Form 4473 Mistake

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Estate

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I pretty sure I filled out the place of birth as the place I grew up and not my actual place of birth, the state is right but the city is wrong. It was a honest mistake. But it’s been about 6 days since I bought it. Is this fixable or does this even matter?
 
I was born in a tiny town with odd spelling. Probably half the time when I have done a 4473, I have spelled it wrong. It has never been an issue.
 
Your city of birth isn’t part of the information submitted for the NICS check, just the state, so there’s no problem with the background check. (It’s always possible there could be issues with extra state requirements, which is why you should always mention your state when asking questions like this. Or better yet, just put it in your profile.)

The only way anyone would know that you put your wrong birth city on the 4473 is if they actually saw the physical 4473 and checked it against your personal background information, which seems like something that would only happen during a criminal investigation. I’m no lawyer, but if a law enforcement agency was doing an investigation that uncovered a minor mistake you made on the 4473, it’s either the least of your worries (if you’re the target of that investigation) or the least of the LEO agency’s worries (if you’re not).
 
I was born in a tiny town with odd spelling. Probably half the time when I have done a 4473, I have spelled it wrong. It has never been an issue.
Dicks sporting goods called me and demanded I come and hour round trip drive to redo the form because I spelled lake with no E. It was done via a computer so it didn’t take the E. I told him no and he said he would be forced to call ATF on me and that I committed a crime. I went back and finished it and told them I wanted a gift card because two people confirmed my forms and neither said anything. When they sold me a bad gun and returned it I told them make sure it’s right cause I’m not coming back. Never did get my gift card and on the second trip for the replacement gun the guy said it didn’t matter and I didn’t have to come back.
 
"Place of birth" most certainly IS SUBMITTED to NICS. (nothing is submitted to NCIS because thats a TV show ;) )
"as said"? No, that's NOT what Theohazard said.....he said "city of birth" is not submitted. FBI NICS doesn't care about "city"...but they do care about the state or foreign country of birth.

In this case, just like all the others, having an FFL does make us experts.....'cause we actually deal with NICS every day. You never have.
so since it was the city and not the state It doesn’t really matter? That seems to be the general consensus.
 
so since it was the city and not the state It doesn’t really matter? That seems to be the general consensus.
The only way a 4473 mistake like that would ever be uncovered is if some law enforcement agency was looking into it, like I mentioned in post #4. But like I also mentioned in post #4, there might be another issue on the state level if you live in state with extra state paperwork. I know in some states the dealer will fill out the state paperwork for the customer by using the information provided on the federal 4473. So it’s possible your mistake was transferred to the state paperwork and could cause problems. But we can’t know if there are any state issues for you since you still won’t tell us what state you live in.
 
The only way a 4473 mistake like that would ever be uncovered is if some law enforcement agency was looking into it, like I mentioned in post #4. But like I also mentioned in post #4, there might be another issue on the state level if you live in state with extra state paperwork. I know in some states the dealer will fill out the state paperwork for the customer by using the information provided on the federal 4473. So it’s possible your mistake was transferred to the state paperwork and could cause problems. But we can’t know if there are any state issues for you since you still won’t tell us what state you live in.
I live in Indiana sorry must have skipped over that the first time.
 
I live in Indiana sorry must have skipped over that the first time.
No prob. OK, good; I don’t know Indiana guns laws, but I do know it’s a pretty gun-friendly state and I’d be surprised if there was any extra state-level paperwork that could cause you problems. If all you did was fill out the 4473 and there was no other paperwork, then I stand by the advice I gave in post #4. If you really want to fix it, then like @herrwalther pointed out in post #5, there is a method to correct it.

But I’ve worked at three different shops in 2 different states and been through four ATF inspections, and I personally wouldn’t bother if I were you. But you do you and don’t take what I said as legal advice since I’m not a lawyer.
 
I was born in Naha, Okinawa. Whenever I do a paper 4473, I write "Okinawa (JP)". Never had an issue.

The first time I ever did an online 4473, at Wal-Mart maybe in 2017, there was a drop-down menu for country of birth, and "Okinawa" was actually an option, so I selected it instead of "Japan". For some reason, it wouldn't go through, and the employee ended up having me do it again. The second time, I selected "Japan" and it breezed right through.

So, who even knows how that stuff works, anyway, right?
 
I was born in Naha, Okinawa. Whenever I do a paper 4473, I write "Okinawa (JP)". Never had an issue.

The first time I ever did an online 4473, at Wal-Mart maybe in 2017, there was a drop-down menu for country of birth, and "Okinawa" was actually an option, so I selected it instead of "Japan". For some reason, it wouldn't go through, and the employee ended up having me do it again. The second time, I selected "Japan" and it breezed right through.

So, who even knows how that stuff works, anyway, right?

Okinawa was a prefecture of Japan from 1879 until they lost WWII in 1945. From 1945 to 1972, it was a separate entity under control of USA.
See https://www.visitokinawa.jp/about-okinawa/history
That somewhat messy history may be the reason that Okinawa is sometimes seen a country (45-72), and sometimes as part of Japan (pre-45, 72-present).
I lived there as a 2 year old when dad was a USAF radar officer during the Korean Conflict.
 
I'm thinking that if you have the gun, it must have gone through. I wouldn't worry about it.
Sometimes, you just have to slow down. A 4473 is important "slow down" paperwork, especially since they started changing the questions around. When you look at the overall time used in a purchase transaction, that extra 2 or 3 minutes, taking your time, can save you a lot of grief.
 
Sometimes, you just have to slow down. A 4473 is important "slow down" paperwork, especially since they started changing the questions around. When you look at the overall time used in a purchase transaction, that extra 2 or 3 minutes, taking your time, can save you a lot of grief.
THIS X 1000

The cavalier attitude many customers have to filling out a Form 4473 is both funny and sad.
Virtually no one reads the instructions next to the question they are answering and many licensed dealer don't bother reading the three and a half pages of instructions that clarify how to fill out the form and what is required.

Being that it's a federal felony punishable by up to ten years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.......you would think people would be a little more careful.
The most common errors I see:
-forgetting to put "cadence" after their last name (Jr, Sr, II, III, etc)
-leaving "middle name" blank, using only an initial when you have a middle name or failing to write :NMN" when you have no middle name.
-Writing the address as shown on their drivers license even though they don't live there.... because some idiot told them "addresses must match".
-failing to include their apartment #
-putting "USA" where it asks for "county of residence"
-including Social Security Number when you have a Texas CHL/LTC......which serves as an exemption to the NICS check (meaning no call to the NICS, no benefit with SSN)
-Not answering 10.a. AT ALL (Hispanic/Not Hispanic)
-Leaving 10.b blank when you are Hispanic ethnicity (instructions in bold print tell the buyer to answer both 10.a and 10.b):cuss:
Getting to questions 11a through 11.1 and asking the dealer "all of theses are "No" correct? (without reading a single one) I don't know you dummy, read the :cuss: question!
-Leaving Questions 12b through 12,d,2 blank.....yeah.....I know they don't apply to a US Citizen but you have to answer them anyway.
-Signing and dating the form 4473 at the top of page 2 without reading anything in the fine print.
-Filling in the gov issued ID information....even though the instructions say the dealer is to do that.
-Signing and dating at the bottom of page 2 :cuss: No dummy......reading is fundamental.

I keep track of how many errors and ommisions I have to point out to buyers....90% do not fill the form out according to the instructions. I know there is a lot of fine print, but jail time/fines yo :uhoh:
 
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I’m with Tom: I’d say that easily 90% of people don’t fill out the form correctly if you don’t point out certain things ahead of time, and even if you point out the problem questions they still usually make mistakes. Maybe even 95%. The most common mistakes I see are not answering 10a. and also messing up 12d. The first part of 12d. (12.d.1.) says, “Are you an alien who has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa?” That’s a simple “yes” or “no” question. Then there’s the follow-up question 12.d.2.: “If ‘yes’, do you fall within any of the exceptions stated in the instructions?”, then there’s a “yes” box, a “no” box, and an “N/A” box. Almost everyone will still check “no” even if they’re a US citizen or green card holder and that last question doesn’t apply to them.

That’s with the paper form, though. My current shop usually uses a computer version of the 4473 that prevents the customer from making most of those mistakes. But we often get customers who don’t know how to use computers, and we also use the paper forms during gun shows.
 
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I pretty sure I filled out the place of birth as the place I grew up and not my actual place of birth, the state is right but the city is wrong. It was a honest mistake. But it’s been about 6 days since I bought it. Is this fixable or does this even matter?

Yes, it is 'fixable'.

Once the firearm is transferred and a Form 4473 is signed and dated by the person making the transfer (the FFL or his/her representative) no changes may be made to the original form if it is found to be incomplete or improperly completed. Any subsequent additions or revisions are accomplished by making a copy of the original and making the correction(s) on the copy. I am pretty sure it would be as simple as having the transferor/seller make a copy and the transferee/buyer making the necessary changes in Section A or C and then dating and initialing each change. The transferor/seller could only make changes in Sections B and D.

That copy gets stapled to the original 4473 transaction paperwork and stored in the FFL's files.
 
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