ATF approves transfer for invalid trust
In an extremely disconcerting scenario, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) has approved an application to transfer an NFA firearm, while acknowledging that the trust was not valid.
ATF approved the trust and noted it was not valid. This could, of course, lead to ATF initiating forfeiture proceedings.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Typically an “invalid trust” means “a trust in which the legal and equitable interests have been unified”- which means that the firearm is owned by an individual instead of a trust. Either one is a valid target of a transfer. The difference is that the individual has to get LEO signoff and fingerprints. If the ATF approves it without either a valid trust or CLEO/fingerprints, how is that the applicant’s fault?