Courtney.cj.chen
Courtney
I just wanted to share my experience with purchasing a suppressor-
(I also added a paragraph for those living in STL, in terms of where they go to get CLEO signature)
Only for those who are new to, or are considering the idea of owning a NFA item- and who have not created a Gun Trust.
About several weeks ago- I purchased a 5.56 Suppressor by YHM- Titanium Q.D. Upon paying for the suppressor, I then gave the information of a Class III FFL that would receive the silencer. Make sure you shop around for transfer price quotes from various Class III dealers first. Make sure the address you list as yours- matches your drivers license.
This is not your average FFL- these dealers pay a SOT, and are allowed to receive NFA items. This is why the transfer fee they charge is different than a regular non-NFA firearm item. My FFL charges $20 for receiving my regular firearms. He however did not have a license to receive my NFA item. I looked up dealers that do. Class III is what its called. And the dealer that I found, quoted me a price of $50- which i found to be reasonable- and this was the dealer's info that I gave to the online shop that I purchased my suppressor from.
Then- came the short waiting time- for the suppressor to arrive at my dealer. He printed out my Form 4- and signed the line where it stated "FFL signature"- and checked to make sure my address matched my DL address. He gave me two duplicated of the A) Form 4, and a B) certification of citizenship (This might've been because I'm Chinese, and just easier to give me a form that i don't need, and toss, then vice versa- and in this case, he was correct! I was born in China, but i'm a citizen of the States). And C) two fingerprint sheets.
A) The FORM 4 required the chief law enforcement officer's signature (on both forms, bc you need to send duplicates of everything to the ATF)- in the county that you reside in. I went to the sheriff's dept. and they had me drop it off. A day later, called me for me to pick it up. During this time, i went to walgreens and got a passport pic taken, because you need to provide 2, 2x2 photos to glue onto form 4. One for each form.
B) Filled out the form certifying that I am a citizen
C) I went to the police headquarters to do fingerprinting. My police HQ only does it on Tuesday and Thursdays- and they charged a total of $8 for the two sheets of fingerprinting.
D) I went to the post office and purchased a money order for $200, and made it out to the ATF
I photocopied everything- to keep record for myself, and then mailed the duplicates in one envelope, along with the $200 money order, to the listed address on the Form 4. And then the waiting begins!!
*For those living in St. Louis County: Go to Police Headquarters in Clayton. You will get your signature from the Police Chief. Go to "Private Security" office on ground level. You can get your fingerprints done in this building as well. Drop off paperwork to the clerk, and they will call you for pick up in a few days.
*For those living in St. Louis City: Go to the Sheriff's office, on the 8th floor of the Civil Court House (10 N. Tucker Blvd, 63101, at the corner of Tucker and Chestnut). Drop off your paperwork and they will call you in a few days to pick up. City Police HQ is on a block adjacent to the Civil Court building and does fingerprinting on Tuesday and Thursdays. They take cash only and I believe fingerprinting is $2 per card. (or $4 per card. I forget).
And somewhere along the time period of 7-10 months- you will receive your tax stamp. Yes. 7-10months.
When you receive the tax stamp in the mail- and besides the fact that lying about anything on that form is either very serious, or a felony- do not forget that its important to give the current address, which must match your drivers license address- because that is where they mail your tax stamp to (I had to stop at the DMV to update my address on DL just for this very reason)- you will then take the tax stamp to your dealer- and he will charge you a transfer fee (in my case, $50)- and off you go with your new toy!!
It was this process that brought me to the whole, and current/pending process of starting a gun trust. With a gun trust- you can shorten that waiting period to about 3 months. The reason for this, is because NFA items purchased/acquired thru a gun trust (aka NFA trust), or a corp/LLC- are candidates for using ATF's E-FILING option. This is much faster. E-Filing allows you to simply scan the documents necessary- and pay the tax stamp with a credit card. And one of the awesome perks of having a gun trust, is that you can skip getting CLEO's signature, getting fingerprinted, and getting photos taken (<--- i think, on the photo omission). It also allows you to list other trustees or beneficiaries. These people will be allowed to have your NFA item in possession- and use them. NFA items are legal, but have a lot of restrictions. One of them being that no one else but you can handle them or- be present while they're being handled. There are great threads in this section about the perks of a gun/NFA trust.
I myself- today just started the process of handling my own gun trust, without hiring an attorney. Tips/questions are all welcome.
Thanks
(I also added a paragraph for those living in STL, in terms of where they go to get CLEO signature)
Only for those who are new to, or are considering the idea of owning a NFA item- and who have not created a Gun Trust.
About several weeks ago- I purchased a 5.56 Suppressor by YHM- Titanium Q.D. Upon paying for the suppressor, I then gave the information of a Class III FFL that would receive the silencer. Make sure you shop around for transfer price quotes from various Class III dealers first. Make sure the address you list as yours- matches your drivers license.
This is not your average FFL- these dealers pay a SOT, and are allowed to receive NFA items. This is why the transfer fee they charge is different than a regular non-NFA firearm item. My FFL charges $20 for receiving my regular firearms. He however did not have a license to receive my NFA item. I looked up dealers that do. Class III is what its called. And the dealer that I found, quoted me a price of $50- which i found to be reasonable- and this was the dealer's info that I gave to the online shop that I purchased my suppressor from.
Then- came the short waiting time- for the suppressor to arrive at my dealer. He printed out my Form 4- and signed the line where it stated "FFL signature"- and checked to make sure my address matched my DL address. He gave me two duplicated of the A) Form 4, and a B) certification of citizenship (This might've been because I'm Chinese, and just easier to give me a form that i don't need, and toss, then vice versa- and in this case, he was correct! I was born in China, but i'm a citizen of the States). And C) two fingerprint sheets.
A) The FORM 4 required the chief law enforcement officer's signature (on both forms, bc you need to send duplicates of everything to the ATF)- in the county that you reside in. I went to the sheriff's dept. and they had me drop it off. A day later, called me for me to pick it up. During this time, i went to walgreens and got a passport pic taken, because you need to provide 2, 2x2 photos to glue onto form 4. One for each form.
B) Filled out the form certifying that I am a citizen
C) I went to the police headquarters to do fingerprinting. My police HQ only does it on Tuesday and Thursdays- and they charged a total of $8 for the two sheets of fingerprinting.
D) I went to the post office and purchased a money order for $200, and made it out to the ATF
I photocopied everything- to keep record for myself, and then mailed the duplicates in one envelope, along with the $200 money order, to the listed address on the Form 4. And then the waiting begins!!
*For those living in St. Louis County: Go to Police Headquarters in Clayton. You will get your signature from the Police Chief. Go to "Private Security" office on ground level. You can get your fingerprints done in this building as well. Drop off paperwork to the clerk, and they will call you for pick up in a few days.
*For those living in St. Louis City: Go to the Sheriff's office, on the 8th floor of the Civil Court House (10 N. Tucker Blvd, 63101, at the corner of Tucker and Chestnut). Drop off your paperwork and they will call you in a few days to pick up. City Police HQ is on a block adjacent to the Civil Court building and does fingerprinting on Tuesday and Thursdays. They take cash only and I believe fingerprinting is $2 per card. (or $4 per card. I forget).
And somewhere along the time period of 7-10 months- you will receive your tax stamp. Yes. 7-10months.
When you receive the tax stamp in the mail- and besides the fact that lying about anything on that form is either very serious, or a felony- do not forget that its important to give the current address, which must match your drivers license address- because that is where they mail your tax stamp to (I had to stop at the DMV to update my address on DL just for this very reason)- you will then take the tax stamp to your dealer- and he will charge you a transfer fee (in my case, $50)- and off you go with your new toy!!
It was this process that brought me to the whole, and current/pending process of starting a gun trust. With a gun trust- you can shorten that waiting period to about 3 months. The reason for this, is because NFA items purchased/acquired thru a gun trust (aka NFA trust), or a corp/LLC- are candidates for using ATF's E-FILING option. This is much faster. E-Filing allows you to simply scan the documents necessary- and pay the tax stamp with a credit card. And one of the awesome perks of having a gun trust, is that you can skip getting CLEO's signature, getting fingerprinted, and getting photos taken (<--- i think, on the photo omission). It also allows you to list other trustees or beneficiaries. These people will be allowed to have your NFA item in possession- and use them. NFA items are legal, but have a lot of restrictions. One of them being that no one else but you can handle them or- be present while they're being handled. There are great threads in this section about the perks of a gun/NFA trust.
I myself- today just started the process of handling my own gun trust, without hiring an attorney. Tips/questions are all welcome.
Thanks