Form 4473
Allen West
June 21, 2023
There are those of you who have neither knowledge nor understanding of the title to this Constitutional Brief missive. There are those of you who are legal, law-abiding gun owners who know exactly what I am referring to. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) Form 4473 is the background check form used to clear any firearms purchaser by doing a search of the National Instant Criminal Background Checks System (NICS) database managed by the FBI.
Yes, for all of those progressive socialists who are oblivious to the process, anytime someone wishes to purchase a firearm in these United States of America, they must undergo a background check. This is why the chicanery about a universal background check is just a bunch of bovine excrement; just a means to an end of restricting our Second Amendment right.
In other words, the ol’ Colonel, and former member of Congress, must complete a Form 4473 and undergo a background check each time I seek to purchase a new firearm. This most recently occurred just two weeks ago at Watchtower Firearms where I was presented a Special Edition AR-15 semiautomatic rifle designed under my signature. Each time I, or anyone else, completes a Form 4473 we are well aware that lying on this federal form is a felony offense.
Let me explain how persnickety the Feds are about this form. There is a block that asks the county in which you reside, there are some who mistakenly read this as “country.” That can be construed, and has been by the ATF, as a fraudulent entry and can lead to adverse ramifications. There are a series of questions on Form 4473, and failure to be truthful is punishable with a maximum of five years imprisonment . . . a very deliberate deterrent.
Therefore, consider the hypocrisy of one Hunter Biden admitting guilt to lying on his Form 4473, and not getting any punishment whatsoever. You can bet your backside that if it were you or Col. Allen West admitting guilt to lying on a Form 4473 . . . well, we would be singing “Jailhouse Rock.” I do like the color of Tennessee Volunteer orange, but not prison uniform orange.
The left says, “Hey, no big deal,” but if it is not a big deal, then why is lying on a Form 4473 a felony offense with a punishment of five years imprisonment?
Let me just remind you of someone who lied on their Form 4473 . . . the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooter. I will not speak his name. This individual who was given a dishonorable discharge from the US Air Force because of domestic violence never had his crimes uploaded into the NICS system. There are two questions on the Form 4473 that relate to level of discharge if one served in the military and domestic violence charges. The shooter lied on both questions. He was then able to purchase an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and proceeded to kill 26 churchgoers. He was neutralized by my friend Stephen Willeford who also had an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and is a trained firearms instructor.
Lying on Form 4473 is a big deal.
Or how about the Uvalde shooter who should have never been able to purchase a firearm. That shooter lived with his grandparents. His grandfather was a convicted felon. Convicted felons cannot legally possess firearms or be in the vicinity of firearms. The Uvalde shooter had to put down an address of residence. If he put down the address where he resided, there should have been a red flag due to a registered felon living there. If the Uvalde shooter did not put down that residence, then he was lying on Form 4473. Somehow, the NICS system failed and the shooter was able to purchase semi-automatic rifles and proceeded to kill 19 little children and two teachers while also wounding 17 others. This shooting was not an issue of the shooter’s age, or the weapon. It was an issue of either lying on Form 4473, or a grave failure of NICS.
Either way, lying on Form 4473 is a big deal.
Or how about the “straw buyer” in California who lied about his intention for purchasing firearms and ended up giving the weapons to Syed Farouk and Tashfeen Malik. These Islamic jihadists then proceeded to gun down and kill 16 innocent people and wound another 24 on December 2, 2015, in San Bernadino.
Yeah, lying on Form 4473 is a big deal.
Then there is the gender dysphoric shooter in Nashville who gunned down six, including three 9-year-old children at Covenant Christian School. Form 4473 does ask a question about mental capacity. The DSM-5 lists gender dysphoria as a mental condition. It is obvious that the shooter was not forthcoming about her mental condition. She was able to purchase semi-automatic weapons at several different gun stores in the Nashville area. In other words, she lied on multiple occasions.
Just recently the IRS, not the ATF, conducted armed raids of two gun stores in Montana and Virginia. The purpose was to confiscate the confidential Form 4473 documents of legal, law-abiding Americans. Why does the IRS need to conduct an armed raid to unconstitutionally abscond with the 4473 forms of Americans who are guilty of nothing? The IRS is supposed to be focused on matters of financial malfeasance when it comes to evading tax payments. It seems that does not apply in the case of Hunter Biden. Obviously, to the IRS, illegally gaining access to these Form 4473s is a big deal. Yes, the federal government mandates that stores maintain these 4473s for a certain period of time.
On June 1st, by way of an unconstitutional rule, the ATF made tens of millions of American felons for possessing an accessory to their semi-automatic firearm, an accessory that was previously approved. These tens of millions of Americans filled out Form 4473 and underwent a background check. They did not falsify any information. Yet, they are now designated as felons by this corrupt Biden administration. While the son of the Biden lies on a Form 4473 and gets a “get outta jail free card.”
The duplicitous hypocrisy and two-tiered standard of justice to the rule of law in America is highly infuriating. Hunter Biden is a felon, pure and simple. HJ Resolution 44 was passed by the US House of Representatives and it would nullify the Biden administration’s “pistol brace ban” rule. Contact your Senators and tell them to vote for HJ Resolution 44.
We at the American Constitutional Rights Union are disgusted by the travesty of justice we are witnessing. The progressive socialist left does not abide by the rule of law, they just want to rule. Disarming legal and law-abiding Americans while releasing violent criminals, and felons, like Hunter Biden, back onto the streets will not be tolerated. I have always asserted that “evil always overplays its hand,” and this is a true example.
Stand with us at the ACRU and enable us to be your voice to protect your life, liberty, property, and family from this intrusive, corrupt, and tyrannical leftist Biden administration.
Steadfast and Loyal!