4457 question

[Pablo]

I took my rifle to Customs at the San Antone airport and got my 4457s filled out a couple of months ago. The agent didn't give a rat's ass about doing the paperwork, he was drawing his paycheck for sure. I've started working on meet and greets at Johannesburg, and was reviewing all my docs. As I looked at the 4457, there is a blank near the top that says "Number:_______." There is nothing written in mine. At the bottom, it states the Certifying officer shall draw lines through all unused spaces with ink.
What is supposed to be in that blank, if anything? Did I get hosed and have to redo it? Can I have a friend *gasp* fill in the blank? I don't know why I just saw this.

 

[JimP]

I have nothing in that area and it has been talked about before.

 

[Mark Biggerstaff]

Mine have always been blank. It will be all good.

 

[Pablo]

I have nothing in that area and it has been talked about before.

Thanks, I did a search for it and couldn’t find it.

 

[Green Chile]

I have many 4457's and none of them have the number blank written in or marked through. It's ok to be blank. No one has ever asked me about that in numerous times entering back into US. You don't need it to exit US technically. It's a re-entry document.