secret clearance vs. class iii / form 4

jcims · December 15, 2005, 08:00 PM

Hi all.

I'm thinking about purchasing a suppressor next year, and have sent an inquiry into the local CLEO as to his stance on class iii/nfa items.

I'm a civilian with an active secret clearance for some infosec contract work our company does with the DoD.

I'm curious as to what, if any, impact this has on the application process. Would it be positively or negatively impacted by my clearance? Will my clearance be impacted in any way by this application? I am not actively involved with the DoD project, and therefore know absolutely nothing about the nature of my clearance (sorry, i got it four years ago and haven't had an occasion to use or document it)

My guess is the two will have nothing to do with each other, but i wanted to know for sure and figured there are going to be a number of folks here that are in similar situations.

Thanks for your help!!!

Bob

MeekAndMild · December 15, 2005, 10:41 PM

Hmm. I had secret clearance when I was in the service and had no hassle getting a Form 4 some years later. My guess is that the two are not related.

444 · December 16, 2005, 12:24 AM

I don't know, but I would imagine that it has nothing to do with it. First of all, they probably wouldn't have any way of knowing about it. I just looked at my Form 4s and Form 1s and I don't even see a place on there to give your social security number. Second of all, I have been approved for 8 or 10 tax stamps and have nothing like that to offer. A friend of mine has three machine guns and isn't even a US citizen.
When you send your paperwork into ATF it is sort of like "shall issue". If there isn't any reason for you to not be approved, then you are approved. You don't need to drop names, provide unrelated credentials or anything.

shaggy · December 17, 2005, 12:05 PM

AFAIK, one has nothing to do with the other. The fact that you have a secret clearance obviously shows you're a good guy, but it will neither speed up the NFA process for you or slow it down. Unless you buy your NFA item as a corporate asset, you will still have the fingerprint requirements which have to be run for each NFA weapon and are generally at the bottom of the FBI's priorities. I've done more F4 transfers than I'd like to think about and my tansfers still range from 90-120 days on average.

On the other side of things, I can't see how legal possession of an NFA weapon could impact negatively on a security clearance. Buying an NFA weapon legally is not a criminal act and no more risky than buying a title I firearm. Since you still hold the clearance and are probably subject to an ongoing right to inquire into your history via any waivers you may have signed, your bosses may be able to get a report that you bought an NFA weapon, but it shouldn't impact on your job (unless you signed something to the contrary). FWIW, a good friend of mine moved to take a job which he had to get a very thorough backround investigation and clearances. The fact that he owned numerous NFA weapons at the time wasn't a problem at all, and in fact became an asset in his application (since it demonstrated a genuine interest and familiarity with the weapons he'd be using in his job capacity).

December 15, 2005, 08:00 PM	#1
jcims Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2005 Location: Ahyah Posts: 290	secret clearance vs. class iii / form 4 Hi all. I'm thinking about purchasing a suppressor next year, and have sent an inquiry into the local CLEO as to his stance on class iii/nfa items. I'm a civilian with an active secret clearance for some infosec contract work our company does with the DoD. I'm curious as to what, if any, impact this has on the application process. Would it be positively or negatively impacted by my clearance? Will my clearance be impacted in any way by this application? I am not actively involved with the DoD project, and therefore know absolutely nothing about the nature of my clearance (sorry, i got it four years ago and haven't had an occasion to use or document it) My guess is the two will have nothing to do with each other, but i wanted to know for sure and figured there are going to be a number of folks here that are in similar situations. Thanks for your help!!! Bob

December 15, 2005, 10:41 PM	#2
MeekAndMild Senior Member Join Date: August 2, 2001 Posts: 4,988	Hmm. I had secret clearance when I was in the service and had no hassle getting a Form 4 some years later. My guess is that the two are not related. __________________ In a few years when the dust finally clears and people start counting their change there is a pretty good chance that President Obama may become known as The Great Absquatulator. You heard it first here on TFL.

December 16, 2005, 12:24 AM	#3
444 Senior Member Join Date: November 20, 2000 Location: Ohio Posts: 3,968	I don't know, but I would imagine that it has nothing to do with it. First of all, they probably wouldn't have any way of knowing about it. I just looked at my Form 4s and Form 1s and I don't even see a place on there to give your social security number. Second of all, I have been approved for 8 or 10 tax stamps and have nothing like that to offer. A friend of mine has three machine guns and isn't even a US citizen. When you send your paperwork into ATF it is sort of like "shall issue". If there isn't any reason for you to not be approved, then you are approved. You don't need to drop names, provide unrelated credentials or anything. __________________ You know the rest. In the books you have read How the British Regulars fired and fled, How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farmyard wall, Chasing the redcoats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load.

December 17, 2005, 12:05 PM	#4
shaggy Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2004 Posts: 1,519	AFAIK, one has nothing to do with the other. The fact that you have a secret clearance obviously shows you're a good guy, but it will neither speed up the NFA process for you or slow it down. Unless you buy your NFA item as a corporate asset, you will still have the fingerprint requirements which have to be run for each NFA weapon and are generally at the bottom of the FBI's priorities. I've done more F4 transfers than I'd like to think about and my tansfers still range from 90-120 days on average. On the other side of things, I can't see how legal possession of an NFA weapon could impact negatively on a security clearance. Buying an NFA weapon legally is not a criminal act and no more risky than buying a title I firearm. Since you still hold the clearance and are probably subject to an ongoing right to inquire into your history via any waivers you may have signed, your bosses may be able to get a report that you bought an NFA weapon, but it shouldn't impact on your job (unless you signed something to the contrary). FWIW, a good friend of mine moved to take a job which he had to get a very thorough backround investigation and clearances. The fact that he owned numerous NFA weapons at the time wasn't a problem at all, and in fact became an asset in his application (since it demonstrated a genuine interest and familiarity with the weapons he'd be using in his job capacity).