[JohnKSa]

How did the people at Urban Armory get their FFL/SOT. I bet they were just ordinary guys who established a business front, and filled out the applications like everyone else.

Correct. And once they established a business front, they were no longer "ordinary people" in the eyes of the BATF, they were in business. As an FFL holder yourself, you know that the BATF does not allow a person to acquire and hold an FFL (other than a C&R) unless that person is actually in a business that justifies/requires the FFL in question.

Several years ago the Brady Campaign used to claim that silencers were illegal in the entire USA.

Sweeping statements made when more specific information is called for can't be true in the general case.

However, it is absolutely true silencers are illegal everywhere in the U.S. unless the owner has jumped through the necessary legal hoops to own one legally. While it is generally possible, in most locations, to accomplish the task (barring interference from state law), it can be complicated, can take a long time and be expensive to complete.

It's actually less misleading to state that silencers are illegal in the U.S. than it is to state that silencers are legal in the U.S. Both statements require additional information to be completely accurate, but most people would be very confused if one were to try to convince them that to buy something that's "legal" they must be background checked, pay a tax/government fee, and then either get permission from a police chief or sheriff or create a trust/corporation before they can take posession of their "legal" item. If you told them that they were subject to arrest if LE finds them with their "legal" item but without the proper paperwork, their skepticism about the legality of said item would likely overflow at that point.

On the other hand, it makes perfect sense to most people if they are told that such items are restricted/illegal unless the owner has fulfilled the special requirements mandated by law to allow possession/purchase.

I have spent far more money and invested far more time in fulfilling the requirements to buy and drive these vehicles than I have the silencers I make.

There are no requirements (other than having the money) to buy or own a car. Driving one on the roads is another story.

The analogy is very poor in that sense. One must satisfy legal requirements merely to purchase and own a silencer legally and that makes them very different from cars, or from nearly any other item that most people would normally consider legal to own in the commonly used sense of the word "legal".

The bottom line is that statements like: "Silencers are legal in all states, but 12 states limit possession and use to the military, police and licensed dealers." don't provide very useful information.

A thing is not "legal" in a place where only the military, police and licensed dealers can own them and no stretch of logic or semantics can change that.

I usually go out of my way to avoid locking threads after participating in the discussion, but I'm going to make an exception in this case.