Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 475
documents showing their existence, such as the trust or corporate
formation documents, the ATF responsible person questionnaire,
fingerprints, and passport photographs of these persons.
“Responsible persons” of trusts, partnerships, associations,
companies, or corporations, are defined as “any individual who
possesses, directly or indirectly, the power or authority to direct the
management and policies of the trust or entity to receive, possess,
ship, transport, deliver, transfer or otherwise dispose of a firearm
for, or on behalf of, the trust or legal entity.” See ATF Form 1,
Instructions. Further, with regard to NFA trusts, responsible
persons are defined in the following way: “those persons with the
power or authority to direct the management and policies of the
trust includes any person who has the capability to exercise such
power and possesses, directly or indirectly, the power or authority
under any trust instrument, or under State law, to receive, possess,
ship, transport, deliver, transfer, or otherwise dispose of a firearm
for, or on behalf of, the trust.” The ATF Form 5320.23 provides
examples of responsible persons, including “settlors/grantors,
trustees, partners, members, officers, directors, board members,
or owners.” Persons who are not “responsible persons” are “the
beneficiary of a trust, if the beneficiary does not have the capability
to exercise the enumerated powers or authorities.”
E. Why are trusts so popular to own NFA items?
There are three major reasons trusts are very popular to own NFA
items: paperwork, control, and ease of ownership. A trust is a legal
entity that can hold property.
A major reason for having a trust own an NFA item is that it makes
owning and using the NFA item easier if more than one person
464 | CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
