The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has released a draft revision to Form 4473, the federally required background check record completed at every firearm sale, proposing to shrink the form from seven pages to four while overhauling its marijuana question, adding a direct-shipping checkbox, and returning the sex field to a binary male/female format. The draft was published in the Federal Register on May 8 as document 2026-09182, and is open for public comment through August 6, 2026. AmmoLand News reported the changes.

The most consequential revision for many buyers is the updated marijuana question. The current Form 4473 asks whether the buyer is an "unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance" — language that gun-rights advocates have argued effectively bars millions of people in states with legal medical cannabis programs, even when those individuals are acting within state law. The draft narrows the question to focus on recreational marijuana use and removes the reference to medical marijuana, tracking with the Drug Enforcement Administration's 2025 reclassification of cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III.

The revised form also adds checkboxes for non-over-the-counter transactions, providing the standardized paperwork infrastructure FFLs need to process intrastate direct-ship sales. ATF published a separate final rule enabling that practice — the NOTC rule — the same day. Under that framework, a buyer in the same state as the licensed seller can order a firearm online and receive it at their door, with the FFL completing the 4473 at the point of delivery rather than requiring an in-person visit to the selling dealer's premises.

Additional changes include removal of Question 21(b), which asked buyers whether they intended to "sell or otherwise dispose of" any firearm listed on the form. ATF concluded the question was duplicative of existing prohibitions. The non-binary gender option added in a prior form revision is removed; the draft restores a binary male/female field, instructing buyers to select the sex assigned at birth.

For the trade, the reduction from seven pages to four represents a real paperwork-burden cut, particularly for high-volume dealers who complete thousands of 4473s annually. The direct-shipping checkbox, tied to the simultaneously published NOTC rule, gives dealers a clean, compliant path to participate in intrastate online sales — a market the industry has sought to access for years.

The Form 4473 overhaul is part of ATF's broader regulatory reform effort under Executive Order 14206, Protecting Second Amendment Rights. FFLs and interested parties can submit written comments on the proposed rule to FIPB@atf.gov by August 6; a Paperwork Reduction Act notice accepts comments through July 7, 2026. ATF has not indicated when it expects to finalize the revised form.