Bill to make Suppressors non NFA items

[FortTom]

I've kept an eye on these suppressor bills for years now, and while this one feels like it has a little more wind in its sails, I?m still not holding my breath. The idea of walking into a shop and picking one up like any other accessory sounds great, but we?ve seen promising bills stall out before. That said, with current eForm speeds being way better than the old days and no travel restrictions on cans, I finally jumped in a while back and haven?t regretted it. If this passes, awesome?but until then, the wait really isn?t as bad as it used to be.

Welcome to the Forum Clayton!

[Joelski]

Wouldnt it be nice if the budget cut turns the ATF into the ATE?

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[alamo5000]

Wouldnt it be nice if the budget cut turns the ATF into the ATE?

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What I would hope for among other things is for the ATF to lose its law enforcement status. Turn them into something like the DMV. Second I hope they permanently lose the ability to create rules out of thin air.

[Joelski]

I would not want to renew those registrations every year!

I know thats not what you meant, but it's what we'd get if that option was floated.

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[alamo5000]

I would not want to renew those registrations every year!

I know thats not what you meant, but it's what we'd get if that option was floated.

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I was trying to get the idea across that they can do their jobs without having an in house SWAT Team, or even a badge for that matter.

Lots of fireworks in the suppressor space over the past few days. The Silencer Central situation is IMO going to lead to their demise as a company. The Ways and Means Committee removed the HPA at their behest, but then the entire thing (not just the NFA part) was rejected so apparently they have to go back and start over.

I don't want to take total credit but the gun space definitely had a big influence on that rejection. Numerous House members got totally lit up and had to come out in public to address it. Several reports of the phone lines having to be shut down even.

Time will tell if the HPA gets added in this go around. In the meantime several House members are on serious defense and Silencer Central is breathing it's last breaths.

[gatordev]

I generally don't keep up with gun drama... Why would a dealer lobby against something that will allow them to sell easier (and therefore more)?

[alamo5000]

I generally don't keep up with gun drama... Why would a dealer lobby against something that will allow them to sell easier (and therefore more)?

From the cheap seats (and what the online community says) is that Silencer Central has a business model that is based entirely on those items being IN the NFA. Think if a manufacturer and Silencer Shop (used them as an example because people are more familiar with them) had a baby. Think manufacturer + a company that exists solely because the NFA exists.

They have a whole model based around the existence of the NFA. They don't have dealers or anything else like that (as far as I know). They sell direct using NFA carve out exceptions, which allows 'to your door' purchases.

In other words you can't go buy a Glock and have it shipped straight to your house, but you CAN do that with supressors. In theory if they pass the HPA supressors would be reclassified to the same as that Glock I mentioned, which would require Silencer Central to scrap their entire business model and go to a traditional distributor/dealer model.

Other companies do the 'to your door' model as well. The difference is Griffin (and several others that do it) have a full distribution network in place for years but have only recently (past few years) offered 'to your door' as an additional option to supplement everything else. To them it's just an additional option for the consumer.

Silencer Central on the other hand (as I understand it) uses 'to your door' exclusively. That is the one and only channel they use to sell. If the HPA passes, that goes away. Glocks and supressors would have the same classification under the new system hence it would force them to essentially start over building distribution networks. And they may or may not have previously pissed in that punch bowl before (of the distribution networks).

What they did do was lobby with a competing idea. They proactively lobbied to remove the $200 price, but to keep the NFA registry and all of the other paperwork, fingerprints, trust paperwork, form 3, form 4 etc etc. They lobbied to preserve the system as is, except for no $200. In the process of that they also lobbied to kill the HPA while at the committee level.

[alamo5000]

It might help to know how this 'to your door' process actually works.

Assume you have a NFA manufacturer located in Oklahoma. Under the NFA they have to Form 3 those items to a dealer in the state they want to sell to.

Then at the state level, once the form 4 is done, that dealer can just drop your supressor in the mail and send it to you. If I bought a supressor from a dealer in Texas 6 hours drive away from me, I never need to step foot in their shop to complete the sale. I don't even have to leave home. They can just mail it to me because it is in the NFA.

Silencer Central either has an exclusive relationship with a single dealer in each state or they have registered themselves in each state so that the process is technically in house.

So they Form 3 (from the main manufacturer) to themselves (in whatever state), then Form 4, then mail it out to the consumer after approval.

That all stands to go away though. In theory you could (with the new system should it pass) go to the local sporting goods store and look at that cool new supressor in person, whip out the old AMEX, and go home with a supressor (after you do the 4473).

[alamo5000]

Just think about this...if they change the rules on the process to buy supressors to match that of regular firearms, instantaneously the retail sales channel will completely explode.

Companies that don't have the business model to get their products in those retail outlets will suffer bigly. And on top of that in general I think many supressor sales are repeat customers. Of course not all but a lot. If a company misses that first wave should the HPA pass it could hurt them for years to come.

Then on top of that, let's say it becomes effective January 1, 2026. Everybody else gets to work on ramping up supplying the market while Silencer Central gets to scramble around trying to get their products on retail shelves as well. Six months is not that long to establish that at all.

In short they opposed the HPA because other supressor manufacturers stand to make more money than them and take a larger piece of the pie over the short and longer term.

"Who cares if you have to submit to and be on a permanent gun control registry. What about me?" pretty much sums up the whole thing.

[gatordev]

Got it. I wasn't familiar with their business model and thought they were a distributor.