A June 19, Eugene Weekly article Armed and Fabulous included a June 17 email from the public affairs division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. This email informed EW that the ATF is updating the Firearms Transaction Form (4473) and that prospective buyers must mark their birth sex, rather than the sex on their official ID, on the current form. Gun buyers must complete the form to verify their identity and confirm eligibility before purchasing a firearm. 

LGBTQ+ gun activists say requiring applicants to mark their birth sex could hinder transgender people’s ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Operation Blazing Sword, a queer-centered nonprofit firearms organization, provided this statement to EW: “This new directive from ATF, stating that firearm purchasers shall identify themselves by their biological sex on the Firearm Transaction Record – Form 4473, forces lawful gun purchasers into an impossible bind.” 

Blazing Sword adds that, “Creating a paperwork contradiction designed to intimidate a minority group out of exercising a fundamental right raises serious equal protection and due-process concerns.” 

The firearms organization writes that the change is politically motivated. “If the government creates conditions where the only safe option for a transgender or non-binary person is to forego gun ownership entirely, that is not regulation; that is disenfranchisement disguised as regulation.”

 For those who have already changed both federal and state identification documents, providing identification that is aligned with birth sex may be difficult. In Oregon, residents are permitted to select the sex that corresponds to their gender identity on documents such as drivers licenses and identification cards. Oregon includes “X” as an option for non-binary or gender nonconforming people.

Before Trump’s January executive order stating, among other things, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” transgender people were able to change their gender marker on some federal documents including social security records to their preferred gender identity. Now, new changes have been halted.

Marking a sex that is not aligned with presented identification could potentially cause a delay or denial of the application due to an inability to determine identity. If a Federal Firearm License holder — someone in the business of manufacturing, importing, or selling firearms and ammunition — sees an inconsistency on the form, they may stop the transaction until the discrepancy is fixed. There is no formal process to appeal an FFL refusing a sale. If the FFL continues the sale, it could encounter delays.

On Nov. 19, EW emailed the ATF again with follow-up questions on the changes, the next day, the ATF provided word-for-word the same response as its June 17 email. The ATF did not respond to EW’s questions on the logistics of the form change and the birth sex requirement, nor did it respond to questions about possibly removing “non-binary” as an option for question 14, which asks buyers about their sex.

In the June and November emails, the ATF wrote, “The Firearm Transaction Form is in the process of being updated and consistent with the President’s Executive Order Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, firearm purchasers shall identify themselves by their biological sex on the Firearm Transaction Form – Form 4473.”

In an email to EW, Oregon State Police Captain Kyle Kennedy writes, “OSP has not received any information related to a change on the 4473. This is the first our team is hearing of it.” 

Kennedy adds, “We are going to look into this information and see what we can validate.” In Oregon, federally licensed firearm dealers submit background checks to the Oregon State Police, rather than directly to the FBI. This system allows for Oregon to conduct both federal and state background checks through its own system. 

The instructions for question 14 of the current form, published in August 2023, state “individuals with neither male nor female on their identification document(s) should check non-binary.” 

Knowingly providing false information on a 4473 is a federal crime and can lead to a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

Oregon’s Firearms Instant Check System allows for individuals who have a delayed transaction to submit court records and other information to help resolve missing information by emailing delayed.docs@osp.oregon.gov. Outright denials can be challenged by emailing denied.firearm@osp.oregon.gov.