okay, I cant resist, here is my 3 cents. trying to rebuild my collection back to what it was pre 1980, since 2012, I have bought 31 nfa weapons. that is about the time they hired all the new trainee's to "ease the work load" and streamline the entire system. almost half have required multiple applications OR pictures and other "clarification of status". let me begin by stating, I'm totally supportive with what they are doing and why. you guys are forgetting, or don't know about the maxims with a piece of mac10 welded to the side with the serial # and MFGR. or the M60's with BM 59 stamped on the trunion etc. there were successful prosecutions and people are serving time as I type this. I don't know all the specifics but can relate positively what happened to me with the proposed changes. it was explained to me that it is now bureau policy when doing a transfer to roll all the way back to the ORIGINAL registration form and comparing it to the new application, changing what they feel is needed on the new application to clarify exactly what is being transferred. In 2013 I bought an original Belgium army Issue FALO made in 1961. it was originally amnesty registered as a "SHORT RIFLE" on a plain hand written form. obviously the registrant believed it to be other than a typical "heavy machine gun" but being capable of select fire needed to be registered. it had been transferred to the auction house before they went back to the original and was represented to be a lawful transferable machine gun at the sale. my original app was returned with "not approved " in large red ink across both pages and no explanation. when queried they explained it was not reg as a machine gun. I believe when the supervisor explained to me that it was an amnesty weapon , he made a mistake and should not have disclosed that because he worked VERY close with me for the next 3 yrs. finally they agreed to accept it as a machine gun and disclosed that in 2016 all examples of a "factory" built FAL would be a C+R suggesting that I wait the couple months for that to occur, send the forms direct to the supervisor in martinsberg and he would hand carry it for approval. come 2016 I sent in new form 4 with a new check and lic. it was returned in 2 weeks untouched with a note that it was mailed to the wrong place. I emailed him, reminding him of our previous conversation and he claimed no knowledge of that. I then mailed hard printed copies of all the forms, all the emails which clearly showed the opposite. the approved forms were returned the following week. REMEMBER this gun was on the original form as a "short rifle" and they fixed that. now for the bad issue with them at the same time I bought a Charlie erb built Vickers gun serial #623 they requested pictures of the gun showing marking , serial and a tape along side it. I complied, waited 6 months then called and they claimed all the forms were "lost" . then they demanded I send the gun to be examined and approved for "compliance". I protested, claiming undue hardship and enclosed another set of pictures. they then explained that Charlie had another weapon in the registry #623 and it was in the hands of an individual. therefore my gun had to be renumbered with a 12 digit ATF # and new forms. I asked them to confirm what model the "other" 623 was and they stated it did not matter, no MFGR could use the same NO twice. of course that's absurd, many MFGR's use the same number for different models. they replied that was not correct, gave me 2 weeks to comply or have my dealer "destroy" the weapon. in order to keep my dealer clear, I agreed and stamped the 12 digits. maybe that was 5 cents worth? mike
