Mr. Brown is the actual transferee/buyer of the rearm and should answer “yes” to
question 21.a. However, the transferor/seller may not transfer a rearm to any
person he/she knows or has reasonable cause to believe is prohibited under 18
U.S.C. § 922(g), (h), (n), or (x).
Questions 21.c. - 21.m. Prohibited Persons: Generally, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)
prohibits the shipment, transportation, receipt, or possession in or aecting interstate
commerce of a rearm by one who: has been convicted of a felony in any Federal,
including a general court-martial, State or local court, or any other crime, punishable
by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; is a fugitive from justice; is an
unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, or narcotic
drug, or any other controlled substance; has been adjudicated as a mental defective
or has been committed to a mental institution; has been discharged from the Armed
Forces under dishonorable conditions; is subject to certain restraining orders;
convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence under Federal, including a
general court-martial, State or Tribal, or local law; has renounced his/her U.S. citi-
zenship; is an alien illegally in the United States or an alien admitted to the United
States under a nonimmigrant visa. Furthermore, 18 U.S.C. § 922(n) prohibits the
shipment, transportation, or receipt in or aecting interstate commerce of a rearm
by one who is under indictment or information for a felony in any Federal,
including a general court-martial, State or local court, or any other crime, punishable
by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. An information is a formal
accusation of a crime veried by a prosecutor.
A member of the Armed Forces must answer “yes” to 21.c. if charged with an oense
that is referred to a general court-martial. A current or former member of the Armed
Forces must answer “yes” to 21.d. if convicted under a general court-martial.
Discharged “under dishonorable conditions” means separation from the Armed
Forces resulting from a dishonorable discharge or dismissal adjudged by a general
court-martial. That term does not include any other discharge or separation.
EXCEPTION: A person is not prohibited from receiving or possessing a rearm
if that person: (1) has been convicted of any Federal or State oense pertaining to
antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar oenses
relating to the regulation of business practices; (2) has been convicted of a State
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment of two years or less; or (3) following
conviction of a felony or other crime for which the judge could have imprisoned the
person for more than one year, or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, has
received a pardon, an expungement or set aside of the conviction, or has lost and
regained civil rights (the right to vote, sit on a jury, and hold public oce) in the
jurisdiction in which the conviction occurred, AND the law of the convicting
jurisdiction does not prohibit the person from receiving or possessing rearms.
Also, a person who has no more than one conviction of a misdemeanor crime of
domestic violence against an individual in a dating relationship, and is not otherwise
prohibited under this chapter, is not prohibited if 5 years have elapsed from
conviction or completion of the person’s custodial or supervisory sentence,
whichever occurs later, and the person has not subsequently been convicted of any
other misdemeanor crime of violence, or any other oense that would disqualify the
person under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). A person subject to any of these exceptions, or
who received relief from disabilities under 18 U.S.C. § 925(c), should answer “no”
to the applicable question.
Question 21.e. Fugitive from Justice: Any person who has ed from any State
to avoid prosecution for a felony or a misdemeanor; or any person who leaves the
State to avoid giving testimony in any criminal proceeding. The term also includes
any person who knows that misdemeanor or felony charges are pending against such
person and who leaves the State of prosecution.
Question 21.g. Adjudicated as a Mental Defective: A determination by a court,
board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked
subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease: (1) is
a danger to himself or to others; or (2) lacks the mental capacity to contract or
manage his own aairs. This term shall include: (1) a nding of insanity by a court
in a criminal case; and (2) those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found
not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility.
Committed to a Mental Institution: A formal commitment of a person to a mental
institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term
includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily. The term includes
commitment for mental defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes
commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a
person in a mental institution for observation or a voluntary admission to a mental
institution.
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EXCEPTION: Under the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, a person
who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental
institution in a State proceeding is not prohibited by the adjudication or commitment
if the person has been granted relief by the adjudicating/committing State pursuant
to a qualifying mental health relief from disabilities program. Also, a person who
has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution by a
department or agency of Federal Government is not prohibited by the
adjudication or commitment if either: (a) the person’s adjudication or commitment
was set aside or expunged by the adjudicating/committing agency; (b) the person
has been fully released or discharged from all mandatory treatment, supervision, or
monitoring by the agency; (c) the person was found by the agency to no longer suer
from the mental health condition that served as the basis of the initial adjudication/
commitment; (d) the adjudication or commitment, respectively, is based solely on a
medical nding of disability, without an opportunity for a hearing by a court, board,
commission, or other lawful authority, and the person has not been adjudicated as a
mental defective consistent with 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4); or (e) the person was
granted relief from the adjudicating/committing agency pursuant to a qualied
mental health relief from disabilities program. This exception to an adjudication or
commitment by a Federal department or agency does not apply to any person who
was adjudicated to be not guilty by reason of insanity, or based on lack of mental
responsibility, or found incompetent to stand trial, in any criminal case or under the
Uniform Code of Military Justice. Persons who fall within one of the above
exceptions should answer “no” to question 21.g.
Question 21.i. Qualifying Restraining Orders: Under 18 U.S.C. § 922, rearms
may not be sold to or received by persons subject to a court order that: (A) was
issued after a hearing which the person received actual notice of and had an
opportunity to participate in; (B) restrains such person from harassing, stalking,
or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner or person, or
engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of
bodily injury to the partner or child; and (C)(i) includes a nding that such person
represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child;
or (ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use
of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be
expected to cause bodily injury. An “intimate partner” of a person is: the spouse or
former spouse of the person, the parent of a child of the person, or an individual who
cohabitates or has cohabitated with the person.
Question 21.j. Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence: A Federal, including a
general court-martial, State, local, or Tribal oense that is a misdemeanor under
Federal, State, or Tribal law and has, as an element, the use or attempted use of
physical force, or the threatened use of a deadly weapon, committed by a current or
former spouse, parent, or guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim
shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabited
with the victim as a spouse, parent, or guardian, or by a person who has a current or
recent former dating relationship with the victim (as dened in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)
(37)). The term includes all misdemeanors that have as an element the use or
attempted use of physical force or the threatened use of a deadly weapon (e.g.,
assault and battery), if the oense is committed by one of the dened parties. (See
EXCEPTION to 21.c. - 21.m.) A person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor
crime of domestic violence also is not prohibited unless: (1) the person was
represented by a lawyer or gave up the right to a lawyer; and (2) if the person was
entitled to a jury, was tried by a jury, or gave up the right to a jury trial. Persons
subject to this exception should answer “no” to 21.j.
A current or former member of the military who has been convicted of a violation of
the Uniform Code of Military Justice that included, as an element, the use of force
against a person as identied in the instructions under question 21.j. must answer
“yes” to this question. This may include a qualifying oense that was referred to a
special or general court-martial.
Question 21.m. Immigration Status: If you are a U.S. citizen/national, it is ap-
propriate to answer “No” to question 21.m.1. and to leave question 21.m.2. blank.
An alien admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa includes, among
others, persons visiting the United States temporarily for business or pleasure, persons
studying in the United States who maintain a residence abroad, and certain temporary
foreign workers. These aliens must answer “yes” to this question and provide the ad-
ditional documentation as required under question 26.d.to establish they are excepted
from the nonimmigrant alien prohibition. Permanent resident aliens and aliens
legally admitted to the United States pursuant to either the Visa Waiver Program or
to regulations otherwise exempting them from visa requirements may answer “no”
to this question, leave 21.m.2 blank and are not required to submit the additional
documentation under question 26.d.
ATF Form 4473 (5300.9)
Revised August 2023