DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
                Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
                         Washington, DC 20226

                                                      F:NFA:GS
                                                      179.85/98-3810

                              JAN 8 1998

[Name]
[Address]

Dear  :

This is in response to your letter of November 9, 1997, in which
you advised that you recently became aware of a situation where an
ATF Form 4 application was approved for the transfer of a
machinegun to an individual without the completion of the Law
Enforcement Certification.  You wish to know whether this is an
accepted policy.

The Certificate, as required by the regulations in Title 27, Code
of Federal Regulations, section 179.85, must be completed as part
of the application to transfer a National Firearms Act firearm to
an individual.  Any such application submitted without the
Certificate would be incomplete and should not be approved.  We
would consider a separate letter as part of an application in an
instance where the chief law enforcement officer will not sign the
Certificate if the language of the Certificate was contained within
the letter.

If an application for transfer to an individual was approved
without the Certificate, then it was an oversight on our part.  We
will re-examine our procedures to ensure that all requirements of
an application are met.

Should any additional information be needed, please contact Gary
Schiable at (202) 927-8330.


                           Sincerely yours,

                               [signed]
                           Nereida W. Levine
                  Chief, National Firearms Act Branch