VIDEO E010 Form Corrections

Summary

In this episode, Dan discusses the ATF's correction process for firearm industry forms, specifically addressing Form 4 and Form 1 errors. He explains the steps to take when receiving a correction request from the ATF, including the 72-hour window to address issues. The video covers both paper and digital eForm submissions, detailing how to upload corrected documents and communicate with the ATF. Dan also touches on the limitations of the current correction system and the ATF's plans for improvements.

Takeaways

• 🔧 If you receive a correction request from the ATF, you have 72 hours to address the issue.
• 📬 For digital eForms, the ATF will send an email detailing the correction needed, whereas for paper forms, a physical copy with highlighted issues will be mailed.
• 🖥️ To make corrections on eForms, log in to the eForms website, navigate to the 'Submitted and in Process' tab, and select the form that requires correction.
• 📑 For paper Form 4s, if an error is discovered, the ATF will send a physical copy with the issue highlighted, and you must mail back the corrected form.
• 🚫 If an error is noticed on a digital form after submission, such as incorrect trust name or social security number, it typically must be withdrawn and resubmitted.
• 📁 On eForms, only JPEGs and PDFs can be uploaded for corrections, and fingerprint files cannot be uploaded as PDFs.
• 🔄 Common correction requests involve the Responsible Person Questionnaire (RPQ) or trust document errors, such as incomplete information or wrong serial numbers.
• 💡 To correct an error, upload the revised document, rename it appropriately, and email the ATF to proceed with the approval process.
• ⏲️ After corrections are made and approved, you can expect a response relatively quickly since the form is at the final stages of the approval process.
• 💬 The ATF is reportedly working on a more comprehensive correction module for eForms, but as of the knowledge cutoff date, it has not been implemented.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video script?

The main topic of the video script is discussing the process of handling corrections for firearm industry forms, specifically Form 4 and Form 1, when errors are found or correction requests are received from the ATF.

What is the significance of the 'salmon orange-ish' cover letter mentioned in the script?

The 'salmon orange-ish' cover letter is significant as it indicates an approved paper form from the ATF, which is part of the NFA (National Firearms Act) process for firearm transactions.

How much time does one have to correct an issue after receiving a correction request from the ATF?

One has 72 hours to correct the issue after receiving a correction request from the ATF.

What happens if you receive a correction request for a paper Form 4?

If you receive a correction request for a paper Form 4, you will get a physical copy of the form with the issue highlighted and an annotation explaining the problem, and you need to mail the corrected form back to the ATF.

What is the importance of maintaining an active and checked email address when using eForms?

Maintaining an active and checked email address is crucial when using eForms because the ATF will send correction notifications to the email address on file, and you have a limited time to respond and make corrections.

What should you do if you notice an error on a submitted form before the ATF acts on it?

If you notice an error on a submitted form before the ATF acts on it, you should withdraw the form and resubmit it with the correct information, as there is no other way to correct it in eForms.

What types of documents can be uploaded as electronic documents in eForms?

In eForms, you can upload JPEGs (photos) and PDFs as electronic documents. However, there is no way to load a fingerprint file in eForms.

What is the process for correcting a Responsible Person Questionnaire (RPQ) in eForms?

To correct an RPQ in eForms, you would upload the revised RPQ, rename it as 'updated RPQ' or similar, and then email the updated document to the ATF's NFA resolution email for processing.

What are some common errors that trigger a correction request for a trust-based Form 4?

Common errors that trigger a correction request for a trust-based Form 4 include incomplete or incorrect information on the RPQ, incorrect serial numbers, and uploading the wrong trust document.

How long does it typically take for a withdrawn Form 4 to have its serial number returned to inventory?

Typically, the serial number for a withdrawn Form 4 comes back into inventory within 3 to 5 business days.

What additional services are mentioned in the script that can help streamline the NFA process?

The script mentions Cerberus Live Scan, which facilitates the digital process for eForms and Form 4, and Merlin, a warehouse and distribution search tool that can order from multiple data feeds.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 ATF Form Corrections and Notifications

Dan introduces the topic of ATF form corrections, specifically focusing on Form 4 and Form 1. He explains the process of handling correction requests from the ATF and what to do if an error is discovered before the form is processed. Dan mentions that the ATF will notify via email, giving 72 hours to correct the issue, and provides an example of an email that might be received. He discusses the difference in handling corrections for paper forms versus digital eForms, emphasizing the importance of monitoring the email address associated with eForms submissions. Dan also covers how to access and manage correction requests within the eForms website, including the steps to upload corrected documents and communicate with the ATF.

05:03

📄 Navigating ATF eForms for Corrections

This section delves into the specifics of using the ATF eForms website to address correction requests. Dan outlines the process of logging into eForms, accessing the 'Submitted and In-Process' tab, and finding the relevant form for correction. He explains how to view and upload revised documents, such as the Responsible Person Questionnaire (RPQ) or trust documents, and the importance of accurately naming and describing these documents. Dan also touches on the limitations of the eForms system, particularly regarding the inability to upload fingerprint files and the necessity to withdraw and resubmit forms for certain errors. He concludes with advice on how to communicate with the ATF after uploading corrected documents and the expected response times.

10:03

🛠️ Tools for Streamlining ATF Processes

In the final paragraph, Dan shifts the focus to tools that can help streamline the ATF form submission and correction processes. He mentions two main products: Cerberus Live Scan, which facilitates digital processing for eForms and Form 4, and Merlin, a warehouse and distribution search tool. Dan discusses the current capabilities of Merlin, including its integration with multiple data feeds and the potential for expansion. He also shares his plans to meet with a distributor to potentially add more functionality to Merlin. The paragraph ends with an invitation for feedback and suggestions for future podcast topics, emphasizing the presenter's willingness to help and improve the ATF-related tools and resources.

Keywords

💡Firearm Industry

The term 'Firearm Industry' refers to the business sector involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of firearms and related products. In the context of the video, the speaker is discussing solutions and processes specific to this industry, particularly focusing on ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) forms and regulations.

💡Form 4

A 'Form 4' is a document used in the United States for transferring a firearm that is subject to the National Firearms Act (NFA). The video discusses the process of correcting errors on this form, which is crucial for compliance with federal regulations within the firearm industry.

💡ATF

The 'ATF' or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of the Treasury. It is responsible for the regulation of firearms and explosives. The video script mentions the ATF in relation to the correction process for firearm-related forms.

💡Eforms

Eforms refers to the electronic submission system used by the ATF for processing certain forms, including Form 4. The script explains how to navigate and use the eforms website to address correction requests, highlighting the digital aspect of firearm industry compliance.

💡Correction Request

A 'Correction Request' is a notification from the ATF asking for amendments to be made to a submitted form due to errors or missing information. The video provides guidance on how to respond to such requests within the 72-hour timeframe specified by the ATF.

💡Responsible Person Questionnaire (RPQ)

The 'Responsible Person Questionnaire' or Form 5320.23 is a form required for certain types of NFA trusts. The video script mentions the RPQ in the context of common errors that can trigger a correction request from the ATF.

💡Digital Documents

The term 'Digital Documents' in the script refers to the electronic versions of documents that can be uploaded and managed through the eforms system. The video explains the process of uploading revised digital documents, such as an updated RPQ, to address correction requests.

💡Trust

In the context of the video, a 'Trust' refers to a legal arrangement often used in the firearm industry for the ownership of NFA-regulated firearms. The script discusses how errors in trust documents can lead to correction requests from the ATF.

💡Serial Number

A 'Serial Number' is a unique identifier assigned to firearms for tracking and record-keeping purposes. The video script uses the serial number as an example of a detail that, if incorrect on a form, can result in a correction request.

💡Withdrawal of Application

The 'Withdrawal of Application' is a process mentioned in the script where a submitted form is withdrawn from the ATF's review process, typically due to uncorrectable errors. The video outlines the steps for withdrawing an application and the subsequent refund process.

💡Electronic Fingerprint Transmission (EFT)

EFT, or Electronic Fingerprint Transmission, is a process mentioned in the video where fingerprints are digitally submitted as part of the application process. The script discusses the importance of including EFT in the application to avoid the need for mailing physical fingerprint cards.

Highlights

Introduction to episode 10 on Corrections in firearm industry forms.

Discussion on handling correction requests for Form 4 and Form 1.

Explanation of the ATF's process for notifying errors on firearm forms.

Details on the 72-hour window to correct issues identified by the ATF.

Differentiation between paper and digital form corrections.

How to access and manage form corrections on the eForms website.

Procedure for paper form corrections, including physical mail exchanges.

Importance of monitoring the email address registered with the ATF for notifications.

Guidance on correcting Responsible Person Questionnaires (RPQ) on eForms.

Instructions for uploading revised documents in the electronic documents section.

Limitations of the current eForms system for correcting errors.

The process of withdrawing and resubmitting forms on eForms.

Impact of form corrections on the ATF approval timeline.

Recap of the steps for handling paper and digital form corrections.

Promotion of the podcast's Spotify and YouTube channels for updates.

Introduction to Cerberus Live Scan and Merlin, tools for streamlining firearm form processes.

Information on the speaker's engagement with distributors to expand product offerings.

Invitation for feedback and topic suggestions for future podcast episodes.

Transcripts

hey everybody this is Dan welcome back

to another edition of solutions for the

firearm industry uh today we're going to

talk through uh episode 10 which is

Corrections so form four form 1es uh

what happens uh if you get a correction

request or if you catch an error on your

form before it is it is actioned by the

ATF we're going to talk through those

pieces if you're new to us uh check out

our previous versions uh we got a whole

bunch of issues on uh how to become an

so the eform process form for submitt

process like and share uh so you get

notified of when new ones come out and

with that we'll get into

it so eforms website here you know we're

looking for these type letters right so

that half page uh thing from the ATF

with uh salmon orange-ish type cover

letter that's the approved paper form

fors uh or we're looking for the digital

version of it to come in but what

happens if we don't um the ATF will do

one or two things here they're going to

send you an email that looks like this

it's going to say that you have 72 hours

to correct the issue and they try to

give you a little bit of feedback inside

of it uh this one for example says uh

refers to the responsible person

questionnaire is missing or incomplete

now they don't give us all the

information as to what it could be

that's one thing I wish they would do a

little bit better is to say hey this

this is what the error actually is

pretty much to say that it's something

wrong with the rpq in this case

now take a step back if you're doing

paper form fours you're actually going

to get a physical copy and a highlighted

issue of the form in the mail back to

you uh instead of coming in these nice

half page envelopes those correction

letters will come in a normal letter

size uh envelope and then open that

thing up read through what's going on

typically The Examiner will have

highlighted something and or annotated

that this is the issue and then uh you

have to mail that back to them digital

eform side of stuff you're going to get

this uh and that's why you have to kind

of make sure that the email address you

have on file is one that you look at so

you get um the correction notification

piece here so this clearly says 72 hours

to fix it and we're going to talk

through how we go about that so go back

to

eforms going to log in

and then on the left hand side once this

loads up there will be a submitted and

in process tab so we click on that and

while that's loading and you can um this

is almost always going to happen it's

going to spin for somewhere between 10

and 30 seconds uh while you're waiting

for it to load uh go to the podcast hit

like and share uh that way you can get

stay current with the new episodes as we

put them out but this will

load then it's going to pop up a submenu

on the left hand side so uh form four so

I click on form four and then it'll load

my form fours because I have client data

and this is actually a live system not

going to show you that I'm going to show

you the submitt list here so it's going

to pop up is once you get the form four

piece up it's going and click on that

it's going to load your listing of all

your active form fours that you have on

it you need to look and reference the

document number that will be on the

correction email as well it'll reference

an application uh or a document number

make sure you cross reference that if

you're using internal control numbers

that I strongly recommend uh usually

that will have last name and serial

number in it so you can make sure you're

referencing the the appropriate form but

um you can go to that document and if

you look at the image on the screen here

on the right hand side you'll see an

eyeball piece that will be uh how you

can go into the correction now couple

pieces here if you notice an issue on

the form after you submit it if it was

done during the train stop pieces not in

electronic documents there's really

nothing you can do except withdraw it so

if you have the trust name incorrect if

you spelled the individual's name in

correct incorrectly wrong social

security number Etc if you notice an

error on that piece of it there's really

no way to correct it the ATF said that

they're going to offer a correction

module to us but that hasn't come

through and that was back in January

February time frame they say they're

working on they say they plan to work on

it uh but we haven't seen any

transaction with that and from how we

understand it the only option that the

examiner really has on

eforms is for a couple very select few

cases you can issue that correction

piece or deny there's no there's no

other method to request a uh a

correction from the submitter it's

really a deny it uh or on a couple few

instances you can up we can change it

and really that's going to come on

trusts so uh anyway uh we have our list

of forms that are submitted pending

right hand side uh the eyeball piece you

go into the form and then you want to

navigate to on the train stops

electronic documents I have that up on

here as well uh on the train stops you

can see um clicked on the electronic

document piece it'll show the documents

that we have loaded and the document IDs

and types and as well as uh the name of

it so many times the two pieces you're

going to get the corrections for uh

really un trust are the responsible

person questionnaire the

5320.23 uh or on the trust document

itself um and they will ask you for a

revised rpq or a accurate rpq to be

uploaded and we would simply go and

click uh click on the choose uh file I

browse for that updated rpq I would say

the document type would be a corporation

and Trust other document and I would

name it revised or updated rpq uh for

for my client name type piece and upload

that up and in the only types of

documents that you can put into

electronic documents are jpegs so photos

so you can reload a client photo and

PDFs there is no way to load a

fingerprint file in EFT uh they will not

accept a PDF of a fingerprint file so if

you forget to add the EFT while you're

building the application your only

recourse is to either mail in the cards

or withdraw draw the application and

resubmit it so uh on electronic

documents here it is uh PDFs or jpegs so

you can reload a client photo if you

happen to grab the wrong photo again you

should clearly re in the description

piece on the left hand side rename it to

updated photo uh or the PDFs uh

specifically for rpq responsible person

questionnaires uh or the trust documents

and those can be updated and again many

times the errors that we see um you

don't have it it's an incomplete name

the trust document uh or it is the wrong

serial number somebody buys two or three

items and they're going into a trust and

in the speed and and hustle they grab

the incorrect rpq that will trigger uh

this type of Correction uh email and

this is actually what this case was this

is actually from a client asked me to

help figure out what was going on uh it

says the this rpq was missing or

incomplete and the issue actually was

they grabbed the wrong wrong serial

number uh for that transaction the

gentleman had bought or the trust had

bought two or three items and they had

uploaded the incorrect rpq for that

transaction so simple fix upload the

correct rpq rename it as updated rpq and

then email back to this uh NFA air

resolution email and say for transaction

x uh documents have been updated please

proceed and typically this will come

back then relatively quickly because

they're at the they're at the final

stages of the approval process um when

they get these error Corrections and

then you should get one of these emails

here that would say um the stamp has

been approved so uh quick rundown recap

if you're doing paper forms you will

actually get a paper correction request

and there's more things that can be um

allowed or tolerated for errors on the

paper forms but they still take way

longer and you'll actually get a

correction request from The Examiner

with part of the form that needs to be

updated uh and corrected and mailed back

to the ATF and then and on eforms really

all you're going to see the error

Corrections is you could uh the client

photo or the customer photo uh as well

as on the trust side of stuff the rpq or

the trust document thems if you happen

to upload the incorrect version of the

trust those are really the only error

Corrections anything else uh pretty much

has to be withdrawn and resubmitted and

to re to withdraw it um you go back to

that submitted and inprocess piece and

instead of the eyeball and to view it

you'd actually hit delete on there and

that will withdraw the form typically

the sale number will come back in about

3 to 5 business days back into your

inventory and then the refund the $200

refund will come back to the credit card

that was charged uh a day or two after

the sale number shows up so so with that

that's all I have for today's episode uh

simple highlight on how the correction

process works for the ATF again they are

working supposedly working on a more

robust correction piece but today those

are the only options that we have uh to

deal

with so if you like what you saw and

like what you're hearing uh from us go

check out um our Spotify or YouTube

channel and hit that like And subscribe

and the alert piece to be notified of it

share it with your friends of anybody

else that might be able to use it our

website is Peterson Farms

usa.com that's our retail side and you

can check out our two main products that

we have Cerberus Live Scan uh which

allow us for EFT and the form 4 process

digital uh to help and ease and speed

that piece up and then Merlin which is

our warehouse and distribution Search

tool and we currently have approximately

12 data feeds that we're pulling from

and we can order from eight of them and

I have a meeting uh with a company that

is named after a bird later on today to

see if we can get them in and another

large distributor is supposed to be

sending me some pieces here as well to

work on that so hoping to add some more

pieces to merland to make it even more

useful but those are the ones we have

working right now again appreciate your

time if you have any feedback or

anything any topics that you'd like to

see on this podcast please reach out

happy to help