Download Free Guides to Federal and State Firearms Laws
How well do you know the key provisions of Federal firearms regulations? If you want to play the game, you better know the rules. Thankfully, you can access most important Federal firearms laws in one convenient PDF document, the Federal Firearms Regulations Reference Guide. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has collected and published key federal firearms statutes in this 242-page, downloadable Reference Guide. The actual statutes and rulings are collected in the front of the document. There is an index on page 169 that will help you get answers to specific questions. NOTE: this Reference Guide came out in 2005. If you have serious concerns about compliance with Federal law you should check with the ATF directly to obtain the latest versions of federal statutes.
ATF Guide to State Gun Laws
Along with the Guide to Federal Regulations, the ATF offers a free downloadable guide to State Laws and Published Ordinances. The latest version we found online was the 30th Edition, drafted in 2009 and revised in 2010. This 526-page PDF guide covers all 50 states, and provides a “Ready Reference Table” to assist gun dealers and FFLs comply with all state laws when selling or transferring arms.
This is a very useful resource, but we remind all readers that they should check for updates or changes in state laws since this document was published four years ago. To aid in that task, the ATF’s State Law Guide has a complete list of state Attorneys General Offices with contact information. The ATF also provides answers to Frequently Asked Questions on its website. CLICK HERE for ATF FAQ. Other ATF Publications are available at http://www.atf.gov/publications/firearms/.