NFA Online Submission Now Offline?

[Bretonmaitre 36]

Does anyone have any information regarding the NFA outage is a short temporary outage, or will we be waiting for weeks?  I want to decide whether to send in my NFA 1 in by hand now, but I might wait if I knew the NFA would get their form submissions back on line soon.

 

I tried to get on the NFA's website to complete and submit my form 1, and here is what it said:

 

eForms Outage

 

Due to maintenance, the eForms system is unavailable.  We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you in advance for your cooperation and patience.

 

 

In the interim, all imports forms (Forms 6 Part I and 6A), NFA forms (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 10), and AFMER reports (Form 5300.11) must be submitted via paper, including any eForms in draft status.

Edited April 5, 2014 by Bretonmaitre

[Shandlanos 1,470]

This maintenance reminds me of a similar situation involving a road into West Berlin.

[jrance@iacwds.com 716]

April 1, 2014

URGENT NOTICE TO:   All Registered ATF eForms users

 

As you are aware for several weeks the eForms application has been experiencing some technical problems that have rendered the application difficult or impossible to use.  We apologize for the issues that our customers have been experiencing.  We have been diligently working to resolve these issues and have sought the assistance of IT systems experts.   

Those experts have advised us of one major problem; that the eForms system is NOT designed to accept batch uploads.  We have noted that several of our registered eForms users have designed and use a “batch/multiple submission process” that we have determined has been contributing to the problems that eForms is experiencing. ATF did NOT grant these users any authorization to use this process.  eForms was designed to work as a serial application, with each user making one submission at a time.  The “batch/multiple submission processes” are creating a situation where processes are initiated and not completed within the eForms application.  This is causing “memory allocation errors” within the eForms application.  The result is that many users are prevented from being able to log-in.  Another symptom is that once users log-in, the system moves so slowly that it is taking 20 minutes or more to move from one screen to the next.  Users are also reporting that they are unable to successfully submit an application even if they are fortunate enough to make it to the submission page.

Because the “batch/multiple submission processes” have been identified as a major contributing factor to these problems, we are requesting that any registered eForms user who is currently using any “batch/multiple submission process” discontinue the use of any such process IMMEDIATELY.  Any user who continues to use a “batch/multiple submission process” for eForms, after the dissemination of this message will have his/her access to the eForms system suspended or revoked.  Please understand that we are not asserting that the users of the “batch/multiple submission process” did anything wrong.  Unfortunately, our system was not designed to handle batch processes which are causing unexpected problems for our system.  

ATF is currently assessing whether there are other improvements that can address the problems identified. One of the issues that we will address in the future will be the creation of a batch process that will be available to all eForms users without a detrimental effect on the performance of the eForms system.  Until that time we request your compliance with the above, and appreciate your cooperation and patience.

[romad7 75]

Keep trying, it took me a week or so to get it all done for 2 Form 1s trying roughly every other day. If it saves me months then a week is worth it.

 

Also, here's the email on scheduled down times.

 

 

Good afternoon:

 

You are in receipt of this email because you are a registered user of ATF eForms. Please review the attached Urgent Notice relating to an important issue we are experiencing with the eForms system.

 

Reminder:

 

In an attempt to improve the performance of eForms we are restarting the eForms system everyday at the following times (Eastern time). During each restart eForms will be unavailable for 1 hour.

 

Restart times:

 

4:00 AM

9:00 AM

NOON

4:00 PM

11:00 PM

 

If you have any questions concerning the attached notice please contact Lee Alston-Williams at lee.alston-williams@atf.gov.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

Lenora (Lee) Alston-Williams

Industry Liasion Analyst - IT

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives

Office of Enforcement Programs and Services

Firearms and Explosives Services Division

99 New York Avenue, N.E. (6.E-333)

Washington, DC 20226

E-mail: Lee.Alston-Williams@atf.gov

Office: (202) 648-7166

Fax: (202) 648-7166

 

******* NOTICE: This e-mail message and any attached files are intended solely for the use of the addressee(s) named above in connection with official business. This communication may contain Sensitive But Unclassified information that may be statutorily or otherwise prohibited from being released without appropriate approval. Any review, use, or dissemination of this e-mail message and any attached file(s) in any form outside of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives or the Department of Justice without express authorization is strictly prohibited.

[corbin 621]

I just got off the phone with my Class 3 dealer. He's been running into the same problems with Efile. Hopefully he'll be able to get my NFA Trust's form 4 to go through. This is my first NFA item.

[Ronin38 2,117]

5 reboots every freaking day?!?!   That's worse than your typical MS server! 

[Sdustin 578]

I think theATF saw how much faster the process was getting and decided to pump the brakes before word got out and everyone filed they don't want there to be new NFA owners and a2month wait vs a year would bring many new owners

[nlacy 692]

looking at NfaTracker it looks like they've stopped processing the e file.  The recent approvals (last week) have all been mailed in.  Not liking this.  I'm at 91 days waiting on e file, and the last e files approved were about 150 days out.

[nipper2u 101]

FYI - I had a friend efile in early January and had his items clear and ship last week (less than 90 days).  Mine was purchased a few weeks behind his so hopefully I will be able to post their arrival on here soon. 

[yakdung 2,926]

Platform more than likely is running a Windoz OS.

[nipper2u 101]

Does anyone know what actually happens during the approval period (paper or efile)?  Are they running background checks (in which case you would think it would be faster after subsequent submissions) or are they just sitting on them for as long as they think they can get away with it?  I can appreciate the department might be over loaded and over worked but assume that is not the whole story. 

[Ronin38 2,117]

Last I heard there is a small building in WV with about 4 people in it to handle ALL the NFA form submissions.

 

If that's even close to true, "overworked" doesn't even begin to cover it! 

[nipper2u 101]

I sent an email to silencershop.com and this was their reply:

 

eForms is still down, though we have seen it come back online temporarily a few times in the past week. Since e-file went down on last week, we’ve spent quite a bit of time figuring out what to do with our existing submissions.

Flash back to the Government shutdown and you’ll remember a similar message that went up on the e-file website asking people to submit forms by paper; and, although it wasn’t obvious at the time, submitting on paper turned out not to be a good decision.

Bearing that in mind, this is what we’re currently planning:

* We’re going to give e-file 2-3 weeks to see what happens (until about May 1^st). During that time, we will continue to talk with the ATF to see if a solid decision has been reached on the near future of the system.

* In the meantime, we will continue to queue paperwork for electronic submission – so it will be ready to go when the e-file system comes back online.

* If you prefer to have your paperwork submitted on a paper form, please let us know right away and we’ll get it submitted. Having said that, we do believe waiting will probably be the faster/better alternative.

We’ll keep you updated as we receive more information.

 

Have a great day!

[gunfun 3,931]

Last I heard there is a small building in WV with about 4 people in it to handle ALL the NFA form submissions.

 

If that's even close to true, "overworked" doesn't even begin to cover it! 

 

I forget how many, but I read somewhere last fall that they hired several more people. Still not many compared to the demand, but I think it was something like 11 more people.

The good news is that the more people have Title II toys, the more normal it will seem and the harder it will be to suppress our rights politically. NFA of 34 partly succeeded because the big ticket items were way out of the average person's budget anyway. It would be comparable to passing a bill outlawing jetpacks today. There's no good reason to do it, but the average person isn't likely to get worked up about it. Now, most every gun guy probably knows at least one friend with a suppressor or something. Which means that most non-gun people have a friend who can introduce them to responsible use when they come around too.

[nlacy 692]

FYI - I had a friend efile in early January and had his items clear and ship last week (less than 90 days).  Mine was purchased a few weeks behind his so hopefully I will be able to post their arrival on here soon. 

 

I had one e filed mid January and one late January.  I hope it's coming soon.  But when I look at NFA tracker, the last 2 weeks of approvals have been the mail in variety, not e file.

[garnaz 215]

I sent an email to silencershop.com and this was their reply:

 

eForms is still down, though we have seen it come back online temporarily a few times in the past week. Since e-file went down on last week, we’ve spent quite a bit of time figuring out what to do with our existing submissions.

Flash back to the Government shutdown and you’ll remember a similar message that went up on the e-file website asking people to submit forms by paper; and, although it wasn’t obvious at the time, submitting on paper turned out not to be a good decision.

Bearing that in mind, this is what we’re currently planning:

* We’re going to give e-file 2-3 weeks to see what happens (until about May 1^st). During that time, we will continue to talk with the ATF to see if a solid decision has been reached on the near future of the system.

* In the meantime, we will continue to queue paperwork for electronic submission – so it will be ready to go when the e-file system comes back online.

* If you prefer to have your paperwork submitted on a paper form, please let us know right away and we’ll get it submitted. Having said that, we do believe waiting will probably be the faster/better alternative.

We’ll keep you updated as we receive more information.

 

Have a great day!

This is what my local guy is telling all his customers also.

[romad7 75]

Hope this works, for those of you not in the system, latest from the ATF on this subject.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdfd7f9el5u9xf0/eForms%20Letter%204-16-14%20final.pdf

Edited April 18, 2014 by romad7

[nipper2u 101]

Thanks for that! 

[Sdustin 578]

You guys should really read this artical

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/04/foghorn/atf-adding-nfa-branch-staff-reducing-backlog-re-designing-eforms-system/

[nipper2u 101]

FYI - Efiled 3 completely different item types via trust on Feb 27 2014 form 3 to form 3 and was told my items are shipping today to my FFL. 

[Sdustin 578]

Idiot was that just the dealer to dealer transfer?

[Shandlanos 1,470]

Idiot was that just the dealer to dealer transfer?

hahaha I thought you were being a real asshole for a sec, until I realized that was his name. He did say form 3 to form 3, which would be a dealer-to-dealer transfer.

[nipper2u 101]

Yes, just dealer to dealer but I was worried with the eform outage it would impact it none the less.  I am glad that was not the case so far.  Now for the long wait to form 4.

 

BTW - I have been called a lot worse...   

[corbin 621]

Just heard back from my dealer. The efile is still down, so my form is still in limbo. He said I could come down there (2 hours away) and hand sign the form 4 so we can just mail it, but do I have to actually go there in person? Can't he just mail it to me and I send it out? He already has my $200 and NFA trust copy.

[nipper2u 101]

Recent update from the Silencer Shop website:

 

http://www.silencershop.com/current-status-eforms/

Current Status of eForms

We’ve spent a lot of time over the last few weeks trying to figure out exactly what the best way is to proceed with eForms being down.

The decision is complicated by several factors:

1) If you’ve been watching our ATF Wait Times page, you’ll notice that paper forms have been making a major comeback. We went from getting approvals from last May up to last August almost overnight – and the times seem to be doing nothing but improving day by day.

2) Even though there are quite a few advantages to using eForms, the one most people are interested in is the increased speed. Over the last week, it’s become increasingly apparent that the NFA Branch doesn’t plan to expedite eForms in the same way going forward – so the wait times will be closer to paper forms. Having said that, it looks like paper wait times will quickly become more reasonable than they were.

On this note, keep in mind that many of the forms submitted from mid-October of last year through the time when eForms went down were submitted on paper. Since most of those eForms have already been approved & cleared out of the system – the paper forms should jump forward in time extremely quickly once they get into processing forms from last October.

3) We don’t expect ATF 41P to be implemented – especially not in the near term; but, a lot of customers do have that possibility in mind. I can almost guarantee that waiting for eForms will not get current applications into the system by June if you’re worried about that.

Based on everything we’re hearing, we are going to change our default recommendation to submit by paper instead of waiting for eForms 2.0. After weighing all the data, it looks like that is the best way to go at this point. We’ll continue to monitor this situation over the next few weeks and will post as soon as we get more solid data on eForms 2.0 going live.

Even with that recommendation, we’re not forcing customers one way or the other. Once we review your submission information, you’ll get an email from us asking which way you want to go – and we’re happy to wait on eForms if that’s what your preference is.

Posted May 27, 2014