Friday, January 09, 2009

Paperwork reduction doesn't actually mean that...

At every FFL at which I worked, I tried to keep a back stash of 4473 forms, ordering an extra couple hundred every now and then whether I needed them or not, just in case we had an unusually busy Christmas or a 9/11-type sales spike.

This little back stash would occasionally be obsoleted when the Feds went to a new form, and I'd have to start squirreling them away all over again.

Maybe the BATFEIEIO should have been following my game plan, because their stash of 4473s is about out. Genius timing, that, switching forms in the middle of the most perfect storm of a gun sales season since December of 1999...

(Incidentally, though, going back to yellow paper for the form was maybe the smartest thing they've ever done. It's a lot harder to misplace a yellow form on a desk full of paperwork, while a white 4473 was easily lost among other forms, invoices, and memos...)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...while a white 4473 was easily lost among other forms, invoices, and memos..."

You say that like it's a bad thing...

Tam said...

When you're trying not to get your business shut down, it sure as hell is.

Tam said...

PS: I always marked the stored banker's boxes of 4473's with "Destroy on or after XX/XX/XXXX". Inspectors loved that. :D

Anonymous said...

Arent they going electronic with that now? But of course it is against the law to keep them more than what 60-90 days, (yeah right).

And I bet that there will conveniently be a shortage of paper forms so you have to go electronic.

scooter

Dr. StrangeGun said...

They also got rid of the "Y/N" boxes and put checkmarks in place.

Nifty, I don't chastise nearly so many people anymore.

Tam said...

"But of course it is against the law to keep them more than what 60-90 days,"

You're thinking of NICS records.

4473's are supposed to be maintained for 20 years. :(

GeorgeH said...

At least they allowed Xerox copies of 4473s. I am afraid there will be a new mandatory form change under Obama and the new forms simply.will.never.arrive.
Game Over.

Anonymous said...

"At least they allowed Xerox copies of 4473s. I am afraid there will be a new mandatory form change under Obama and the new forms simply.will.never.arrive.
Game Over."

Then they get hit with the mother of all cease & desist suits, loose any hope of keeping a majority in Congress, and loose one hell of a lot of support for the next Presidential race. The game is never over...

Tam said...

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

No!

Anonymous said...

I always thought yellow was a proper color for the batf****s