NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog

April 4, 2016

Building an SBR in Washington State

The Governor of Washington has signed a bill which clarifies that it is both legal to buy an SBR and build an SBR. Senate bill 6165 was created to address the uncertainty as to whether it was legal to build an SBR in the state of Washington. While it was clear that one could be purchase in WA, ATF stopped approving Form 1 Applications for the manufacture of an SBR in the state last year because of some ambiguity in the law. The new bill signed by the Governor clarifies that it is legal to build and buy an SBR in the state of Washington. To see what NFA firearms are legal in WA, see our WA NFA state pages

SB6165 is effective 90 days after the adjournment of the legislative session. The 2016 Special Session adjourned on March 10, 2016 so this would mean around June 9th or just prior to the new ATF changes in 41F

March 31, 2016

Iowa Gun Trust and Suppressors

by David M. Goldman

An Iowa Gun Trust has many benefits including multiple authorized users, contact us to receive information on the many benefits of owning suppressors with an Iowa Gun Trust or Multi Generational Asset Protection Gun Trust. Gun Trusts are for all firearms, not just NFA firearms like suppressors or silencers.

Iowa Gun Trust Lawyers and the ASA would like to congratulate Iowa on becoming the newest state to legalize suppressor ownership and use. Around 3 PM today, March 31, 2016, Suppressors (Silencers) will be legal in purchase, own, and use in Iowa.

Governor Branstad has announced that he will sign House File 2279, also known as the Hearing Protection Act, into law on Thursday, March 31st at 3PM. The new law will become “effective upon enactment”, meaning that Iowans will be able to possess and use suppressors as soon as he signs the bill into law.

February 15, 2016

MICHIGAN: Hunting with Suppressor is now Legal

by David M. Goldman

On the 11th of February, Michigan became the 38th state to permit the use a suppressor while hunting. The change became effective on the 11th. The restrictions related to the amount of noise reduction and use with subsonic ammo were removed at the last minutes by amendment. You can now hunt in Michigan with a suppressor and subsonic ammo.

Suppressors are now legal in 41 states and legal for hunting in 38 of those states. Below is a map from the American Suppressor Association.

The best way to own a suppressor is by using a Gun Trust. A gun trust permits multiple users of users of a suppressor as well as permits changes to the authorized users in the future. To find out more about how a gun trust may benefit you or your family, request information on this page.

February 1, 2016

Gun Trusts: Engraving Requirements and believing what you read on the Internet

by David M. Goldman

This weekend, I was shocked to read an article on Facebook that was from a popular gun website that instructed people that they did not have to engrave a firearms that they “made” using a Form 1 unless they were going to sell the firearm. This author claims to have asked ATF a question and received a response from an individual who is associated with the ATF.

This is equivalent to asking a police officer to interpret the law. Not only do they often make mistakes, but you cannot reply on what they tell you, because they are permitted to lie to you.

The biggest issues seems to be the confusion between the definitions for the words “Make” and “Manufacture” as defined in 27 C.F.R. 479.11

January 25, 2016

Suppressor Manufactures

by David M. Goldman

SUPPRESSOR MANUFACTURES see list below

January 15, 2016

41F Published: Some Gun Trusts will have problems

by David M. Goldman

41F was published today in the Federal Register. Here is a Link to 41F as filed which is similar to the draft that has been circulating.

Our Gun Trusts are fully 41P compliant and ready. If you have a gun trust from a Gun Trust Lawyer® (with our copyright information on it) your trust is fine to use and will not have problems with 41F.

These are the forms to use after July 12th, Form 1, Form 4, Form 5, Form 23

January 8, 2016

Do I need to modify my gun trust?

by David M. Goldman

Modify my gun trust?

Given the pending 41P/F implementation in the next year, we have been getting a lot of questions.

As with all legal answers, the answer is “IT DEPENDS“. Let me clarify how 41P/F will impact an existing Gun Trust.

Should I modify my gun trust? The first thing you must determine is who is a responsible person under your trust. In general all trustees and co-trustees will be considered responsible persons under the new definition for Gun and NFA trusts. The draft of 41F which is expected to be published soon states that the DOJ has clarified that the term “responsible person” for a trust or legal entity includes those persons who have the power and authority to direct the management and policies of the trust or legal entity to receive, possess, ship, transport, deliver, transfer, or otherwise dispose of a firearm for, or on behalf of, the trust or entity. The primary issues here discussed in this article regard the right to possess or have an NFA firearm in their possession, even if supervised.

If your trust was designed by a Gun Trust Lawyer® then the trustees and co-trustees are generally the only responsible parties in your trust. If you trust is not from us, then it may include the people near your trustees and / or beneficiaries named in the trust. In an effort to be more flexible, some trusts have been written to give non-traditional powers to beneficiaries and even other classes of people like bystanders. This can create problems for several reasons including when 41F is implemented because you many not be able to get a fingerprint card for a 2 year old, or beneficiaries who ma be overseas, or it may be expensive and time consuming to obtain these for all the people who you might decide to let use your NFA firearms. If you have one of these trusts, you may want to amend your gun trust prior to your next purchase (after 41F is implemented) to avoid the inability to make purchases because you have a trust which creates these powers. I have had many discussions with lawyers around the country about why this was a bad idea in the past, and now it may up hurting the individuals and families who unknowingly acquired these. In addition, in my opinion, it is a poor idea to include these types of powers because there is generally no way to bind a beneficiary to the terms of the gun trust. In addition, a beneficiary may not be mature, responsible, or old enough to be bound even if they are of legal age.

January 5, 2016

Most of 41P is gutted by change to CLEO Notification

by David M. Goldman

Tonight we found a copy of the proposed final rule for 41P. It can be downloaded from this link 41P final.pdf

In general, most of what the public was concerned about was removed from 41P by changing the CLEO Certification requirement that was proposed for trusts to be a CLEO Notification.

It will not take effect until 180 days after publication in the Federal Registry so there is still time to purchase items under the existing rules and more reason than ever to create your Gun Trust now.

When 41F the new name for 41P takes effect it will not be retroactive. That is all applications submitted under the current rules will continue to be processed. In addition, there is no requirement to comply with the new rules for previously approved applications or legal entities like Gun Trusts. On page 198 ATF states “The final rule is not retroactive and therefore the final rule will not apply to applications that are in ‘pending’ status, or to previously approved applications for existing legal entities and trusts (Gun Trusts) holding NFA items.”

While I am still reading the 248 pages, so far here are the highlights.

The final rule only requires that the applicant maker or transferee, including each responsible person for a trust or legal entity, provide a notice to the appropriate State or local official that an application is being submitted to ATF
The final rule also adds a new section to ATF’s regulations to address the possession and transfer of firearms registered to a decedent. The new section clarifies that the executor, administrator, personal representative, or other person authorized under State law to dispose of property in an estate may possess a firearm registered to a decedent during the term of probate without such possession being treated as a “transfer” under the NFA. It also specifies that the transfer of the firearm to any beneficiary of the estate may be made on a tax-exempt basis.

Amendments to§ 479.62 proposed to change the following for Trusts:
1. Provide that all information on the Form 1 application must be furnished for each responsible person of the applicant;
2. Each responsible person must comply with the identification requirements prescribed in the proposed§ 479.63(b); and
3. Require the applicant (including, if other than an individual, any responsible person), if an alien admitted under a nonimmigrant visa, to provide applicable documentation demonstrating that the applicant falls within an exception to 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5)(B) or has obtained a waiver of that provision.

December 20, 2015

NFA Gun Trust & ATF Moving Forward with ATF-41p in the New Year

by David M. Goldman

Many of our Gun Trust clients and readers have asked what they can do to help prevent the implementation of 41P.

As you may be aware, Firearms Industry Consulting Group® has reported that the Administration is working through the Holiday Season on new regulations to limit our Second Amendment rights and that ATF intends to move forward with ATF-41p in the New Year.

The efforts to strip funding for 41P have been removed from the latest budgets and as a result will have no effect on implementing 41P. What will be implemented and when it will be effective is still unknown, but it looks like that there will need to be an appeal. Below are the two amendments that were removed that were designed to be an end run around 41P.

November 30, 2015

Gun Trusts and ATF-41P update

by David M. Goldman

Recently the ATF updated their final action date from December 2015 to January 2016. For a complete list of articles and issues on ATF-41P see our 41P update page.

The most significant comments are listed on the 41P page link above. What does the update mean? We believe that ATF will attempt to move forward with changes sometime within the next few months. If you are considering forming a Gun Trust for NFA purchases, now may be the time to create your gun trust before changes are made.

Many people have been reporting that 41P will end the opportunity to take advantage of the benefits of a Gun Trust. This is simply not true, it will not end gun trusts nor do away with many of the advantages of a gun trust. ATF is talking about making responsible parties provide a modified CLEO authorization and other information, but this proposal was made prior to the ATF stating that the person purchasing an item with a Gun Trust sill needs a NICS check. The new position on the NICS requirement seems to do away with the CLEO certification as it is more comprehensive.