The Castle Doctrine in Pennsylvania: A Rebuttable Presumption There are probably few sounds more terrifying than the sound of a window breaking in your house in the middle of the night.  Someone is breaking into your home- the space that should be the safest.  How can you respond?  Legally speaking, what can you do to… Read more

The New ATF Forms:

With the July 13th deadline has arrived, many in the firearms world are going to have to learn new procedures in order to get ATF tax stamp approval for their NFA weapons. Anyone who doesn’t have their application to purchase a tax stamp through their trust tax postmarked by July 13th 2016 will have to comply with the new rules. As we know, tax stamps have been necessary for certain weapons, such as machine guns, short barreled rifles and shotguns, suppressors, and other items that the government decided (in their infinite wisdom) needed special regulation in the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA). Before rule 41F, which goes into effect on July 13th, the NFA tax stamp could be acquired by a trust or legal entity, which would own the restricted weapons, without having to take many of the steps (such as CLEO approval, fingerprinting and photographing) that individuals had to take to own these weapons.

The new process is still a form driven event. The forms are available on the ATF website. The New ATF Forms

While the changes in the law that 41F makes means that the process of attaining an NFA item through a trust is no simpler than attaining one as an individual, the trust retains the added benefit of allowing more than one person to possess the item. Trusts that were set up before are “grandfathered in,” although any additional items placed into that trust in the future would have to comply with the updated rules.

As most of our members want to continue to use their trusts to gain that benefit of multiple people legally possessing the NFA item, we will focus our post on how to fill out these forms for a trust.

ATF FORM 1: TAX PAID APPLICATION TO MAKE AND REGISTER A FIREARM

1) Type of Application: Most applicants will check box “a” for tax paid. Tax payment must be included with the application in the form of credit or debit card authorization, check or money order, payable to BATFE. We suggest a money order.

One of the problems with print media, is that the moment you hit print, it becomes out of date. Constantly evolving law coming from new statutes, and new cases interpreting statutes can change our current understanding of the law, which is difficult to remedy in a print book or article.     In the 2016… Read more

As we have discussed on PennLago previously, Pennsylvanians are afforded heavy protections by our State constitution, which states in Article 1 Section 21 that “the right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.”  While not an unlimited right (arguably none of our rights are unlimited)… Read more

  THE PROPOSED BILLS A Pennsylvania lawmaker has introduced a series of Bills, which if passed would substantially reduce Pennsylvanians access to lawfully owned firearms for self-defense.   Rep. Leslie Acosta (D-Philadelphia) has introduced the series of Bills in furtherance of her pledge to “fight for stronger gun control laws.” Acosta was sworn in during January… Read more

Hawaii’s State Legislature recently passed SB2954, commonly known as the Hawaii Gun Owner Registration Bill, which authorizes county police departments in Hawaii to enroll firearms applicants, owners, and individuals who are registering their firearms into the FBI’s “RAP back” program. Hawaii already has heavy restrictions on firearms ownership, and provides that firearm owners who choose… Read more

The primary season is upon us. Just like spring flowers that bloom this time of year, yard signs pop up too. With this Tuesday’s closed primary vote on the line and Pennsylvania being a very populous state with many un-pledged number of delegates in our winner-take-all system, we here in Pennsylvania are getting a lot… Read more

Almost as if on queue with our last post on the topic (Medical Marijuana in Pennsylvania and Gun Rights),  the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BAFTE) just this past Friday 4/8/2016) issued a proposed change to the ATF 4473 that makes clear what we wrote about in that blog. The draft language reads… Read more

This is an open letter to Criminal Defense Attorneys of Pennsylvania   Dear Colleague, I write “Dear Colleague” to start this open letter because I, Justin J. McShane, am a proud to be your colleague. I am a proud member of PACDl, NACDL and other national and state DUI defense organizations. I have been a… Read more