The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > NFA Guns and Gear

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old September 7, 2017, 11:24 AM   #1
TrueBlue711
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 16, 2011
Posts: 489
The wait is killing me!

I sent in the paperwork for 2x suppressors in early late July/early Aug. I keep hearing "expect a year or more" from online talk. But the gun store I went through said, lately, ATF is being much faster. Maybe 6 months. Due to fewer people buying suppressors waiting for the HPA to pass and ATF (supposedly) hiring some more people to process Form 1s.
Has anybody else experienced that? Has anyone RECENTLY (Jan 2017 to present) sent in Form 1s and got them back?
TrueBlue711 is offline  
Old September 7, 2017, 01:13 PM   #2
9x19
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 15, 1998
Location: Sherman, TX USA
Posts: 3,750
I hope the gun store used a form 4... haven't heard any wait times lately, but 6 months would probably be a safe bet.
__________________
Make mine lean, mean, and 9x19!
9x19 is offline  
Old September 7, 2017, 01:53 PM   #3
TrueBlue711
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 16, 2011
Posts: 489
Quote:
I hope the gun store used a form 4
Yes, my bad.
TrueBlue711 is offline  
Old September 7, 2017, 03:29 PM   #4
rjrivero
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 17, 2008
Location: NW Ohio
Posts: 1,399
Form 3s are being approved in hours.
rjrivero is offline  
Old September 7, 2017, 05:10 PM   #5
Sharkbite
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 4, 2013
Location: Western slope of Colorado
Posts: 3,678
Form 4's are currently being received at just over the year mark. 1 year and a cpl weeks is the latest ive heard.

The expectation is that after BATF gets past the hump of submissions pre 41f, wait times may go back down to the 4-5 month area.

People held off submitting forms hoping for movement on the HPA. I think that hope has wained. I would expect folks to start submitting forms again.
Sharkbite is offline  
Old September 9, 2017, 09:52 PM   #6
Mobuck
Junior member
 
Join Date: February 2, 2010
Posts: 6,846
"I sent in the paperwork for 2x suppressors in early late July/early Aug."

If you're already feeling antsy, the next 10-11 months are going to be HELL.
Mobuck is offline  
Old September 9, 2017, 10:44 PM   #7
TXAZ
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 5, 2010
Location: McMurdo Sound Texas
Posts: 4,322
It's been a year for my suppressor, hoping to have it early next month.....
__________________

Cave illos in guns et backhoes
TXAZ is offline  
Old September 10, 2017, 09:35 AM   #8
redlightrich
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 24, 2016
Posts: 315
It really is a shame. A suppressor is a useful item in the sport of shooting.

I understand the anxiety. I go thru it each time I apply for pistol permits.

Try not to think about, or research suppressors until you get your paper back. Otherwise, you will torture yourself for a long time. This is how I cope. I intentionally switch my focus on something else that I can immerse myself into, that will not make me think of what I am waiting for.

Maybe try researching scopes. There is enough info out there and different products that you can easily occupy a year to do a thorough research.

Sorry I can't be better help. I can however appreciate your anxiety.

Rich
redlightrich is offline  
Old September 10, 2017, 10:48 AM   #9
TXAZ
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 5, 2010
Location: McMurdo Sound Texas
Posts: 4,322
You can call ATF with the form in front of you and they can tell you current status. Generally they won't project a date, however , one nice lady did say they ended up with a 1- 14 month backlog last july when the rules changed, and the number of submissions they have received since is very small. To wit as of a couple of weeks ago they were working on August 2017 submissions, and likely will start completing about a month's submissions in about 1-2 weeks. So there is hope on it speeding up but I wouldn't expect it this calendar year.
__________________

Cave illos in guns et backhoes
TXAZ is offline  
Old March 27, 2018, 10:37 AM   #10
TrueBlue711
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 16, 2011
Posts: 489
Update: It was finally approved!! For those still waiting or are curious to how long the approval process takes, go to the NFA Tracker website. I did the math on mine and the graph is pretty spot on accurate.
TrueBlue711 is offline  
Old April 11, 2018, 03:59 PM   #11
Deja vu
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 14, 2010
Location: Border of Idaho & Montana
Posts: 2,584
My Latest (SBR) just hit 11 months a few days ago. Still waiting patiently.
__________________
Shot placement is everything! I would rather take a round of 50BMG to the foot than a 22short to the base of the skull.

all 26 of my guns are 45/70 govt, 357 mag, 22 or 12 ga... I believe in keeping it simple. Wish my wife did as well...
Deja vu is offline  
Old May 8, 2018, 02:23 AM   #12
Machineguntony
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 22, 2013
Posts: 1,277
I love all the dealers who I do business with; however, having said that, they all tend to puff a bit when it comes to the wait time.
__________________
Sent from Motorola DynaTac 8000x
Machineguntony is offline  
Old May 8, 2018, 12:22 PM   #13
GE-Minigun
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 26, 2008
Posts: 240
F1'd two SBR's in 7/17, returned almost 7 months to the day.
GE-Minigun is offline  
Old May 9, 2018, 07:40 PM   #14
dogtown tom
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 23, 2006
Location: Plano, Texas
Posts: 3,062
Quote:
Machineguntony I love all the dealers who I do business with; however, having said that, they all tend to puff a bit when it comes to the wait time.
Under promise, over deliver is a good motto for any small business.

I tell NFA buyers to expect up to a year and that way they are delighted when the stamp arrives in ten months or less.

Dealers who tell buyers "ATF will approve your Form 4 in about six months" are either ignorant, an idiot or just really like fielding a lot of "Is my stamp back yet?" phone calls.
__________________
Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers)

Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE
dogtown tom is offline  
Old May 17, 2018, 07:18 PM   #15
GunsNMoreGuns
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 17, 2018
Posts: 2
I went through the same ordeal...keep waiting is about the best answer youll get unfortunately
GunsNMoreGuns is offline  
Old May 23, 2018, 05:34 AM   #16
Mobuck
Junior member
 
Join Date: February 2, 2010
Posts: 6,846
Looks like some of the processing times have dropped from a full year to 10 months.
Son forwarded me a headline that BATF has added more employees in 2018 with the expectation of dropping the wait time to 60-90 days.
If that turns out to be true, I question why they waited so long.
Mobuck is offline  
Old May 23, 2018, 12:34 PM   #17
dogtown tom
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 23, 2006
Location: Plano, Texas
Posts: 3,062
Quote:
Mobuck Looks like some of the processing times have dropped from a full year to 10 months.
Only about 10% of the stamps I received from 2017 submissions have taken longer than eight months. Received one yesterday that was approved exactly a year since I signed it.



Quote:
Son forwarded me a headline that BATF has added more employees in 2018
The can't add them until the new (2019) fiscal year....I believe that starts 10/1/18.




Quote:
with the expectation of dropping the wait time to 60-90 days.
Wishful thinking.


Quote:
If that turns out to be true, I question why they waited so long.
ATF doesn't approve its own budget, Congress does.
__________________
Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers)

Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE
dogtown tom is offline  
Old May 23, 2018, 06:48 PM   #18
Mobuck
Junior member
 
Join Date: February 2, 2010
Posts: 6,846
"Only about 10% of the stamps I received from 2017 submissions have taken longer than eight months."
In my case, 100% have taken more than 8 months.

"ATF doesn't approve its own budget, Congress does."
Maybe they should resell some of the Fast and Furious guns to gain some funds.

"ATF doesn't approve its own budget, Congress does."
Since you seem to know so much about BATF, please tell us if the agency has ever asked for more funding specifically for the processing of NFA stamps. If you can't show us that such funding was specifically refused your arguments are a bit thin.

Last edited by Mobuck; May 24, 2018 at 04:56 AM.
Mobuck is offline  
Old May 23, 2018, 08:22 PM   #19
Ledslnger
Member
 
Join Date: March 20, 2018
Posts: 60
I heard the Dems are doing stuff to mess with approval times....not sure if it’s budget related or Hillary took some out to lunch. Just a rumor, but times have slowed a lot I believe.
Ledslnger is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 12:22 PM   #20
dogtown tom
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 23, 2006
Location: Plano, Texas
Posts: 3,062
Quote:
Mobuck
Quote:
"Only about 10% of the stamps I received from 2017 submissions have taken longer than eight months."
In my case, 100% have taken more than 8 months.
How many NFA transfers do you do a year?
I've received sixty six stamps so far this year.

Quote:
Quote:
"ATF doesn't approve its own budget, Congress does."
Maybe they should resell some of the Fast and Furious guns to gain some funds.
Do you really think government agencies get to keep the monies they seize, monies derived from fines or from their gun sales?
I suppose you also believe ATF gets to keep the $200 derived from the tax stamp? If so you need to do five minutes of research on where the money goes.


Quote:
Quote:
"ATF doesn't approve its own budget, Congress does."
Since you seem to know so much about BATF, please tell us if the agency has ever asked for more funding specifically for the processing of NFA stamps. If you can't show us that such funding was specifically refused your arguments are a bit thin.
I know a bit about the ATF because it's in my best interest to know....I'm a gun dealer. I also know a bit about how the Congress budget process works because it was covered in high school and I read the newspaper. Why do you think every President begs for a line item veto power? Congress isn't about to let the President (whether Republican or Democrat) have that power. Congress worries about Congressmen.

I didn't claim that ATF had previous requests denied. In fact, it's only been within the last four years that processing times for NFA forms has taken more than a few months and that it became an issue. The volume of NFA form submissions for the first half of 2016 exceeded the total number of forms for all of 2008-2011.
You should know that.

I'm sure every Federal agency has a wish list of projects and programs that they wish to be funded. But they don't just submit a dollar amount and get it. You should know that.

You want to see an ATF request that has been denied by Congress?
Although Federal law provides a means for the relief of firearms disabilities (for prohibited persons), since October 1992, ATF’s annual appropriation has prohibited the expending of any funds to investigate or act upon applications for relief from Federal firearms disabilities submitted by individuals.
Your Congress at work.
__________________
Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers)

Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE
dogtown tom is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 12:24 PM   #21
dogtown tom
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 23, 2006
Location: Plano, Texas
Posts: 3,062
Quote:
Ledslnger I heard the Dems are doing stuff to mess with approval times....not sure if it’s budget related or Hillary took some out to lunch. Just a rumor, but times have slowed a lot I believe.
Oh good grief.
__________________
Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers)

Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE
dogtown tom is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 06:40 PM   #22
Mobuck
Junior member
 
Join Date: February 2, 2010
Posts: 6,846
"How many NFA transfers do you do a year?"
That actual number is irrelevant, 100% is 100%.

"I suppose you also believe ATF gets to keep the $200 derived from the tax stamp?"
I believe there's a set of priorities and servicing the requests of law abiding citizens is NOT even close to the top of the list. EVERY citizen pursuing a legal process with our Federal government deserves better service than is provided by BATFE.

"You want to see an ATF request that has been denied by Congress?"
No, I want to see BATFE specifically address the issue of excessive foot dragging in the NFA Stamp approval process.
Mobuck is offline  
Old May 26, 2018, 02:39 PM   #23
dogtown tom
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 23, 2006
Location: Plano, Texas
Posts: 3,062
Quote:
Mobuck
Quote:
"How many NFA transfers do you do a year?"
That actual number is irrelevant, 100% is 100%.
No, it isn't.
The larger the sample size the more accurate that number is.
If you do only one NFA transfer a year, how could you possibly know what the average time is? If you do a thousand NFA transfers a year you'll have a much more accurate statistic.

Again, how many NFA transfers do you do in a year?



Quote:
Quote:
"I suppose you also believe ATF gets to keep the $200 derived from the tax stamp?"
I believe there's a set of priorities and servicing the requests of law abiding citizens is NOT even close to the top of the list. EVERY citizen pursuing a legal process with our Federal government deserves better service than is provided by BATFE.
Answer the question....do you believe ATF gets to keep the $200 derived from the tax stamp. It's important for you to know the answer.

Sorry to bust your bubble, but you don't get instant, no wait service at the post office, VA, IRS, etc either. I've received nothing but excellent, friendly and helpful service each time I've dealt with the NFA Branch. (and I deal with them every week) Is the wait annoying? Sure as heck, but it's due to the volume of applications which increased tremendously since 2015. Would I like to be able to buy a roll of NFA tax stamps and use FBI NICS for an on the spot background check?...….YUP! But the law doesn't allow for that. You should know that.

Blaming ATF NFA Branch for the long wait shows more than a small amount of ignorance of the process, ignorance of the restrictions placed on NFA Branch by Congress and ignorance of what the National Firearms Act of 1934 requires. ATF BY LAW cannot just run out and hire a dozen more employees to handle NFA transfers....even if they wanted to.

Quote:
Quote:
"You want to see an ATF request that has been denied by Congress?"
No,
But, but, but two posts back you wanted to know what "funding was specifically refused". I guess you already have the narrative that fits, and have no interest in reality.




Quote:
I want to see BATFE specifically address the issue of excessive foot dragging in the NFA Stamp approval process.
Yank out a calculator and do the math. Divide the number of Form 1/3/4's by the number of NFA Examiners and you'll be surprised to know that they are pretty darn efficient.

Oh wait! You do know the longest delay in the process is waiting for the FBI to return the results of background checks? Because if you are blaming ATF & the NFA Branch you're just once again showing your ignorance of the process. Since July 13th, 2016 the FBI has been required to check the background of every person listed as a responsible person on a trust. Sometimes that involves as many as a dozen people or more. Prior to July 2016 only individuals applying for a stamp had to submit prints and undergo a background check......so do ya think that may cause the process to slow down? You should know that.
__________________
Need a FFL in Dallas/Plano/Allen/Frisco/McKinney ? Just EMAIL me. $20 transfers ($10 for CHL, active military,police,fire or schoolteachers)

Plano, Texas...........the Gun Nut Capitol of Gun Culture, USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pELwCqz2JfE
dogtown tom is offline  
Old May 26, 2018, 09:16 PM   #24
Mobuck
Junior member
 
Join Date: February 2, 2010
Posts: 6,846
Like arguing with a post. I'm done.
Mobuck is offline  
Old May 27, 2018, 09:56 PM   #25
FloridaGuy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 8, 2012
Location: Clearwater, FL
Posts: 237
I spoke to the ATF on May 25, 2018 to check the status of my paperwork. The lady I spoke with said approval time is taking 8 months if they find no issues with the submission.
__________________
Μολὼν λαβέ

Authorized Blackhound Optics Dealer www.blackhoundoptics.com/CWFT

Last edited by FloridaGuy; May 28, 2018 at 03:52 PM.
FloridaGuy is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:42 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.07493 seconds with 10 queries