Legality questions for sound suppressors.

K

Kimio

New member
Hello, I've been researching about various sound suppressors for my rifles and was wondering about registration of said NFA devices.

As I understand it, you must pay a $200 tax stamp and go through all the checks and so on as well as a 6-12 month waiting period to purchase/mount a sound suppressor to your chosen firearm.

Now, I'm not 100% sure on this part, the suppressor itself is considered the NFA item, not the firearm that it is being mounted to. So, this means, so long as I have a firearm that has the ability to accept it, I can mount said suppressor to any rifle of my choosing so long as I can prove that I indeed have permission to own said sound suppressor (Proper form 1(?) and so on)

Can someone please clarify? I would hate to have to go out and purchase a new sound suppressor for each rifle I plan on owning.
 
The suppressor is the NFA "firearm". If registered, it can legally be put on any gun. (Assuming it will fit and is the proper size, but those are mechanical questions, not legal ones.)

Jim
 
There is no waiting period. The ATF can cash your check, run a fingerprints/NICS and approve the form in a week if they want to. But there is a several month backlog of forms for each examiner to go through; that is why it takes so long.

The ATF form 4 is for purchase, the ATF form 1 is for making one.

lark
 
Ah, okay, that clears things up. Thankyou. I was afraid that I needed to register the sound suppressor to specific firearm at first and that it was only able to be mounted legally to that particular firearm.

Thanks again

Kimio
 
Lark said:
There is no waiting period. The ATF can cash your check, run a fingerprints/NICS and approve the form in a week if they want to. But there is a several month backlog of forms for each examiner to go through; that is why it takes so long.
Click to expand...

Dont be mislead by this statement. Its more than several months. I sent my papers 10/3/12 and received my stamp 3/29/13.
 
My last ATF form 1 took a little over 6 months. Not everyone has the same examiner, that is why I said several months.

Not sure what you think several months means, but Merriam Webster says it means "more than two but fewer than many".

lark
 
weblance said:
Lark said:
There is no waiting period. The ATF can cash your check, run a fingerprints/NICS and approve the form in a week if they want to. But there is a several month backlog of forms for each examiner to go through; that is why it takes so long.
Click to expand...

Dont be mislead by this statement. Its more than several months. I sent my papers 10/3/12 and received my stamp 3/29/13.
Click to expand...

Strange world, where "several" is such a precise number that doesn't include 5 1/2.


Seems like most people instinctively consider "several" to be something along the lines of "an undefined number larger than 3". 2 being a "couple", 3 or 4 being a "few" and more than that being "several".

Interesting.
 
The suppressor is not "married" to a specific firearm unless it is not removable from the firearm. Even with integrally suppressed guns that have the suppressors built onto the barrels, the suppressor itself gets the serial number, not the base firearm. That is the reason a lot of folks buy suppressors that thread on or quick-attach so that they can be used on multiple firearms. Some, like integrally suppressed barrels for a Ruger 10/22, can logically only be used on that model rifle/pistol; but the barrel can be used on ANY of that model without changing the classification of the base gun.

If you own a short-barreled rifle (SBR) and add a suppressor to the end, bringing the barrel length to >16", it is STILL a SBR and both the rifle and suppressor have unique serial numbers. But if you permanently attach a suppressor to a barrel, bringing the overall length to >16", that barrel can then be mounted on the rifle and no SBR is involved. Confusing? Welcome to the world of the NFA.
 
The suppressor (and suppressor parts) is an NFA item; it is also a firearm independent of the firearm it is mounted to.
 
Keep in mind that your state of residence also plays a part. If you cannot own it under state law the stamp will not be approved.
 
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