Is the chief law enforcement officer required to sign the law enforcement certification on ATF Form 1 or ATF Form 4?

No. Effective July 13, 2016, the final rule “Machineguns, Destructive Devices and Certain Other Firearms; Background Checks for Responsible Persons of a Trust or Legal Entity With Respect to Making or Transferring a Firearm” amends the regulations to eliminate the requirement for a certification signed by a CLEO and instead adds a CLEO notification requirement.  Prior to submission of the application to the Director, all applicants/transferees and responsible persons shall forward a completed copy of ATF Form 1 or ATF Form 4, or a completed copy of Form 5320.23, respectively, to the chief law enforcement officer of the locality in which the applicant or responsible person is located.  The chief law enforcement officer is the local chief of police, county sheriff, head of the State police, State or local district attorney or prosecutor.  If the transferee is not a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer qualified under this part and is a partnership, company, association, or corporation, for purposes of this section, it is considered located at its principal office or principal place of business; if the applicant/transferee is not a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer qualified under this part and is a trust, for purposes of this section, it is considered located at the primary location at which the firearm will be maintained.

Source ATF: https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/chief-law-enforcement-officer-required-sign-law-enforcement-certification-atf-form-1-or

Other NFA Gun Trust and ATF Related Blog Posts

  • UPDATE: Final Rule 2021R-80F
    UPDATE: Final Rule 2021R-80F

    ATF Resumes Processing Pending Amnesty ATF Form 1 Applications for Pistol Braces and SBRs During the legal challenge that the ATF’s pistol brace rule, a lot of ATF Form 1 amnesty applications were...

  • Do You Still Need a Gun Trust After the Tax Stamp Change?
    Do You Still Need a Gun Trust After the Tax Stamp Change?

    The recent passing of the One Big, Beautiful Bill (OBBB) under Section 70436, will remove the transfer and making tax for suppressors, short-barreled rifles (SBR’s), short-barreled shotguns (SBS’s)...

  • ATF 4473 - Form 5300.9 - Updated Version Coming Soon
    ATF 4473 - Form 5300.9 - Updated Version Coming Soon

    A new version of the ATF 4473 - Form 5300.9 is being updated to add a new race code  of "M" that represents Middle Eastern/North African. "Please be advised of a necessary change that occurred for ...