PARTNERSHIPS AND ISSUES IN 2010
By John Brown
Most of you know the NFATCA and ATF have formed an extremely beneficial industry relationship and together have worked on a number of issues during the last six years. As we move into 2010, we once again have jointly worked up a list of those things that we want to tackle and resolve with the Bureau and the industry. In the next issue that list should be formalized and we will work to share as much information as possible with the industry. As has always been the case, there will be issues that we will not publicize to avoid the internet “gurus” whom cheerfully tell us what we should be doing but have never had the courtesy to join our ranks and really contribute to our motto “Power Through Experience”.
As many of those issues are formalized for our work, some of the things that we just couldn’t get accomplished last year will drift once again onto our list of things that we feel still need attention this year. We will continue to work getting the industry a follow-on to the Q&A document to deal with the many issues that NFA and title one owners have concerning exactly what they can and cannot do with the ever popular AR family of rifles. We will draft the questions together and get the answers to sometimes simple issues and sometimes complex issues that we run into almost every day.
We will continue to work marking variance issues and publish information to help every manufacturer properly follow the rules and regulations in the manufacturing community. In addition, we will work closer with the Bureau to better define and clear up many misunderstandings concerning the regulations for manufacturing. If you have never attended our Manufacturers Conference held in Washington D.C., you are missing out on one of the most action packed, information filled meetings that are held in partnership with ATF all year long. That conference alone has managed to attract a huge audience and the information exchange is phenomenal. Don’t miss out on this important event.
In addition to the major issues, we will also see mid-year the first draft of the Firearms Technology Branch Handbook, which was really pulled together with the tireless efforts of Rick Vasquez, Assistant Branch Chief of the Firearms Technology Branch and the efforts of Jeff Folloder of the NFATCA. This has been a long and tough journey only superseded by an overload of other issues that we are working with ATF. On another note concerning publications, this year will be the first year where we will finally publish a soft/hard back version of the NFA Handbook. This version will be titled NFA Handbook 2010. Later issues will be likewise recognized and titled by their year of publication. This same plan will apply to future publications of both handbooks for the years to come.
Many of our members and the community will see for the first time the tightening relationship between the NFATCA and F.A.I.R., especially when it comes to the agenda and the promotion of the ever popular Importers Conference, also traditionally held in Washington D.C. In addition to these partnerships, the NFATCA has also formalized relationships with sister organizations such as the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the National Rifle Association. Each of these relationships has the strategic objective of making certain that we share information and that we work closer on issues that may span all of our individual objectives in the firearms industry.
The NFATCA is overseeing a host of industry issues in both the NFA community and beyond. Our community has worked so closely within ATF that we have established a common ground with common goals that coincide with a concern that both the NFATCA and ATF share, Public Safety. When all is said and done, this should be a shared concern and an objective of all of our organizations. Working together can only foster a closer relationship to pave the way for better regulations and their interpretations.
Care to make a difference in your NFA future? Care to step up and not sit back any longer? Come join the NFATCA today by visiting us at www.nfatca.org.
| This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V13N7 (April 2010) |
