The Americans Opposed to ATF 41P reported today that the American Silencer Association has talks with the ATF during the Shot Show where the ATF stated that they never anticipated the number of comments to 41P that they received and only had one person working part-time on addressing the comments. At that time ATF anticipated that it would take a year or two before they were able to determine whether they were going to move forward and if so to what extent they would try to implement any changes.
There were several major comments to 41P including ours that can be reviewed at https://www.guntrustlawyer.com/41p.html which should be able to challenge the ATF if the ATF should try to implement the changes because of the numerous violations of the Administrative Procedures Act.
So what does this mean?
We are still recommending purchasing what you think you may way sooner rather than later in case changes are made. While a challenge to the changes may be successful, there is no guarantee that it would be. The good news is that the June 1st date that everyone has been anticipating may come and go with no announcement or just a new self imposed deadline. On the other hand, the ATF may have devoted more resources since the SHOT show and may try to make an announcement in June. We are about 6 weeks away from knowing more and as we find out more or see others reporting on this issue we will keep you updated. We have been hearing that there has been a substantial increase in the number of NFA firearms that are being sold and supplies within the dealers are starting to become constrained. With the ATF removing access to the electronic filing of ATF forms, the time to replenish the supply, get permission to manufacture more, and time to obtain approval of Form 4s and Form 1s will probably increase. There is a chance that the ATF will resolve the issues with the electronic filing and this could create an opportunity for a faster processing time. To check on the status of the ATF eForms portal visit https://www.atfonline.gov/EForms/.