I know very little about NFA and haven’t really seen anything like this so bear with me. I recently moved from VA to HI but my home of record (parent’s house) is still there. With the 30 day turnaround for e-file forms, now is obviously a great time to get into the NFA game. I would love to get at least one SBR and suppressor, but it seems that Hawaii is completely anti-NFA. That being said, would it be possible to setup a trust using my parents address in VA even though I don’t currently live there? Last Christmas I looked into the trust thing and am pretty confident I’d go with Arsenal Attorneys and just let them handle it all - I’d rather be safe than sorry and they seem to have a good rep in the Commonwealth. If it is doable, I’d like to establish the trust so that I could technically have an SBR lower, even though to remain legal in Hawaii I would just never put a short upper on it. As far as I can tell, I don’t think there are any options for me currently with the suppressor, but if this is a way I could at least have an SBR lower registered so that when I get back to a free state I could throw an 11.5 upper on I’d be stoked. Of course, this sounds too good to be true so I’m sure there are major issues with it. What do you guys think?
I would wait for someone more knowledgeable than myself, but the way I understand it you would not be able to take your SBR lower to HI, with or without the upper. Simply because the lower is the firearm and the NFA item. That’s me erring on the side of caution. I’m fairly new to the NFA game as well.
Oh you know what, I bet your right. Still, if I could figure out a way to get it, I could just store it at my parents.
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It’s only an NFA item when there’s a short barreled upper attached. Any other time it’s simply a lower you engraved your trust name and city, state on it. You could put a >16" upper on it and have it in HI (following all local laws) no problem.
You could actually sell the lower to Joe Blow as a “normal” firearm. (They just wouldn’t be allowed to put a short upper on it).
Having one or both of your parents as a trustee would allow you to start on suppressors as well, and one of them could pick them up at the dealer in VA.
You’re the man. If I didn’t want to do the engraving though I could buy a factory lower and do a different form right?
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Kinda, but not really. There’s no such thing as an SBR lower. You can’t buy a “factory” one, only complete SBRs (on a Form 4).
What you could do is register a Form 1, and just not build it now. You wouldn’t need the engraving until you had the short upper. You’d have the approved form to make the firearm down the road when funds and location allowed for it, and get it engraved at that point.
Ohh ok I see. Well that could be very doable then…
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I’d suggest having the engraving done beforehand, even though it’s not necessary, just to be sure it’s done properly. Engraving doesn’t create an NFA lower.
That’s why I’m glad we have guys like Waylon here lol. Good info
+1… put your parents on your trust, then when you file your forms list their residence as the initial address where the items will be registered. As long as they are on your trust you’ll be good to go.
You can do the same with the form 1. Just don’t have it in an SBR configuration while you’re in Hawaii