I dunno if this is due to the election or just the winter doldrums but it seems not much is happening with the processing. SilencerShop has been stuck on the same approval dates for quite a while and our latest call resulted in a ho-hum "Don't bother us until at least 8 months after submission".
NFA approvals have stalled?
- Thread starter Mobuck
- Start date
dogtown tom
New member
<----Silencer Shop Powered By Dealer
SS only knows approval dates on Form 4's that THEY receive. And that's precious few because they no longer do retail sales.
An approved Form 4 is never seen by Silencer Shop. It goes straight from ATF to the Powered By dealer designated by the buyer.
If you think the slowdown in approval times is due to the election or winter doldrums you need to catch up on what 41F caused.
"If you think the slowdown in approval times is due to the election or winter doldrums you need to catch up on what 41F caused."
Ah yes, 41F. I've worked for a couple of government agencies and in cases of heavy workload(anticipated or not) swapping workers, authorizing more hours, or shifting schedules often helped cut delays in service.
Someone needs to explain why, in this era of instant information access, it takes months to determine that some bad guy isn't trying to illegally obtain an NFA item. Crooks don't go through these channels to get stuff like that-they steal it or just have some shady machine shop make it.
Ah yes, 41F. I've worked for a couple of government agencies and in cases of heavy workload(anticipated or not) swapping workers, authorizing more hours, or shifting schedules often helped cut delays in service.
Someone needs to explain why, in this era of instant information access, it takes months to determine that some bad guy isn't trying to illegally obtain an NFA item. Crooks don't go through these channels to get stuff like that-they steal it or just have some shady machine shop make it.
Its because of a law that was put into place a while back. My RAM is glitchy so I cant recall who pushed the bill through but it made it so the ATF could NOT have a central listing on firearms purchases, (read electronic) must be paper. Hence the shipping containers full of back logged forms. Hence the months long waits.
"Its because of a law that was put into place a while back. My RAM is glitchy so I cant recall who pushed the bill through but it made it so the ATF could NOT have a central listing on firearms purchases, (read electronic) must be paper. Hence the shipping containers full of back logged forms. Hence the months long waits."
This still doesn't answer the question of why it should take more than 5-10 minutes to determine that a trust is valid and run background checks on the parties listed on said trust. Nor does this address the apparent solution of putting more "auditors" on the task(it would seem the 2 or 3 working on NFA forms are exceedingly slow).
The difference between opening an envelope and unfolding sheets of paper versus viewing an electronic application doesn't account for much time. I'll never be convinced that BATFE is doing anything but creating a false smokescreen to cover the intentional slow turnover.
This still doesn't answer the question of why it should take more than 5-10 minutes to determine that a trust is valid and run background checks on the parties listed on said trust. Nor does this address the apparent solution of putting more "auditors" on the task(it would seem the 2 or 3 working on NFA forms are exceedingly slow).
The difference between opening an envelope and unfolding sheets of paper versus viewing an electronic application doesn't account for much time. I'll never be convinced that BATFE is doing anything but creating a false smokescreen to cover the intentional slow turnover.
dogtown tom
New member
Pre 41F it shouldn't have taken ATF more than thirty seconds onan NFA transfer to a trust. (there not being a person to submit fingerprints to check)
Post 41F, each person on a trust transfer requires fingerprints and passport photos. ATF doesn't do the fingerprint check, the FBI does. That's why it takes more than 5-10 minutes.
"2-3"? More like 25.
The backlog occurs due to the time it takes the data entry clerks to enter the app info. When E Forms was working it skipped the data entry clerks and Forms were getting processed much faster.
Not to mention the 200,000 more applications that were received in May, June, early July. The ATF (like any .gov agency) can't just decide to go out and hire additional examiners unless Congress lets them.
dogtown tom
New member
What is "surplus personnel"?
ATF has a specific number of Legal Document Examiners per their budget. They don't get to just push the janitor into a desk when things get busy.
ATF has quite often asked for temporary employees and contract workers to handle the workload. Every time there has been a sequestration they lose those temps and contract workers.
If ATF were to employ another 200 full time employees to process NFA paperwork would you the taxpayer be happy? I wouldn't. The slowdown in NFA processing is entirely the fault of the consumer......ie folks waiting until March knowing 41F will be implemented on July 13th.
Once they get past the mountain of Form 1's and 4's from the pre41F panic (March- mid July) the processing time will likely go to 2 weeks on a Form 3 and three months on a Form 1/4.
.".ie folks waiting until March knowing 41F will be implemented on July 13th.
Once they get past the mountain of Form 1's and 4's from the pre41F panic (March- mid July) the processing time will likely go to 2 weeks on a Form 3 and three months on a Form 1/4."
And how does this explain the very common 6 months+ wait over the previous TWO YEARS?
Once they get past the mountain of Form 1's and 4's from the pre41F panic (March- mid July) the processing time will likely go to 2 weeks on a Form 3 and three months on a Form 1/4."
And how does this explain the very common 6 months+ wait over the previous TWO YEARS?
Handloader109
New member
Agreed! I bought first silencer last week of December 2015, well before the rule 41f was finalized. Took over 4 months. No way will things drop to 2 weeks. Unless no one bought any new silencers. I'm at 8 plus months on my second. Impulse buy, not a rush, but I guarantee that you will wait longer than in past wih fingerprints added to everything after July!
Theohazard
New member
Nobody said anything about Form 4s dropping to 2 weeks. He said he thinks Form 3s will be 2 weeks and Form 4s and 1s will be 3 months. And that could easily happen considering that's about what things were at before the pre-41F panic ramped up in 2015.Handloader109 said:
The government does not give a $hit about you having to wait for paperwork. They cash your check quick and then drop you paperwork into a black hole. I wish the Hearing Protection Act would pass but I'm not holding my breath, asking the government to give up $200 per form submitted is like asking for the government to take less of my money and stop giving it to lazy free loaders.