area so could he stop and the form. Sure, cool with me. Guy shows and turns out we know some people in common. Nice guy and he hands me a $100 gift card in appreciation. Hell, that was not at all necessary. Ron
Last edited: