NFA Gun Trust Lawyer Blog

Starting January 1, 2013 you will be able to purchase, transfer, make, possess, and use a SBR in IL. At first glance it appears to be very limited and only apply those with a valid and active military re-enacting group membership to use them for military re-enacting. But there is an interesting exception, those with a Valid C & R license can also own them.

The Law is poorly written and leaves many questions unanswered. A Gun Trust cannot have a C&R license but a Trustee of a Gun Trust Can have a C&R license. The question is will ATF understand allow A Trust to purchase a SBR if all Illinois based Trustee's (the authorized users) have a C & R License as required under IL law. If not you will still need a CLEO sign off because you can't have a C&R within a Trust.

Also once you modify a C&R firearm it no longer retains its C&R status but the Illinois law is different than similar laws in CA because if you have a C&R license, you can buy any SBR not just a C&R SBR.

In Summary, SBR's are legal in IL if you have a C&R regardless of whether the SBR is an SBR. Can you use a Trust? That's up in the air at this time. You should be able to if every Trustee in the state has a C&R but we do not know what the ATF's position will be.

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While a Gun Trust or other forms of ownership can allow you to purchase Silencers or other Title II firearms in states where they are legal, it is important to realize that just because you or a trust own a Silencer or other Title II firearm, you do not have the ability to take those items to states where they are illegal to possess.

For example silencers are not legal to purchase, own, transfer, or use in Illinois. Recently an individual was arrested for threatening police and possession of an illegal silencer. The silencer may have been legally purchased but its presence in Illinois is a crime and will make the silencer illegal.

While it sounds like Gali, the individual with the illegal silencer, is in a lot of trouble, the additional penalties for possession of a silencer could add up to more than 10 years in jail and a $250,000 penalty plus seizure of the vessel (his car) that the illegal silencer was found in.

While most states have legalized the possession and use of silencers there are a few states where they are not legal. This silencer may have belonged to someone else or purchased without paying the required transfer fee of $200. Because all silencers are registered with the BATFE, the legal owner of the silencer could also find himself in trouble for the improper transfer of a silencer which has the same penalties discussed above.

One of the big downsides to purchasing a silencer as an individual is that you are the only one who can have access to and use the silencer. A Gun Trust can help you by allowing people to use or be in possession of the silencer without breaking the law. It is important to remember that a Gun Trust does not allow you or others to bring otherwise legal firearms into a state where they are not permitted.

One way to protect yourself from the actions of others in regards to using a Gun Trust to purchase NFA firearms is to make sure that the other authorized users do not have the ability to make purchases without your permission. Many traditional trusts and some Gun Trusts are not designed to help with the potential unknown violations by others involved with your Gun Trust. If your gun trust contains the Gun Trust Lawyer registered trademark then your trust will have been setup to deal with these issues by giving you the flexibility to create users who cannot purchase and users that can purchase Title II firearms.

The ATF told attendees at the NSSF Import/Export conference that they had hired 12 temporary research assistants and a supervisor to review Form 4 and Form 1 applications for mistakes before the examiner gets them. (Reported by Joshua Prince at the Prince Law Firm a PA Gun Trust Attorney)

Back in April the backlog on Form 1 and Form 4 transfers was around 43000. The additional staff has almost doubled the number of transfers per month that the agency can handle. The ATF is also asking Congress to use part of the revenue generated to help update their antiquated systems as currently the taxes collected from the Form 4 and Form 1 applications is deposited into the Treasury's account where the ATF has no access.

Apparently if a FFL submits a Form 1 or Form 4, their applications are put in a special folder for special processing because the background of the FFL has already been checked.