A Milestone for Thompson Collectors… Finally

Several months ago the NFATCA published a list of all of the things that we are working on with ATF on behalf of the industry and collectors nationwide. On that list was support that we were offering to the Thompson Collectors Association (TCA) in having the 1928 West Hurley Thompsons added to the C&R list of firearms, as determined by BATFE.

The work behind this initiative actually began in June of 2005 when the TCA requested that the Firearms Technology Branch consider adding “Model 1928 Thompson sub-machineguns (all calibers, including .45 and .22) manufactured in the 1970s and 1980s by the Auto Ordnance Corporation, West Hurley, New York, to the C&R list. In January of 2006 the TCA received a letter from FTB acknowledging their request and informing them: “Upon reviewing the information you provided and conducting our own research into this matter in the context of Federal statutes and regulations, FTB has determined that any fully transferable Thompson submachine gun derives a substantial part of its monetary value due to its intimate association with the social and military history of the United States. Therefore the following submachine guns have been classified as C&R items: All fully transferable Thompson sub-machine guns registered on or before May 19, 1986.

Needless to say, this letter made everyone in the community happy until the following letter was received from FTB two months later in early March stating: “We have just discovered that this reply (referring to the January 2006 letter) was mailed erroneously, while your request was under review. Accordingly we regret to inform you that we must revoke the letter. We are continuing a review of your request and will send you the final FTB determination as soon as possible.”

This letter stunned everyone involved and sparked a lot of criticism from TCA and the industry as a whole. Everyone involved started to take a good hard look at what it would take to have a ruling in effect that would benefit the entire industry and ATF, yet cover the original issues with transferable Thompsons nationwide. The TCA spent many months and a ton of effort in an attempt to bring the issues to closure with little resolve. It was not until several combined energies came together between 2008 and 2010 to assist in bringing the West Hurley issues to conclusion that TCA gained significant traction on this issue. The efforts of John Spencer and Rick Vasquez at FTB, the push from the NFATCA through board member Robert Segel, and the final push from now Deputy Assistant Director Teresa Ficaretta made for the success that we have accomplished with accepting the Thompson rulings. After five years and undying efforts, the Thompson Collectors Association had finally gotten the written recognition that it had asked for, received, and then lost, but regained again in 2010.

On June 16, 2010, John Spencer, Branch Chief for the Firearms Technology Branch, wrote the final letter granting the West Hurley Thompsons C&R status. No small victory for both the TCA and the NFATCA in true partnership with ATF. Let it also be known that thanks to the efforts of Teresa Ficaretta we were able to get this issue finalized. She has shown beyond a doubt that true collaboration between the industry and ATF is a reality. We thank her for her gallant efforts on pushing this issue to closure.

This mission is complete and Thompson owners nationwide should be proud to know that West Hurley’s are now recognized as Curio and Relic NFA items. The NFATCA offers its congratulations to the TCA for their efforts in pushing this forward. As a member organization of the NFATCA this effort represented the first success in our organizations working together to accomplish a major initiative for the industry.

All NFA owners should recognize that this journey was a long one but definitely the result of ATF and the industry working together for success. So if you are still wondering what the NFATCA has done for you lately keep following our articles. Next month will yield yet another accomplishment in our quest for ATF industry success stories. Come join us today at www.nfatca.org.

Technology Branch (FTB) Procedures Manual has become quite an undertaking and it is occupying many of our members time; in some cases nearly 100%. Developing this manual is also a tricky process since much of the written word will be used to assist in enforcing the law in cases where abuse of the system or procedures is in question. So it goes slowly, but at a calculated pace, to insure that the document that is produced is supported entirely by our own community and especially the Firearms Technology Branch. This is a new partnership and we are asking FTB, in light of an overburdening work load, to put in the time and attention to develop a product that will better align not only the NFA community but the entire firearms industry with ATF rules and regulations.

With FTB working literally hundreds of technology issues, the NFATCA is more than appreciative for the time and energy Branch Chief, John Spencer and Assistant Branch Chief Rick Vasquez are putting into this program. For many years now we all know that if you want and need help with a technology issue from FTB, the best way to get that help is in writing. Word of mouth with decisions that can affect the entire industry is a bad idea, so rightfully many years ago FTB issued the edict “put it writing.” This concept has opened the door to literally thousands of requests from gun owners and manufacturers from all over the United States and in some cases the world. With a minimum staff it is sometimes just plain difficult to keep the pace with the demand on the branch. For their efforts in giving the NFATCA and our community the time to get this job done we are truly grateful.

Parallel with the work on the FTB Procedures Manual, the NFATCA is addressing a number of other policy issues affecting all of us. The issues, once again, are those that affect the greater good for the entire community. Almost daily, we receive requests from individuals that need help. Unless the issue has far reaching effects on the community we work as hard as possible to refer you to proper counsel to get the help you need. We unfortunately don’t have the time or the resources to handle these types of requests. We are working diligently to assimilate a list of gun-savvy attorneys nationwide to help more and more of the community with issues that affect an individual.

The NFATCA Agenda for 2008

• The NFATCA is better aligning itself with the larger gun manufacturers and NFA programs that affect their operations.
• We are establishing a much closer relationship with the FAIR Trade group where we will jointly assess common strategies and goals in order to strengthen our numbers and have a stronger presence in negotiations with ATF on many issues.
• This year we will also cross the threshold between the NFA community and the regular gun community and begin to strengthen our presence on gun issues that affect all of us in this community.
• We will roll out the NFA title insurance program.
• We will issue the first set of updates to the NFA Handbook.
• We will issue the first draft on the NFATCA counsel support list. This listing will recommend attorneys nationwide for support in gun related issues that are handled on an individual basis.
• We will make our membership 500 strong.

In 2008, the FTB Procedures Manual will require about 55% of the NFATCA resources to get this project completed in late 2008 or early 2009. Another 25% of our resources are being focused on spreading the strength by recruiting the larger manufacturers and gun organizations that support the efforts of the entire gun community. The balance of our efforts is being used to support legislative activity and negotiations on a number of critical issues that we are working with ATF to resolve. Those issues we can not discuss at this writing but will continue to work to resolution to insure that the best of all of our interests are the focus of our efforts. As we close those issues, future columns will support the work involved and the outcome.

2008 will be an ever more powerful year for the NFATCA in strength of numbers and value to the community. The ride with the organization will be a powerful one in the light of a political agenda that is as uncertain as ever. The time to help us build this powerful strength to stand for those issues is NOW. Visit www.NFATCA.org and join us in our efforts that do affect you.

By Jim Schatz & Dan Shea

At a facility in West Virginia, there exists what might be considered the home of the American Government’s firearms technical excellence, which includes a unique working firearms collection not before shown to the public. Imagine a facility staffed by highly experienced, dedicated working professionals charged with providing legally undisputable firearms and ammunition technical support to US Federal and local government agencies and friendly foreign governments. Imagine the assembly of a collection of rare, one-of-a-kind prototypes, first run samples, failed industry ideas and highly collectable once-transferable ordnance pieces ranging from the Colt AR-15 Model 607 (Model 7) to Russian Model 1905 Brass Maxim water-cooled machine guns. Conceive, as well, of the compilation of a firearms and ammunition reference library second to none comprised of extensive technical data on a world of offerings in small arms and ordnance materials. Task this organization with defining and enforcing the complex sea of applicable regulations and interpretations as they relate to the technical aspects of firearms and their classification under Federal laws. Combine all of this into one outfit and you would have the Firearms Technology Branch (FTB) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

In the ATF chain of command, FTB is part of the Firearms Programs Division, which, in turn, is directed by the Office of Enforcement Programs and Services (EPS). Few SAR readers need much of an introduction to ATF. Where this article will tread new ground is in revealing the fascinating collection of firearms, ordnance items, accessories, and dangerous and unusual pieces that make up the “National Firearms Collection” (NFC). The highly experienced staff of the ATF Firearms Technology Branch has overall responsibility for the management of this one-of-a-kind collection that is comprised of more than 10,000 serial numbered items. It is certainly safe to say that no other collection of this type exists anywhere in the United States. Small Arms Review was offered an exclusive chance to be the first and only small arms periodical to cover the contents of this fascinating collection. This assemblage of reference firearms was first compiled by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, later to become the IRS that we know today, as criminal evidence acquired as early as 1931. The items were later transferred to ATF in July 1972 when this entity first separated from the IRS and became a distinct Bureau within the Treasury Department. These older IRS-era pieces are some of the most fascinating items in the collection as they are still complete with the original hand written evidence tags.

Mission First

The mission of the FTB is multifaceted. The workforce of Firearm Enforcement Officers and support personnel, which includes armorers and administration staff, has the primary tasking to support law enforcement investigations and programs related to the use of firearms and related ordnance materials. In fact, well over half of the Branch workload is dedicated to supporting law enforcement programs and investigations. Support is rendered to US Federal agencies, the Department of Defense, to State and local law enforcement organizations, to the ATF Office of Chief Counsel, to Congressional affairs personnel, to the firearms industry, and to the general public. This includes the examination, testing, and classification of firearms-related evidence submitted to the unit as a result of ongoing criminal investigations. This can also include technical support for search warrants and technical training for US and foreign forensic personnel in areas such as tooling marks, firearms operation, and manufacturers’ markings. FTB personnel provide expert testimony in criminal prosecutions; train agency personnel related to firearms use; provide and/or assist in the maintenance, employment, and support of existing issue agency weapons; and help with the selection of new weaponry. FTB staff members are available to answer the technical questions of almost any nature and on any subject posed to them by investigators, members of the industry, and civilians. It is highly likely that if you have contacted the ATF Headquarters in Washington, DC, with a question on a firearms-related technical or regulatory issue, it would have been answered by a member of the Firearms Technology Branch. This author found the members of the Branch to be dedicated, very experienced in the field of firearms, well known within the firearms community, especially at the supervisory level, and committed to their profession; and he discovered, further, that many were hard core gun aficionados with personal interests in the history of these firearms. Many are former military or law enforcement personnel and are active in after hours’ firearms-related activities like competitive shooting, gun collecting, and the ways of the firearms community in general. They are also regular readers of Small Arms Review, when the branch copy can be located. It is reported that SAR is one of the most popular gun magazines at the FTB.

The role of the FTB armorers is to provide maintenance and support for all ATFissue firearms and those props used for investigations and trials. The level of technical expertise has to be especially complete when one considers that an armorer assigned to this unit may have to be able to set the headspace on an M2HB, determine the safety of a “home grown” firearm like a pen gun or silencer prior to confirmatory testing required in support of every criminal investigation, determine the origin and year of manufacture of illegally imported AKs from the former Yugoslavia, or decide which transferable Vietnam era AR-15s confiscated in a criminal investigation should be destroyed. There are few Government or industry conducted armorers training courses for many of the firearms in the collection simply because of the point of origin and technical nature of the more unique items.

The Firearms Technology Branch is charged with ascertaining the technical nature of illegally manufactured or modified weapons. For instance, in a case where a legal semiautomatic firearm, seized from a criminal during an investigation, has been converted to fire in a fully automatic mode, FTB Firearms Enforcement Officers will inspect that weapon and record the nature of the modifications made to its mechanism. Once the weapon is deemed safe to fire, FTB personnel have ammunition of almost any type available and an indoor firing range to conduct a live-fire test of the firearm to confirm that it does in fact function as an illegally modified weapon. This same procedure is used for silencers where FTB has available the latest sound metering technology to test the sound reduction of everything from stolen US Government equipment to improvised silencers made from a variety of items available from a local hardware store or supermarket. The Branch will also test weapons which have discharged accidentally during an investigation and those that are converted to full auto illegally. Dealing with weapons that are highly modified and possibly unsound requires careful pre-firing studies and safety assessments before they can be safely fired. To ensure staff safety when handling potentially dangerous ordnance items, FTB draws on the extensive in-house experience and judgment of its staff, and occasionally outside subject matter experts when necessary.

The FTB evaluates imported firearms to ensure compliance with the provisions of Title 18 U.S.C., Chapter 44, § 935(d). In cases where candidate firearms are disapproved for importation or sale due to non-compliance with import requirements, these articles must be re-exported or destroyed, and often are abandoned due to excess costs or tedious procedures. When abandoned, they may become part of the National Firearms Collection. If you were looking to see how not to seek import approval on semiautomatic SKSs or AKs, the FTB has many examples of failed attempts by importers to properly modify semi-auto rifles to meet importation guidelines. We saw samples of SKSs with some full auto parts, full auto sear mounting holes and even one that actually had a selector lever for full auto fire. Along with these, there are firearms built in proscribed countries and transshipped to a “friendly” country and falsely claimed as satisfactory in origin.

In accordance with Title 18 U.S.C., Chapter 44, § 922(p)(1), “Undetectable Firearms Act,” FTB personnel survey and test domestic and foreign origin handguns to ensure they meet the minimum size, functional, and material content requirements for commercial sale. The Branch also tests for compliance any ammunition that may fall into the controlled category of “Armor Piercing.” And finally, and in addition to an already packed business day, the FTB must also evaluate NFA-related documents and provide comments to ATF Chief Counsel, analyze proposed new legislation when requested by the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs, prepare all correspondence concerning the classification of firearms as “curios” or “relics,” and prepare correspondence for importers and manufacturers concerning marking requirements for firearms and related materials.

Now the Fun Stuff 

Within the National Firearms Collection, there are all manner of weapon reference types, many that would never be seen anywhere else. This includes racks and racks of rifles, both military-style assault rifles and conventional commercial hunting and competition rifles; submachine guns in various sizes and shapes; machine guns light, medium, and heavy; sniper rifles; shotguns; and destructive devices to include single-shot, multipleshot, and automatic grenade launchers. Each weapon’s category is organized by country of origin and/or alphabetically. Below the long gun racks are cabinets with drawer after drawer of handguns arranged alphabetically by maker or country of origin, both revolvers and semiautomatics, as well as full auto machine pistols, again some made by licensed manufacturers and those illegally made in unlicensed “work shops” both in the US and abroad. Within the handgun drawers are countless examples of silencers, pen guns, flash light guns, “zip” guns, toy and miniature guns, homemade AOWs (Any Other Weapons), and even an entire line of wearable “clothing guns” that includes an assortment of belt buckle, pager, cell phone, brass knuckle, knife, arm and even ring guns.

The collection includes reference samples of various automatic sears and lower receivers, such as the wide assortment of MAC-type lower receivers in various stages of completion. Within the NFC resides an excellent collection of crewserved weapons and anti-tank rocket launchers, like the infamous RPG and the WWII-era British PIAT launcher. ATF does not purchase or accept donated weapons from industry into the collection so the vast majority of the reference pieces have been added to the collection as a result of FTBs daily performance of its extensive mission portrayed above.

The reference collection includes mostly criminal case seizures, expired bond weapons not sold during the 5-year allowable period, those surrendered by unwary civilians, and, as indicated, samples sent in for ATF review and approval by US importers and manufacturers seeking permission for import and/or sale, which in some cases are later abandoned to ATF. When asked, our FTB guide for the day and the Vault Curator answered quickly that the most common WWII “bring-back” weapons have been MP40 submachine guns, lots of MP44s, and Czech ZB26 and ZB30 light machine guns, of all things. Not surprisingly, weapons from the Pacific theater are also not uncommon. Library pieces are donated by other agencies and many have returned from service overseas as a result of combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, such as Iranian-made G3 rifles included in the FTB collection. One of the more interesting unofficial “displays” was a cart marked for destruction of, shall we say, obviously well-used 1960s-era US AR-15s, M60s and M79s that were captured by the North Vietnamese after the fall of Saigon and were later smuggled back into the United States and quickly confiscated by US Customs and ATF personnel. There is even a sawed-off and exquisitely engraved 12 gauge Purdy shotgun originally valued at more than $50,000 on display No one ever said all criminals were smart.

Important Notices

As we dive into this extensive photographic collection expertly recorded by SAR Editor in Chief and Technical Editor Dan Shea, it must be stated that the ATF National Firearms Collection is not open to the public. As a working reference collection, access is available to other Government personnel involved in official business generally via request to the Chief, FTB.

It must also be stated that manufacturing firearms and/or silencers, or making certain key changes in a weapon’s configuration (overall length, barrel length, external features, etc.) or changing the function of a firearm in many cases requires special approval and licensing in advance from ATF. Readers are advised to check with their local ATF office and/ or the ATF Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide before proceeding on home projects of this nature and to always remember “All ATF rules apply.”

Acknowledgements

The co-authors for this article and the fine folks at Small Arms Review magazine would like to thank the men and women of the Firearms Technology Branch, and the leadership at the ATF, for the opportunity to see and record the fascinating and significant ordnance pieces that make up this one-of-a-kind collection for SAR readers.

There isn’t anyone in our community that has received a transfer that has not experienced the lightning speed in the processing of all NFA forms by the NFA Branch. Everyone from the new Customer Service group all the way to the licensing team has really stepped up to the plate and done a tremendous job of tightening up the procedure of processing all types of forms for our community. The efficiency is almost mind boggling. Form 4s, if filled our properly, are getting processed in about 20 days! Although the NFA examiners are still experiencing a lot of problems from our own ranks, including returned checks and the like, when you follow some rather simple instructions, the speed of turnaround is incredible.

All of the members of the NFATCA thought it was time we officially recognized members of the NFA Branch. We began our task by contacting our membership and canvassing feedback on specific ATF personnel that we wanted to recognize for their outstanding efforts since the move to Martinsburg. After receiving a lot of response from members of the NFA community, board members of the NFATCA made a visit to Martinsburg accompanied by Lew Radin, Assistant Director – Office of Enforcement Programs and Audrey Stucko, Chief – Office of Enforcement Programs. We met with the NFA staff and presented them with beautiful plaques and a letter of recognition for their outstanding efforts. We each spoke to the group about their accomplishments and made certain that they received the praise and recognition that they so well deserve. As Mr. Radin stated, “This is a first in our industry where our customers have stepped forward and made a point of recognizing ATF employees for making such monumental improvements in a process that really is all about customer service. We are grateful for the thanks and most importantly the true partnership that has evolved in the NFATCA working with ATF to improve the entire process that makes all of our lives easier.” Mr. Radin went on to thank the NFATCA and the entire community for the efforts we are making to work together to solve the problems that we both have experienced during the last few years.

Mrs. Stucko followed Mr. Radin’s remarks by unveiling Version 1.0 of the official NFA Handbook. The Handbook, being two years in the making, was the first version of a collaborative effort to join ATF and the NFA community in a common set of regulations that we can all agree on and follow. Following her remarks I joined Mrs. Stucko and mentioned that although version 1.0 provided a lot of needed information, we all recognized that there is still a lot of work to be done to improve on the information that was addressed in this first volume of our joint efforts. Within a few short weeks of making the handbook available we are already receiving some great feedback for our first revisions that will be made in late 2007. Those that have criticized the effort have yet to join the ranks of the NFATCA to help us improve the effort. We are still looking to strengthen our knowledge base with members that can make a meaningful contribution of information that we all need to be successful in our efforts with the Bureau.

Soon after the official ceremony, we all sat at lunch together and discussed the next steps that we can take together to further improve our processes and relationship.

Shortly after lunch with the NFA Branch, the NFATCA held the official kick-off meeting with the Firearms Technology Branch (FTB) to initiate the process of developing the FTB Handbook. This process will involve a lot of work. Our first meeting revolved around setting goals and objectives and selecting the team for the project, and the process for developing an outline for content. There will be more to follow on the specifics of developing the handbook in future articles. Once again we encourage the entire community to get involved and join with us in making this a successful effort.

It will be a busy year for us and we look forward to continuing to support the entire community. Come join us and make a difference with your knowledge, expertise and much needed experience. Contact us at www.nfatca.org for more information.