The Federal Fire Arms Laws and Regulations administered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) set rigid guidelines for firearms transactions records.

Step 1) A manufacturer ships guns to a retail dealer. These guns must be accompanied by an invoice bearing the serial number of each gun being shipped on the invoice. Upon arrival at the retail store the dealer is required to check the serial numbers of each gun against the shipping invoice. The retail gun dealer is required to complete the BTAF form Gun Receipts Record wherein each serial number from the shipping invoice is transcribed to the Guns Receipts Record. (See form below left.)

Step 2) When a person purchases a rifle from a retail dealer he is required to fill out a BATF Fire Arms Transaction Record (See this form that was filled out by Mrs. Caratachea on front page of GRAPEVINE.) The purchaser is required to provide personal ID and the gun sales clerk is required to take the gun in hand and copy the serial number directly off the gun on to the BTAF Fire Arms Transaction Record and both the purchaser and the sales clerk must sign the form at this time. This is the form that the BTAF considers the primary documentation of gun ownership.

Step 3) The retail gun clerk is then required to complete the Gun Disposition Record. This must be completed by the end of the shift and is generally prepared from the BTAF Firearms Transaction Record. The clerk must enter the date of sale, name and address of purchaser and driver's license, the price of the gun and the signature of the clerk must be written in the numbered column that corresponds to the serial number and model of the gun. These forms must be stored in a bound book and are rigidly controlled by the BTAF. (See form below right.) Failure to follow these procedures may result in a $10,000 fine.

(When the gun sales clerk in the Tolleson K-MART was asked "How often are mistakes made in the gun store ledger she responded, "Never. If anything is scratched out it had to have happened after the gun was purchased.")

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