NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog

May 25, 2015

Suppressors legal to use in MN Hunting with “silencers” legal on August 1st 2015

Suppressors (Silencers) are now legal to own and hunting will be Legal in Minnesota (MN) as of August 1, 2015. On Friday, Governor Mark Dayton signed Senate File 878 into law, officially making Minnesota the 40th state to legalize the private possession of suppressors. The bill will make Minnesota the 36th state to allow for the use of suppressors while hunting.

This major victory for suppressor rights comes after months of hard work on the part of the NRA, the ASA, and especially Rep. Tony Cornish (R-23B), Chairman of the House Public Safety Committee, who acted as a champion for our cause by shepherding this bill through committee and ensuring that this issue stayed at the top of the legislature’s agenda.

If you are wanting to permit multiple users to use your suppressor or silencer, a Gun Trust may be the best option for you and your family.

May 18, 2015

Supreme Court states: Felons Do Not Lose Property Right in Owned Firearms

by David M. Goldman

We have been telling people for years that a properly drafted gun trust can help protect your firearms in the event that you become a prohibited person in the future. Today the Supreme Court came to a Unanimous Decisions supporting our view that a trust can be used to hold firearms for a liquidating event or for the future beneficiaries of the trust without being lost.

The court held that “while a convicted felon is prohibited from “possessing” firearms pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 922(g), nothing strips the individual of his/her property interest in the firearms and the individual retains “the right merely to sell or otherwise dispose of their firearms,” provided the felon lacks all control over the firearms. Our Gun Trusts already provide for this ability to just this type of purpose.

The Court also held that “§ 922(g) does not bar such a transfer unless it would allow the felon to later control the guns, so that he could either use them or direct their use.” This even permits an individual to create a gun trust after they lose their rights, assign the property to a trust as long as they do not have the ability to have direct or indirect use nor direct their use. A properly drafted gun trust would remove all abilities of a felon or prohibited person from using or directing the use of all firearms and ammo within the trust.

May 18, 2015

Can an 18 year old build an SBR, SBS, or other NFA firearm?

by David M. Goldman

We are often asked if you have to be 21 to build an SBR or Suppressor. If you are manufacturing a firearm under the NFA using an ATF Form 5320.1 you only need to be 18 under federal law. Likewise, if you are purchasing a firearm using an ATF Form 4 from an individual, trust, or non FFL you only need to be 18 years old. If you are buying one from an FFL, you must be 21 years old under federal law. Your state may impose stricter requirements.

Below is an excerpt from the attached letter from ATF explaining the age requirement.

This is in response to your letter of November 16, 2006, to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) advising that you are 18 years of age, the owner of a AR-15 type receiver, and wish to register it has a short-barreled rifle using an ATF 1 application.You ask whether ATF would approve the application submitted under these circumstances.

May 6, 2015

Montana legalizes Hunting with Suppressors (silencers)

by David M. Goldman

It is now legal to hunt in Montana with a Suppressor. On April 23rd, 2015, Gov. Steve Bullock signed House Bill 250, legalizing the use of suppressors for all lawful hunting in Montana. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kirk Wagoner (R-75), originally pertained only to the use of a suppressed firearm “when hunting wildlife not protected by state or federal law”. However, on March 27th, Gov. Bullock’s returned HB 250 to the legislature with proposed amendments that sought to expand the scope of the legislation to allow the use of a suppressor on a firearm during all lawful hunting.

Mr Bullock previously vetoed a similar bill in 2013, but explained the recent signing by stating:

“It is time for Montana to join the clear majority of states that allow the use of suppressors for hunting. All of the western states do so, except for California. The public perception of suppressors as the same thing as silencers, where the assassin quietly dispatches his victim, no longer holds true. Suppressors mitigate the sound of a shot, but do not silence it.

The use of suppressors for hunting, when hunters cannot wear ear protection because they need to be aware of their surroundings, can help protect against hearing loss. This is especially true for our younger hunters, even those who are not actually hunting, but are accompanying their parent in the field.

I understand the concerns regarding the risks of increased poaching and do not take this lightly, but other states have not found this to be the case.”

Montana has become the 35 state to permit hunting with suppressors without restrictions and the 36th state to permit hunting with a suppressor. The use of a Gun Trust can simply the process or purchasing a suppressor and permit additional authorized users, which is not possible when purchased as an individual. If you are looking for a Montana Gun Trust or Montana NFA trust contact us for further information on the process.

April 29, 2015

ATF Confirms No Implementation for 41P for quite some time

by David M. Goldman

In the April 27th issue of Bullet Points, the NSSF wrote the following update

NO IMPLEMENTATION YET SEEN FOR NOTICE 41P AS FINAL RULE . . . NSSF has confirmed with ATF that the bureau is unlikely to publish Notice 41P (NFA Trusts) as a Final Rule for quite some time. This is in part because EPS resources are being diverted to help process the 310,000 public comments received in response to the armor piercing ammunition framework proposal. In addition, it seems ATF has not prepared to revise the NFA database so that it can track “responsible persons” for NFA trusts. The proposed rule would require the responsible person(s) on an NFA Trust be fingerprinted.

This seems consistent with the statements made by the ATF at the Annual Firearms Seminar in Nashville earlier this month when we reported on many of the statements ATF made including poorly written trusts. Remember, a properly written gun trust should give you and others involved with the trust guidance what you can and can’t do instead of leave it up to the individual to determine what to do.

April 21, 2015

Do I have to submit an executed copy of my Gun Trust with an electronic Form 1

by David M. Goldman

While this may seem obvious, we regularly get asked this question. YES, when using the ATF eFiling for a Fom1, a signed copy of your gun trust must be uploaded. The maximum file size that can be attached is 3MB but you can upload multiple files if necessary. We recommend scanning your gun trust at 200 DPI in black and white or grayscale to keep the file size small. If you find that the file size is still over 3MB, you can separate the documents into several parts which can each be uploaded. In addition to the trust document, you must also submit all amendments which have been executed at the time of the filing, any schedules mentioned in the document like Shedule A, Sechedule B, lists of beneficiaries, list of co-trustees, and in most cases a Schedule A or Assignment sheet showing the trust has been funded is also required.

A word of caution about Gun Trusts that use a Schedule A to list firearms.

If your gun trust uses Schedules like a Schedule A to list the firearms, it may not be wise to include your non NFA firearms in the trust as you will end up sending the ATF a list of all of your firearms. Gun trusts that use assignment sheets are generally preferable to others because of the ability to maintain the privacy over your non NFA firearms.

April 20, 2015

Solvent Traps and Gun Trusts, Making a Suppressor

by David M. Goldman

Many individuals have purchased thread adapters to permit the use of an oil filter as a “solvent trap”. The problem is that this adapter can also be used and is often intended to be used to create a suppressor. The resellers on ebay who sold these adapters have all seemed to have disappeared and many of their customers are reporting being contacted by local ATF agents to collect the parts they purchased.

Recently we have had several clients contact us about purchasing these “solvent trap parts” and using them to make a Suppressor with a Form 1. Apparently there is someone marketing these parts including baffles as a solvent trap to be used for gun cleaning. It would not surprise me, if ATF shut down the ability of companies to sell parts as cleaning kits or solvent traps and then began targeting the customers of these parts in much the same way as the ATF continues to contact the customers of the companies who previously sold them eBay.

ATF has taken the position, in the past, that a part to a suppressor is a suppressor and under this theory, if you purchase these parts, the parts may in and of themselves be considered suppressors. Paying the tax stamp on a Form 1 does give you the permission to manufacture a suppressor, but not necessary to purchase a suppressor manufactured by someone else. We would caution clients who are considering manufacturing their own suppressors from parts that ATF considers a suppressor as the purchase of these parts may require an approved Form 4.

April 10, 2015

ATF Statements at the NRA Firearms Law Seminar

by David M. Goldman

While at the NRA Firearms Law Seminar in Nashville, ATF ‘s attorney William Ryan made some interesting comments about the ATF, NFA, GCA and Gun Trusts:

A trust can be a beneficiary of a will or other trust and obtain a tax free transfer using a Form 5 if the trust or will is drafted correctly.
A Trust can be a beneficiary of a will if there is an order from the probate court directing the distribution to a trust, otherwise one might have to transfer to an individual on a Form 5 and then pay $200 to transfer items to a trust.

April 6, 2015

Gun Trusts and non U.S. Citizens.

by David M. Goldman

We are often asked about people who are not U.S. Citizens and their ability to be involved with a gun trust, purchase NFA firearms, or use NFA firearms.

Those who are not citizens are separated into two categories: 1) resident aliens and 2) nonimmigrant aliens. A resident alien is a person who is not a citizen of the United States, but has become a permanent resident of the United States. A nonimmigrant alien is generally a tourist, student, business traveler, or temporary worker who enters the U.S. for a fixed period of time. They are lawfully in the United States, but not lawfully a permanent resident.

Nonimmigrant aliens lawfully admitted to the United States without a visa are not prohibited from shipping, transporting, receiving, or possessing firearms or ammunition, provided they meet State of residency requirements and are not otherwise a prohibited person. As such, they are qualified to be a Trustee of a Gun Trust and in possession of an NFA firearm as long as they are not prohibited and meet the State residency requirements.

Nonimmigrant aliens lawfully admitted to the United States with a visa may purchase or possess a firearm in the United States only if they meet one of the following qualifications: Continue reading

March 26, 2015

Can a Gun Trust have an FFL?

by David M. Goldman

We often get asked questions about how and if a Gun Trust or another type of trust can own or obtain an FFL or C&R license. A Trust is not a person under the GCA of 1968 and as such a Trust may not apply for or receive an FFL or C&R license. That being said, a Trust may be the owner of a Corporation or LLC that holds an FFL. That is the Stock of a Corporation can be owned by a trust or the membership interest in an LLC can be owned by a Trust.

In addition, some firearms manufacturers have used trusts to help permit individuals who may not be W2 employees to be in possession of certain items that they might not be able to be in possession of otherwise. For example a suppressor manufacture may have independent sales reps that would not normally be able to be in possession of the suppressors.