Reply #19: This is what comes from letting lawyers breed.

[one-eyed fat man]

This is akin to the notification and transfer requirements for an NFA firearm.

The registration or transfer process (to an individual or corporation) takes approximately 1–3 months to complete. Additionally, the firearm can never be handled or transported by any other private individual unless the firearm's registered owner is present. Corporations which own NFA firearms can loan them to any employee of the corporation with a letter of permission on the corporate letterhead. NFA items owned by trusts may be legally possessed by any trustee (i.e., if a husband and wife are both trustees, either of them may use and transport the firearm without the other present).

Upon the demand of any ATF agent, the registered owner must produce the original ATF Form with tax stamp affixed to prove the firearm is legally owned. Technically speaking, owners are not required to produce the form for any non-ATF personnel (i.e., local police officers do not have the legal right to demand to see the form. The NFA is a TAX law, not a gun law, and the the forms are tax returns).

However, in practice, most NFA firearm owners keep a photocopy of their paperwork with the firearm at all times, and will show it to any authority that requests it to avoid legal issues. Many owners keep the original form in a safe place, such as a safe deposit box, to avoid damaging it, as the ATF will not replace a damaged $200 tax stamp. The original tax stamp is the only proof that will effectively defend against an ATF claim the firearm is not in the registry.

In a number of situations, an NFA item may be transferred without a transfer tax. These include sales to government agencies, temporary transfers of an NFA firearm to a gunsmith for repairs, and transfer of an NFA firearm to a lawful heir after the death of its owner. A permanent transfer, even if tax-free, must be approved by the ATF. The proper form should be submitted to ATF before the transfer occurs. For example, lawful heirs must submit a Form 5 and wait for approval before taking possession of any NFA item willed to them. Temporary transfers, such as those to a gunsmith or to the original manufacturer for repair, are not subject to ATF approval since they are not legally considered transfers.

The ATF does, however, "recommend" filing tax-free transfer paperwork on all such temporary transfers, to confer an extra layer of legal protection on both the owner and the gunsmith.

In case you haven't figured that part out it's bureaucrat-ese for "You may be legal, but we will arrest you anyway, drag you through court and bankrupt your ass because you will run out of money to pay your lawyer before we run out of money to pay ours."