Dlr-01a A&D Book Sample Policy (electronic)

*NOTE: This policy applies to A&D Books for Dealer FFLs ONLY.  

a.     Overview

·       The Acquisition and Disposition Book (“A&D Book” or “Bound Book”) and information entered therein must comply with applicable ATF Regulations, and electronic A&D Books must also comply with ATF Ruling 2016-1 (or its successors). Any deviation requires a variance approval obtained from the ATF.

·       Each Federal Firearms License (“FFL”) must have its own A&D Book and each must be on its own database. Multiple A&D books may exist per FFL provided that no serialized entries remain open in more than one A&D Book. For example, if the Company chooses to maintain separate gunsmithing and retail A&D Books, firearms may only appear in one of those A&D Books. Firearms may be “transferred” from one A&D Book to the other.  All A&D Books shall be in electronic format. 

·       All transactions must reflect the actual date of the physical event. Acquisitions, as defined below, must equal the actual date receipt. Dispositions, as defined below, must equal the actual date of sale, shipment, destruction, or report of theft or loss.

·       All firearm information – including serial number, importer, manufacturer, model, caliber or gauge – must be recorded exactly as engraved on the firearm.  

·       All transferor (Acquired from) and transferee (Disposed to) information must match the applicable identification document; whether a driver’s license, concealed carry license, or FFL. 

·       Corrections of A&D Book entries must be tracked. [Option A: The A&D Book software must retain corrections as an entirely new entry and the original entry shall remain.  When generating the A&D Book the system can change views to show: (a) only the original entries; (b) only the corrected entries; and (c) both the original and corrected entries in the same A&D Book.] [Option B: The A&D Book software prints corrections as a separate report that contains all A&D Book information] [Option C: If a spreadsheet program is utilized – such as Microsoft® Excel™ – corrections are made by overwriting the incorrect information and the following information is recorded in a “Notes” column: what was changed, who made the change, and why the change was made.]

·       If Company uses a cloud-based A&D Book, a backup must be downloaded on a daily basis and retained locally.

·       The A&D Book must allow queries by; serial number, Acquisition date, manufacturer, importer, transferee, address of transferee, and Form 4473 serial number (if used).  

·       Company shall download and save the A&D Book to a physical storage device kept on the premises: at least two times per year; within 24 hours of a request of an ATF officer; prior to discontinuance or change of the software, the database, or the software host; prior to discontinuance of the business after all transactions have been completed. This download shall be retained until the next download is prepared.

-   Cloud A&D Book Software – There shall be an additional download once per day of the A&D Book if cloud-based A&D Book software is utilized.  

·       The A&D Books may be retained on a server or device owned by the licensee or contracted/leased from a host, provided that: the records are accessible through a computer or device on the licensed premises during business hours; and the server is located within the US. 

·       The storage system must back-up the A&D Books on a daily basis. 

·       A&D Books must be retained for at least 20 years.  If desired, records older than 20 years old may be forwarded to the ATF Out-of-Business Records Center for preservation. A copy of the submitted records will be retained.  

b.    Required Fields

·       Company shall maintain the A&D Book in the following format:

·       Additional columns may be added (e.g., a notes column), as long as such columns are separate from the required information. 

·       All items of information should appear in their own cell / column. 

·       If the Company Acquires a firearm that has been imported into the United States, both the Manufacturer and Importer must be recorded. 

·       The A&D Book must be sorted sequentially by date of Acquisition.

c.     Applicable References

·       27 CFR Part 478, Subpart H 

·       27 CFR Part 479, Subpart I

·       ATF Ruling 2016-1

·       Acquisitions and Dispositions shall be recorded in accordance with the Policy set forth above, including timing and substance.

·       Acquisitions and Dispositions shall be recorded promptly, and in no case prior to the close of business on the day in which the firearms were Acquired or Disposed.

·       Firearm information shall be recorded exactly as engraved.

·       If a firearm does not have a serial number (e.g., it was manufactured prior to 1968), an indicator of that must be recorded in the “Serial Number” field.   “NSN” or “None Marked” are acceptable entries.  If non-serialized firearms are repeatedly Acquired and/or there are multiple items on premises at a time with no serial number, “NSN-1”, “NSN-2”, etc. may be used to aid in tracking and traceability. 

·       If a firearm does not have a marking identifying other items of information required to be entered into the A&D Book (e.g., model) and the information is unknown and/or undiscoverable, “Unknown,” “None,” “N/A” or some indication there is no applicable engraving should be entered. If the information is known but not marked, it must be recorded. 

·       The A&D Book may include antique firearms but cannot include other merchandise. Antique firearms must be identified as “ANT” in the “Type” column.

·       The name, address, and FFL number (if a licensee) of the supplier/transferor and the purchaser/transferee must be recorded in the A&D Book.  The information shall match the identification document provided; whether a driver’s license, concealed carry license, Federal Firearms License, or other acceptable form of identification.  An ATF Form 4473 transaction number may also be recorded if Forms 4473 are serialized and filed numerically.

·       If multiple employees enter A&D Book transactions, one employee shall be charged with oversight of the A&D Book; reviewing entries for accuracy, completion, and timeliness.  This review shall occur at least once a week.  If only one employee enters A&D Book transactions, a second employee (or employees) shall be identified for review of A&D Book information for accuracy, completion, and timeliness.  This review must occur at least once a week.  

o   This oversight shall be executed by way of comparing A&D entries to firearms, federal firearms licenses, and identification documents.  A statistically valid quantity of A&D Book entries shall be verified on a weekly basis. 

·       If an entry or portion of an entry requires correction, [Option A: [O1] the applicable Correction transaction must be used rather than performing an entirely new transaction[O2] .] [Option B: the applicable items of information shall be overwritten and the Notes column shall contain what was changed, who made the change, and why the change was necessary.]

o   Only [identify employee / dept] is authorized to perform corrections to A&D Book entries. 

·       Employees shall not allow other employees to perform A&D Book transactions utilizing their login information.  Each employee shall perform transactions while logged in under their own username. 

·       Every day prior to opening for business, [identify employee/dept] shall ensure the A&D Book has been downloaded and/or backed up, as applicable. 

·       FFL Termination

o   Upon termination of a license, the FFL must submit to the ATF Out of Business Records Center an American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text file with a file description, and/or a printout of all records. The printout and/or ASCII text file must contain the information as prescribed by regulation. All records must be forwarded to the ATF Out-of-Business Records Center in accordance with 27 CFR 478.127, including all other paperwork required by regulation.

·       Entering transactions in the A&D Book – [tbd by company].

·       Correcting the A&D Book per 2016-1 (or succeeding ruling) – [tbd by company].

·       Downloading / Backing Up the A&D Book – [tbd by company].

·       Auditing the A&D Book – [tbd by company]. 

·       Acquisition – The receipt of possession and control of a firearm, typically:

o   Purchase from a distributor, wholesaler, retailer, manufacturer, etc. 

o   Receipt via purchase or a trade-in from a consumer

o   Receipt from a consumer for repair/modification for a period that extends to the next business day 

·       Disposition – The transfer of possession and control of a firearm, typically:

o   To a consumer via a 4473 transfer following sale of a firearm

o   Shipment to another FFL

o   To a consumer following a repair that resulted in the firearm being Acquired 

o   Destruction of a firearm

o   A theft or loss of a firearm (following a report to ATF and local police authorities, as required by regulation)