4457 Question

[HookMeUpII]

Of note, CBP in Newark gave us a bit of a hassle, stating the 4457 was NOT valid for proof of ownership of firearms coming back into the country and that we had to use some ACE program that was on their website. I suspect this was just an uniformed agent, but was too tired to argue.

100% an uninformed agent. We departed and arrived in EWR, nonstop, to and from RSA 2 weeks ago. The agents at EWR and pretty much everyone else are for the most part not "seasoned" in this stuff. I went 3 days before our flight with the rifle to have the 4457 form signed. The CBP agent, nice guy, didn't know how to fill the form out or the procedural process. You could see he was looking information up and asking the other CBP agent. Nice guy though. Didn't hassle us but you could see he was unfamiliar.

Day of departure, the United Airlines EWR rep didn't know how to handle checking in the firearms. Once again, very nice. I was actually kind of skeptical the rifles would even make it on the plane, but they did. Back in EWR for arrival, they put every single person on our flight with a firearm to the side. The airline baggage reps were confused and didn't know where to take the rifles. We all had to go through customs separately from the passengers not traveling with firearms. The agent here knew exactly what he was doing. Very nice, once again, but they checked every single last one of us, every single letter and number in the serials. He even commented "Pretty rifle..." before having me read off the serial to him. There was a group from Texas connecting who likely missed their flight. We were delayed by 3 hours coming back home and their connecting flight was leaving in an hour. CBP agent said sorry guys, every rifle is getting checked. Pretty stark comparison to what you hear from people saying they never even took their 4457 out. Now what I did find funny was anyone with a rifle just had their rifle checked, that was it. You could have had god knows what in your luggage and all they cared about was the rifle.

The ACE system is used for importing and exporting so that CBP agent had no clue what he was doing.

RSA? Huge difference. Arriving and departing. They knew exactly what to do with the rifles.

 

[Doug3006]

Shawn at Gracy sent me a packet of materials to carry with me. One is an excerpt from the Federal Register that states that the 4457 is proof of ownership and that AES requirements don‘t apply.

The specific section reads:

At this time, BIS notes that CBP and the U.S. Census Bureau have not made changes to the AES system on the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) that would address the concerns expressed. Therefore, taking that into account and the comments received on the Commerce May 24rule, this final rule does not adopt the requirement for individuals exporting their personally owned firearms and ammunition under License Exception BAG to file in AES. Instead, this final rule incorporates the requirement for individuals to file the CBP Form 4457.

 

[Safari Dave]

A friend of a friend had to pay big $$$ in taxes because he didn't have his photography equipment on a 4457.

If it is expensive, it needs to go on the 4457.

In the other countries, it is about guns (maybe silencers, but I don't use them).

When you get home to the USA, the 4457 is about owning items prior to departure. If it's not on the 4457, then tariffs, taxes, etc., can (and sometimes are) applied.

 

[Markopolo50]

I did list my scope and my binoculars.