NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog

In an effort to support the NRA, the Apple Law Firm has donated a NFA Gun Trust to be auctioned off at each of the 13 remaining NRA Fund Raising Banquets in Florida. Please help support the NRA by attending one of these banquets. Contact Laura Watson with questions at 904-348-8020.  

If you are wanting to contact the ATF to find out your status or check on a NFA firearms transfer to an individual, trust, corporation, or entity please call them at 304-616-4500.

There are several steps in designing a NFA trust, the first consideration is to determine who should be the Settlor (or Grantor). This may change depending on who the beneficiary is, but generally the settlor is the person who contributes the property to the trust and is the current beneficiary of the property. The Settlor is not an authorized user, but is the one that will receive the benefit of the property.

To determine the best choice for the settlor, we often ask our clients if they are married, do you they have adult children, and who they want to receive the items after your death. Often the Settlors can be changed to reduce the risk of future legislative changes and increased transfer taxes. While this is not a normal consideration with a typical trust, a NFA trust should take this into consideration to create the most flexibility and protection for the creators of the trust and their families.

We are licensed in Florida and have lawyers and attorneys who provide Florida Gun Trusts in Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee, Cape Coral, Port Saint Lucie and all over Florida. If you are interested in information on Florida NFA Gun Trusts (or NFA Firearms Trusts in any state ) and how they are different from regular trust email us or call us for more information.

We have a relationship with Texas Gun Trust Lawyers and Attorneys and provide them for people all over Texas including Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Garland, Houston, Plano, San Antonio and other areas of Texas. If you are interested in information on Texas NFA Gun Trusts (or NFA Firearms Trusts in any state ) and how they are different from regular trust email us or call us for more information.

Prior to November, the time to approve a Form 4 was less than 8 weeks.  After November 20th, the number of people purchasing NFA items significantly increased and as a result the time to receive an approval on their ATF Form 4 or Form 1 increased to more than 6 months at their peak (26+ weeks).

Good news as I have recently heard from several of our clients that the Approval process is beginning to shorten.  Last week I heard from a client who stated that his NFA Firearms Trust approval time was between 4 and 5 months. 

David Olofson owned what he thought to be a normal AR15. Unfortunately his AR15 as many do, misfired and shot off a three round burst.  The NFA has no intent required and as such David was in the illegal possession of Machine Gun.  He was arrested, convicted and his appeal was denied.  He is now in prison serving 30 months.  I guess he is lucky in that he was not fined nor did he receive the 10 years that the NFA authorizes.

If anyone thinks that BATFE will ignor improper transfers or possessions of items restricted by the NFA, they need look no farther than at his case outcome.  For complete informaiton on this issue and all transcripts, an interview from prison, and how the ATF appears to have framed David check out the JPFO website.

How do I stop the ATF from finishing the approval process on a Form 4 or Form 1?

Either the buyer (individual, officer, or trustee) or the seller can call the BATFE @ 304-616-4500 with the serial number of the items, speak to the examiner, and withdraw the application.  The fee may not be refunded but your should ask about it.  Apparently it is taking 60 (as of June 2009) days to transfer the file to the examiners and they cannot be stopped until the file is in the hands of an examiner.

You might want to stop a transfer, or change the application if you know that the documents you submitted are incorrect, need to be modified, you are moving to another state, or something has changed in a way that you can no longer trust the other trustees.

Bullet Boy, a blog on shooting sports, has an article quoting CNN where they discuss a report on the Ammo shortage.  We have seen shortages all across the country with no end to the shortage on the horizon.  If you see ammo, it may be the time to pick up some extra while it is readily available.  With the fear of increased taxes on bullets or new gun-control measures we do not expect to see lower prices any time soon.

Carteach0, a blog of shooting topics, has an article on Guns and Ammo as a hedge against inflation.  While Guns and Ammo have increased in value significantly over the past year, the prices of Machine Guns have gone crazy.  Many Machine Guns have doubled or tripled in value over the same period of time that we have seen our land and stock accounts cut in half.  You should read the article linked-to above for more information on inflation and preservation of wealth.

This morning, Governor Charlie Crist used his veto pen to veto the $6 Million raid on the Concealed Weapons and Firearms Licensing Trust Fund sweep put in the budget by the legislature.

Governor Crist deserves our profound appreciation for his veto.

The legislature intended to take $6 million from the Division of Licensing Concealed Weapons and Firearm Trust Fund that is intended, by law, to be used solely for administering the concealed weapons and firearms licensing program.  That would have been a DEFACTO TAX ON GUN OWNERS.

Please Call, Fax, or Email Governor Charlie Crist and thank him for the VETO OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT TAX created by the intended sweep of $6 Million from the Division of Licensing Trust Fund.

Phone number: (850) 488-4441 or (850) 488-7146
Fax number:  (850) 487-0801

Send your email to the Governor at this address:

Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com

Jeff Soyer of the Alphecca Blog has an article on the anti 2A efforts of the recent Supreme Court nomination where he quotes the Second Amendment Foundation.

The nomination of Second Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court is a slap at gun rights and the Second Amendment.  For more on this please click the link to his blog above.

Last week there was an issue where an individual was contacted by the ATF in an effort to seize his Title II firearms because of an irregularity with his Trust. A Gun Trust Lawyer reviewed, amended, and restated the trust in question, creating a valid and enforceable trust that deals with the unique issues of NFA Firearms ownership, transfer, and possession. The BATFE had a justifiable reason to pursue the forfeiture action and the original reports on the subguns forum were accurate. After discussions with the BATFE and presentation of a valid Trust the BATFE decided to cease and desist their forfeiture action at this time and the individual is no longer in jeopardy of having his items seized, being arrested, or being fined.  The BATFE and individual have requested that the details not be disclosed.  The BATFE does not want to jeopardize similar ongoing investigations involving invalid trusts.  We can state that the issues involved with this action have been covered elsewhere on this website.

If you created a trust with Quicken or Legal Zoom, you should follow Legal Zoom's and Intuit's advice and have your trust reviewed by an attorney to avoid potential problems. The creators of these programs did not anticipate that individuals would be using the documents in situations that could result in criminal liability.

You may choose to have the trust reviewed to determine if the trust is valid, or reviewed to see if there are issues with the NFA that are not dealt with in your trust, but either way it is important to have your trust reviewed by someone who is familiar with estate planning as well as the NFA.

Joshua Prince alerted me to a blog post on a developing situation he ran across on Subguns where an individual used Quicken to attempt to create a trust for NFA purposes.  Unfortunately the BATFE has now decided that his Quicken trust was invalid and is seeking to seize his MAC-11 and Silencer.  He could also be subject to a prison sentence of 10 years and $250,000 in fines.

This is a very unfortunate situation that could cost the individual severely. Its important to remember that just because the ATF approves your transfer, it does not mean that you are legally in possession.  This is the second situation involving invalid trusts and the ATF that we have seen this month. It looks like the ATF is beginning to look more closely at the trust documents they are receiving.

If you created a trust for NFA purchases in Quicken, Legal Zoom, or used another generic trust that was not reviewed before buy a lawyer before submitting it to the BATFE, you should contact a NFA trust attorney to review your trust for validity.  If you need help finding a local NFA Trust Lawyer we can help.  We work with attorneys in more than 40 states including Florida Gun Trust lawyers and South Carolina NFA lawyers to help review and create valid NFA trusts.

Note: At this time the link to the subguns has been taken down because of questions.  We believe this posting is authentic based upon correspondence with the individual but will update this post as the situation and our agreement with the individual (if any) allows.

We now have a relationship with NFA Firearms and Estate Planning Attorney in Vermont and can help clients form Gun Trusts all over Vermont including Burlington, Rutland, Barre Montpelier, St. Albans, Winooski, Newport, Vergennes and other cities in Vermont.

A Vermont NFA Gun trust is a great way to purchase, hold, transfer and use both NFA firearms as well as "Assault weapons" and other firearms when you want to protect your family and friends from unintentional criminal liability that goes with the improper use and or transfer of these items.

The Gun Trust can also help preserve your right to transfer the items to your children or family in the event there are legislative changes that might forbid such activity in the future.

If you would like to discuss how  NFA trust can help your and your family purchase own or possess firearms, Contact an attorney familiar with Firearms and estate planning or a Vermont Gun Trust Lawyer