Leonard Elliot’s store was raided by the ATF almost 3 years ago. After a 3 day trial he and his father were found not guilty on all counts.
JPFO has an audio interview with Leonard Elliott about his ordeal. To listen to this interview click the following link leonard-elliott.mp3 target=new
Many of my clients are converting their quicken trusts to NFA trusts to deal with the problems in owning, transferring, and possessing Title II firearms in a trust that was created from a form, dealer, quicken, legal zoom or other generic form.
Last week I got a review copy of the new 2009 version of Quicken and was hoping that they had dealt with many of the problems I have addressed in the past. Unfortunately, they minor changes seem to have done little to address the defects, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and potential creation of invalid trusts by Quicken.
The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Quicken 2009 an article I wrote on the Florida Estate Planning Lawyer’s Blog deals with the problems of Quicken from a Florida Estate Planning Lawyer’s prospective. This is only a subset of the problems that are evident from the perspective of someone who wants to own or purchase Title II weapons.
We not have lawyers we work with in over 35 states to prepare and provide clients with locally reviewed and created NFA firearms trusts. If you are looking for a professionally prepared and reasonably priced NFA trust, prepared an attorney licensed in your state, that complies with the NFA, your states gun and trust laws along with detailed instructions on how to the Firearms Trust, make NFA purchases with out creating technical violations, and how to avoid the common procedural violations, Contact a NFA trust attorney.
Many people ask what is a NFA Trust and how is it different from a living trust or revocable living trust. A NFA trust is a trust document that has been customized to deal with the specific legal issues surrounding the transfer, possession, and use of firearms that are restricted by the National Firearms Act. These items include silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machine guns, AOW’s and destructive devices. Many people do not know that in most states it is legal to own some or all class III firearms.
There are many types of revocable trusts. We work with lawyers in over 30 states to provide the best protection for your family and friends though a NFA Firearms Trust. Each trust is customized to deal with the unique issues of ownership and possession that are required for ownership in your state. An interview process is necessary to determine who must be included in the trust, or how to make changes not to include those people. In addition, it is important to determine the best way to allow others access to the weapons if you choose.
When creating a trust for NFA items, it is important to make sure the trust is valid, you understand how to use the trust and what the trust does, how to make a purchase that does not create a technical violation of the NFA as well as how to avoid the common violations including constructive possession and transfer. Many people believe that it is OK to let someone else use your Class 3 weapon if you are present. A careful reading of the NFA show that the word transfer includes this type of action and thus is prohibited under the NFA.
We have created a quick link to the NFA: https://www.guntrustlawyer.com/nfa.html
Click to download a copy of the National Firearms Act NFA.pdf
There are several type of Class 3 items that are restricted by the National Firearms Act.
Each state can impose additional restrictions on the sale,
purchase, and transfer of class 3 firearms in addition to the compliance that is required with the National Firearms Act.
This week an 8 year old child shot and killed himself at a gun show in Massachusetts. For a good analysis of the potential negligence claims involving a child using a Machine Gun look at David Wolf’s Florida Child Injury Lawyer Blog. This unfortunate incident goes to show the dangers of letting children possess or use a Machine Gun. The NFA prohibits the transfer of weapons to children without an approval, except transfer of an item to a gun store employee or other licensed reseller. Section 5845 (j) of the NFA defines transfer:
The term. ‘transfer’ and the various derivatives of such word, shall include selling, assigning, pledging, leasing, loaning, giving away, or otherwise disposing of.
It appears that even though the gun show organizer may have been able to allow the child to shoot the Uzi under state law with the permission of the parent, the gun dealer was in violation of the NFA for transferring or loaning the weapon to the child.
In addition it is illegal under Chapter 5861 for any person to receive or possess a firearm transferred to him.
An individual may submit ATF Form 5320.20, to temporarily or permanently transport his firearm in interstate commerce. The ATF will approve this form for up to one year as long as the individual is going back and forth to the same location. In that way the individual does not have to ask for permission every time they wish to move the firearm in interstate commerce. There is a place on the form to indicate whether the move is permanent or temporary; the 5320.20 may not be used to transfer title and the ATF will check to see if the State indicated allows for the possession of the type of firearm to be transported.
If you have a question about class 3 firearms ownership, possession, or transfer please Contact a Gun Trust Lawyer®.
In the rare event that you change states between the time you send in your form 4 transfer tax and the time it is approved you must void the original transfer and make a new application from the state you moved to. If it is purchase by an individual, you must also obtain a new law enforcement signature prior to resubmitting the forms. The ATF is able to use the transfer funds from the previous transfer and the fingerprint cards as long as the dealer that voids the transfer contacts the ATF prior to sending in the void and requests that they use the same fee and not refund the money.
This may be a good opportunity to evaluate the additional benefits that a NFA firearms Trust offer
over individual ownership. For more information Contact a NFA Trust Lawyer.
Working with many elderly clients in my Florida Elder Law and Florida Estate Planning Law firm, I like to report on items that tend to make life easier and have yet to see another product like this. As people age, they often develop medical issues that would prevent them form being able to use a normal firearm to protect themselves, their family, of their possessions. The Palm Pistol seems to have solved many of those problems by creating a single shot pistol with a combination lock and a thumb trigger.
The thumb is often much stronger than ones forefinger and in the case of an individual that has lost a finger, the Palm Pistol offers the ability to use ones thumb instead of a finger.
The initial price of the pistol is $275 for those who pre-order and will be $300 after shipping. For those who need protection this seems like a reasonably priced solution. They have posted a letter form the ATF that classifies this as a standard pistol.
There are several type of Title II firearms that are restricted by the National Firearms Act.
Each state can impose additional restrictions on the sale, purchase, and transfer of NFA or Title II firearms, these are sold by gun dealers who have a Class 3 SOT.
New Jersey permits limited ownership of of the following Title II firearms that are regulated the the National Firearms Act
