Someone posted this over on TOS and since I’m planning to buy a suppressor this week I called and asked about how this worked.
The gentleman I spoke with told me this program just went live today along with a whole new computer system and that I was the first caller asking about it.
Situation for me: I’m in Florida and they’re in Texas.
He told me that to buy a silencer through this program that I would buy the silencer and pay the $200 tax stamp fee. Then I’d email in a copy of my trust which SS would Efile with the ATF. After it comes back approved, SS will package my tax stamp with the silencer, ship it to a local dealer (which in my case would most likely be Shooters) via FedEx or UPS and that I’d go to Shooters, pay them a $70 transfer fee and take possession of my tax stamp and silencer. I specifically asked about the time it would take to do the transfer between SS and Shooters and he said that wouldn’t be an issue. He said the only delay in this process vs. buying locally would be however long it takes FedEx/UPS to transfer the silencer from TX to FL.
Apparently they contract with the local dealers on the transfer fee. In the past Shooters has told me they charge $200 to do an NFA transfer, as opposed to the $70 I was quoted by SS.
Being that’s it a completely new system, the guy I talked to didn’t have answers to all my questions right away and had to look up information or consult with other employees. I’m sure there are still plenty of unanswered questions, but this is all the information I just received.
Note that I’m not affiliated with silencershop.com in any way, nor have I ever done business with them in the past. I’m simply passing on information that I received directly from them.
I’d like to learn more about how they are doing this. Form 4’s require a specific Transferor and Transferee - I don’t see how they get that approved and then Form 3 the items to your FFL. A form 3 and form 4 do the same thing (transfer NFA items), the difference is the Form 3 is FFL/SOT to FFL/SOT. It seems to be cart before the horse. Even if they’re submitting both forms at the same time they’ll still get the Form 3 done before the Form 4 and from the regulations:
Approval of Application. Upon approval of an application, the NFA
Branch will return an approved copy to the transferor for delivery with the
firearm to the transferee. Since the approval of the application effectuates
registration of the firearm to the transferee, the physical transfer of the
firearm must be completed immediately; however, the transferor must not
transfer the firearm until the application has been approved and received. If
the physical transfer of the firearm cannot be completed immediately, the
transferor must contact the NFA Branch with the specifics.
I know it’s the “site that shall not be named”, but there’s a decent discussion in the Armory -> Suppressor forum on ARFCOM about this, involving several dealers.
I’m just glad my most recent purchases from SilencerShop are already with my local dealer and just awaiting ATF approval for me to pick up because I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before they get a hand slap for this… at minimum. Seems like a streamlined way of handling things that all ends up the same in the end which the government hates.
Looks to me like they are filing the form 4 on the local dealer’s behalf. How? Are they somehow manipulating the eforms system to trick it into form 4’ing an item from the dealer’s inventory to the customer? Is the dealer giving them their login? I don’t see how this would be OK with the dealer and/or the ATF…
I called silencer shop to inquire about this new process. They call is SilencerShop Direct and they have assembled a group of dealers across the country to sign on and allow them to do the form 4’s on their behalf. The guy said they cleared it with the ATF. So the LGS who doesn’t want to deal with the e file or paperwork can sign up with Silencer Shop who will in turn do the forms for them.
So here’s the process:
Buy the suppressor from silencershop.com
pay the tax stamp fee at the time of purchase
pay a $65 transfer fee up front SS.com does the form 3 to transfer the item to the LGS SS.com, upon approval of the form 3, then does the form 4 on behalf of the LGS
Here’s the catch. Say your LGS of choice that is 10 miles from your house doesn’t sign on with SS.com
They will have a shop who has signed on to the program (of their choice) (and trying to keep it within 50miles) be the LGS
I asked him that and he said the list was not published as of yet. the list of LGS’s they transfer to on the site is not the same as those who have signed on.
I provided him my zip code and the closest he found was in Fredericksburg, VA and was a shop I’d never heard of before. I’m in Richmond, VA which has no fewer than 8 LGS’s within 20 minutes and none were on it…at least at quick glance by him.
So after a long answer, the short answer is when you buy you can talk to them and they’ll tell you. Sounds like at this point they choose for the most part.
Silencer Shop rep finally responded in the ARFCOM thread:
Originally Posted By Mark1916:
We wanted to weigh in here and, hopefully, clear up a few misconceptions about our Silencer Shop Direct program.
1.)Allowing Silencer Shop access to your eForms account only allows us to see the transfers that Silencer Shop has initiated to and on behalf of your FFL/SOT. We do not have access to a record of all your sales. It does not allow us to acquire or dispose anything in your bound book or anything else that might cost your FFL any criminal liability.
2.)We pride ourselves on customer service. The by-product of that is that we have a lot of customers. We make no apologies for that. With customers comes paperwork and that paperwork must be filed, either by paper or the new eForms system. Since the eforms system seems to be getting approvals much faster than the paper applications, we’d rather file them electronically. In order NOT to overload the system we are uploading batch forms at 4am. If we are uploading the forms in the middle of the night, how then can we be blamed for tying up the system all day? ‘Day’ being the key word here.
3.)It’s odd that Congress, in 1934, passed the NFA, which requires a $200.00 tax in order to be in legal possession of a muffler, the ATF takes, on average, 9-10 months to process this tax payment as well as requiring private trust information, CLEO signatures, fingerprints and duplicate paperwork but somehow, Silencer Shop is the one ‘gumming up the works’ by trying to get said paperwork done in some semblance of a timely and efficient process. We didn’t invent the ATF or the National Firearms Act. We’re just trying to help our customers legally own something that actually makes guns safer.
It’s disheartening to see so many ‘pro 2nd amendment’ FFL holders actively rooting for the ATF to ‘smack down’ another FFL. It’s an odd phenomenon to be sure and hopefully not indicative of some new trend in the industry.
I agree… the more the better and the faster the better… It’s only a natural forward movement and filling a need. I have seen a whole lot more suppressors in the last couple of years and GT(lgs) has a nice supply of locally made ones in their case. A small dealer though probably doesn’t want to get involved… if this silencer shop gives them the ability to sell them easily it’s all the better.
The Obama admin / ATF is not a dog sleeping… It is a hungry snake coiled in the dark in our home… leaving it alone is no longer an option. If we don’t actively take care of what is rightfully ours they will take more away.
