I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t even play one on TV. If I was on TV, I would certainly choose a character way more respectable than a lawyer, perhaps a Mafia hit man, human organ trafficker or United States Congressman. So don’t take any of this as absolute legal advice. Instead, consider it a layman’s comments on some of the issues related to purchasing and owning a silencer under the complex terms of the National Firearms Act.
While you can buy a silencer as an individual, I think the best way is to create a trust, or legal entity to own the suppressor. If you take the trouble to do the one-time setup of a trust, you don’t need to submit photos, fingerprints, and local law enforcement officer signature approvals along with your BATFE tax stamp application. A trust also allows multiple people to use the equipment owned by the trust. In my case, my wife and two grown kids can use also suppressors and other NFA items owned by the trust. You can easily add and remove individuals from the trust, so it’s a really flexible solution.
The only real downside is that it’s a pain to find a lawyer who knows about such things. Once you do, you have to pay them about a trillion yen to set it up. Or, you can use an online trust service.
SilencerCo just announced their EasyTrust offering designed to get you going with no muss or fuss. The best part is the price: $129.99
Since we entered the sound suppression business a few years ago, we have constantly looked for ways to provide products and services that make more people aware you can buy silencers, and that make the purchasing process easier,” noted SilencerCo CEO Joshua Waldron. “With EasyTrust, we offer an affordable 50-state-legal solution proven to work for NFA purposes, while helping to minimize the burden on the purchaser of our products.
Get your trust set up at SilencerCo.com/NFA-Trust.
Why didn’t you just say $130? You’re not fooling anybody with the $129.99.
Question: I already have a silencer as an individual. Can that be transferred to the trust? Assuming I make one.
I didn’t say that because I didn’t set the price. The program is a product from SilencerCo, not me.
You can transfer an NFA item from personal to trust, but since a trust is a different legal entity, you have to pay the $200 transfer tax to Uncle Sam again. So it probably doesn’t make sense unless you have a compelling reason to have it in a trust, ie ability for others to use it when you are not present.
I was referring to SilencerCo on the $129.99.