At the end of January, someone at the National Shooting Sports Federation asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) about non-binary people purchasing firearms. The ATF responded that, despite gender non-binary licenses being acceptable identification, the individual must still select either “male” or “female” on the standard firearm transfer form 4473.
The ATF’s rigid, unreasoned response makes it clear there’s a huge disconnect between the purpose of the form, and the ATF’s interpretation. Form 4473, which everyone must fill out when they purchase a firearm from a federally licensed dealer, is intended to identify the purchaser of the firearm, have them confirm they are legally eligible to receive the firearm, and give enough identifying information to run a background check.
How can forcing a prospective gun owner to select “male” or “female” make any difference in identifying them when they have already provided a driver’s license, a home address, place of birth, full name, and even social security number? When a form has so much information, it’s clear that someone’s sex adds little to its ability to properly identify them. Even in the odd situation where completely filling out the form would still yield multiple results, the ATF offers the creation of Unique Personal Identification Numbers (UPIN’s). Still, even with all these avenues of precisely identifying a person, the ATF insists that dealers may not transfer a firearm to a purchaser who refuses to “check the box.”
Read more at https://www.cato.org/blog/atf-attempts-deny-non-binary-trans-americans-guns
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