DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
BUREAU OF ALCOHOL. TOBACCO AND FIREARMS
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20226

                    SEP 19 1997              CC-48,760      FE:APG

Mr. Eric M. Larson
P.O. Box 5497
Takoma Park, Maryland 20913

Dear Mr. Larson:

This is in response to your letter of August 13, 1997, to Mr. Jack
B. Patterson, in which you raised questions regarding disclosure of
firearms registrations under the National Firearms Act (NFA), Title
26, United States Code, Chapter 53. Mr. Patterson referred your
letter to this office for response.

By way of background, disclosure of tax return and return
information is governed by the provisions of section 6103, Title
26, United States Code. Specifically, section 6103(a) prohibits the
disclosure of "returns and return information" except as authorized
by law. The term "return information" is defined in section
6103(b)(2) to include, among other things, a taxpayer's identity
and any data received by, prepared by, furnished to, or collected
by the Secretary of Treasury concerning a return or the
determination of the existence or possibility of existence of
liability under the Internal Revenue Code for any tax, penalty,
interest, fine, forfeiture, or other imposition or offense. NFA
registration infomartion [sic] maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms, as well as information concerning
unregistered firearms constitues [sic] "returns and return
information."

Our regulations (27 C.F.R. section 179.142), provide that whenever
any of the NFA forms are stolen, lost, or destroyed, the person
losing them must report to the Director the circumstances of the
theft, loss, or destruction and include all known facts which can
serve to identify the document. Upon receipt of this report, the
Director will initiate the appropriate investigation and may issue
a duplicate document. This regulation is in conformity with the

                               -2-

Mr. Eric M. Larson

provisions of section 6103(c) which permits the disclosure of tax
return and return information to any taxpayer who submits a written
request which identifies both the taxpayer and the form evidencing
possession. To our knowledge, ATF has never refused to provide a
registrant with a duplicate copy of an NFA registration document.

You also propose that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
issue certificates of nonregistration to persons who inquire about
the registration status of a firearm. A certificate of
nonregistration would disclose both the possible existence of tax
liability and a violation of the law. Accordingly, providing such
a certificate would violate section 6103.

However, your letter states that we routinely certify in court that
firearms are not registered under the NFA as it relates to the
criminal prosecution of an individual for violation of the criminal
provisions of section 5861. Section 6103(h)(4) authorizes the
disclosure of this information to the court in any criminal
proceeding relating to such a violation.

We hope that this is responsive to your inquiry.

                        Sincerely yours,

                            [signed]

                         Walfred Nelson
                Chief, Firearms, Explosives and 
                     Arson Services Division