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.