Don't let yesterday use up too much of today - Will RogersDISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in my posts are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or official policies of Michigan Gun Owners.
Depending on the system used to store those computer forms (most not being cloud based) they may actually be more fragile and less likely to survive damage and time than the old paper copies. For example, a decent safe will protect paper, but the heat and moisture would kill a computer, HDD, and most other digital storage media. The same goes for time-how old is your oldest saved computer data? Compare that to the oldest written document you have?
“Cui prodest?” Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Even if I scale back my FFL business I'll continually renew my license just to keep 4473s out of the hands of the ATF. After 20 years I believe I can shred the 4473s, which I'll gladly do.
Out of curiosity I had to go search that one:
https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/how-...atf-forms-4473
It looks like those that end in a transfer are to be kept for 20 years. Those that didn't complete for what ever reason, are to be kept for 5 years.
It looks like the "e" system may actually be open to the ATF to peek at when ever they want, without even going to the FFL. (system dependent)
Life Member, NRA, Lapeer County Sportsmen's Club Disclaimer: I Am Not A Lawyer. Opinions expressed are not representative of any organization to which I may belong, and are solely mine. Any natural person or legal entity reading this post accepts all responsibility for any actions undertaken by that person or entity, based upon what they perceived was contained in this post, and shall hold harmless this poster, his antecedents, and descendants, in perpetuity.
Most of this is among fears of the us gun dealers.
The good news is just because it's in the log book doesn't mean you still have it. So I doubt unless they classified a small group of guns they wouldn't go to far for a witch hunt as they'd quickly find out a lot have been sold. Also, I would think the NRA and other gun groups would file lawsuits and keeping injunctions in place for quite a few years.
Not saying gun laws would change however, I just don't see them digging through past and tracking those people down who may not even own it.
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There has been some use of a remote auditing capability, as you said, system dependent. I don't mind the idea. It's just to go through all the same things they would go through if they came in person, and the audit can't be done without setting it up, so it isn't open all the time.
I know there are a number of us that use electronic systems, including me even as a smaller dealer. They make everything much, much, easier including ATF inquiries and visits. Mostly, they keep both the customer and the dealer from missing anything required in the paperwork.