A few years ago North Carolina revised the law regarding purchase or possession of automatic firearms, intending to make it easier to acquire those items. However, the legislation was poorly worded and the ATF’s interpretation of the law has created issues with some ATF applications. Thus, in submitting ATF Form 4, Box 15, one should not state that the purpose of the purchase is “in accordance with NCGS 14-409” or “in accordance with NCGS 14-288.8.” If those references are are included when filing the ATF Form 4 for a machine gun purchase, the ATF will not approve of the purchase without a Sheriff’s letter/permit.

According to the ATF, “it comes down to wording wherein the statute the permit requirement was placed.”

On Form 4, the purpose should simply be stated as “all lawful purposes.”