Buying a Suppressor

BY Herschel Smith
1 year, 5 months ago

F&S.

Before getting into how to buy a suppressor, you need to understand the difference in types of ownership. You can own a suppressor either as an individual or as a trust. As an individual owner, you can use the suppressor and you can let others use the suppressor, but you must be with anyone else anytime they have the suppressor or are using it. If you don’t have any friends—and some of you don’t, I’ve seen your Facebook profiles—individual ownership is fine. Well, except when you die, because then your estate is left in possession of an unregistered NFA item. That’s a problem for whoever executes your will.

If you purchase a suppressor as a trust, any co-trustee can be in procession of and use the suppressor just as you would. Also, if you’re smart enough to designate a “beneficiary” then that person simply assumes the trust when you go to the great shooting range in the sky.

The article goes on to explain the relative ease of filling out paperwork these days.  Around here I know there are FFLs with kiosks which assist the buyer, and there are ways to get assistance with setting up trusts.  Every gun show has cards for lawyers in the area who want to charge money for setting up firearms trusts.

Do any readers own suppressors, and if so, what have you fund to be the best way to purchase and own them?

I find it difficult to dump that much money into something when that something could be a relatively nice firearm instead, and with use of electronic hearing protection, the noise problem goes away (for the most part, except for interference with your cheek weld).


Comments

  1. On June 14, 2023 at 11:02 pm, Chris Mallory said:

    I have one. I use it more to not bother the neighbors than to keep from needing hearing protection. A suppressed round draws less attention.

  2. On June 14, 2023 at 11:20 pm, OG said:

    I have two cans – one for my AR 15 and one for my 6.5 creed. Still a little noisy but much better on the old ears. You have piqued my interest with the trust idea. Going to look into it and see if I can get a transfer.

  3. On June 15, 2023 at 5:35 am, Joe Blow said:

    Dad died last year, sister was executor, still…

    Do you have a few nfa items? Want to make sure ______ receives it after you pass?
    Do your survivors a huge favor, and get a trust. They will be dealing with A LOT, and ATF paperwork and pricky agents just aren’t needed at that time. Do them a favor, the same guy who handles your will can handle this too.
    One suppressor, kids don’t care about it? Sell the thing before you die.

  4. On June 15, 2023 at 6:53 am, Pat H. Bowman said:

    I own one in a trust. Silencer Shop makes it easy. I use it on almost every gun I own. Makes shooting so much nicer. My 6 Creed RPR sounds like a 22 with minimal ear pro. Even the gas guns are tamed quite a bit. Would recommend.

  5. On June 15, 2023 at 8:52 am, Dirk said:

    I own many many cans, all my long range rigs have a dedicated cans. We went with the Trust, just to keep the Feds out of most of our business.

    Sadly several years ago the feds changed the rules. I’d like to add family members to the trust and purchase maybe five more cans.

    ATF tell me IF I want to add people OR more cans, everybody already on the Trust, anybody new would be required to provide finger prints and subject themselves to a background check. I’ll not comply with this new nonsense.

    Things could have changed, ive not looked into adding family or more cans in a couple years. I doubt ATF would do the right thing and honor my Trusts Origional rules, the rules that we in place for the past fifty or so years.

    ATF just can’t seem to figure out they are not the shot callers, law makers, but the enforcement arm.

    So to answer the question, I used an attorney he’s a relative so zero costs. He’s also a Notary, To create the trust. I do have trustee designator, Actually three a line of family members. My wife my son, my great grand son.

    I got in the weeds on this legalese after the theft of the election. I went thru our family trust with a fine tooth comb, I was going to war, did not want to have to worry about my family receiving my multiple retirements and investments. Wanted every Penny locked down tight.

    My trust is extensive, I really thought us patriots were going to war with the communists in DC, for me more likely the Communist running my State of OREGON, up in Salem.

    No worries, life’s good, fly fishing even better. My shits in order, my gear stowed for that rainy day.

    Dirk

  6. On June 15, 2023 at 9:13 am, BRVTVS said:

    An alternate approach is a long barrel shooting a subsonic heavy projectile. A 240 grain 44 special, 158 grain 38 special, or handloaded 500gr 45-70 out of a 24+ inch barrel is a lot quieter than your typical rifle.

  7. On June 15, 2023 at 10:32 am, Joe Blow said:

    The day is coming Dirk, the day is coming.
    Better to be a lot early than a moment too late.

  8. On June 15, 2023 at 10:48 am, mark 82 said:

    Trusts;

    Dont use the attorney down the street. Even if he knows trusts, NFA Trusts are different and you’ll wind up with a hot mess. Find an NFA Trust guy.

    “one shot” Trusts are a very special case that the vendor cant even understand or explain. Essentially they make it easy and fast to purchase an NFA item. That benefits whom? The seller, not necessarily you. You’ll wind up with multiple trusts that cant be used for additional items. Pass.

    Do a search, theres a guy who specializes in NFA Trusts online. Less than $100 and done in less than an hour. And his Trusts allow you to add AND remove Responsible Parties at will, which helps with the above mentioned problem of additional purchases requiring pics and prints from everybody. Going hunting? Add your hunting buddy for the week so you dont violate possesion rules. Cheap. easy, fast, flexible. And no, schedule A’s are not required. The sharp attorney down the street probably wont understand that.

  9. On June 15, 2023 at 2:03 pm, MTHead said:

    A trust will also allow you to add your “pistol” as an SBR. Not sure if that’s free at this point?
    But it keeps you legal for the time being.
    If it gets all turned back to “normal”, and pistols become all good again. One can always just swap everything over to a new lower. Throw the SBR lower in the safe. And go about the world without all the SBR restrictions.
    Just a thought if you already have a trust going.

  10. On June 15, 2023 at 3:15 pm, Heywood said:

    The trust is the way to go! I am more “seasoned” than my nephew, and he is the one who is going to take ownership of my firearms whe I pass, so we set up a trust to make the process seamless. We found one online followed the directions, had a lawyer friend take a look, and we are good to go.

  11. On June 16, 2023 at 1:27 pm, Ozark Redneck said:

    We used the NFA trust also, with me as the trustee (settlor) and my son as the co-trustee, both have copies of all the paperwork, both fingerprinted, etc and have full access to all the NFA items in the trust. My wife is the successor trustee who can legally dispose of the items in the trust if both myself and my son are deceased. We set up the trust with the help of a gunshop class-3 dealer who had a lawyer on retainer, later we used Silencer Central to add items to the trust.

  12. On June 16, 2023 at 3:35 pm, ambiguousfrog said:

    Trust makes it easier. Not sure i like the digitizing of all this, but went through a company in Texas that has an FFL in Georgia. Self fingerprinted, paid the tax stamp, and purchase their trust that guides you through it. A one stop shop. If I want another in the future I got to the same place with less to do. And be able to add to existing trust. Took about 3 months from start to finish. Having FFL presence in my state allowed it shipped to my door versus going to local gun shop and being charged there for transfer. They want to make it easier for you, it makes business sense.

  13. On June 17, 2023 at 12:20 pm, Gil56 said:

    Picked up my first can when I couldn’t hear hits on steel plates past 150 yds with earpro on. Now have dedicated cans for all my rifles. All of them are in a trust with my boy as beneficiary- he’s not fingerprinted or photo’d yet but when the time comes it will only cost $5 per can vs. $200. The difference in situational awareness in being able to hear everything around you without earpro on is well worth the hassle and or expense. Just get one 30 cal can to run on anything up to 300 Win Mag and you’ll be good to go

  14. On June 17, 2023 at 7:08 pm, Steve Miller said:

    I have 5 or 6 of them actually. After the first one the FFLs added the kiosk where filing is pretty durn quick however the wait (promised to be shorter) was as long or longer than before. My QDL suppressor (Barrett) is probably my most prized one. After that my Bowers Vers 50 for my Big Horn Armory AR-10 chambered in 500 Automax

  15. On June 17, 2023 at 7:16 pm, Steve Miller said:

    I should add I have a trust for my suppressor purchases and with the final suppressor purchase the ATF of course changed things – this occurred while I was waiting to be informed by the FFL that the ATF had approved said purchase. THIS change involved something they termed a “responsible person” and was targeted at trusts like mine. All these freaking hoops for a muffler???? I had to add a second trustee to my trust so, in choosing my wife for such, this meant taking her to get fingerprinted, a passport type photo and such. AND this happened during the crapola ergo local PD had shuffled off their fingerprinting to the county then the county said they shuffled it off to the state patrol and finally it was the state patrol that told me a private company was handling all fingerprinting and related services. Criminy. At least at that point I really had only 2-3 more weeks to wait – which is what the FFL had estimated it would take after I filed everything for the second person.

    And these additional requirements were made known to me after I had already waited a year to pick up my suppressor from the FFL.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment


You are currently reading "Buying a Suppressor", entry #35170 on The Captain's Journal.

This article is filed under the category(s) Firearms,Guns and was published June 14th, 2023 by Herschel Smith.

If you're interested in what else the The Captain's Journal has to say, you might try thumbing through the archives and visiting the main index, or; perhaps you would like to learn more about TCJ.

26th MEU (10)
Abu Muqawama (12)
ACOG (2)
ACOGs (1)
Afghan National Army (36)
Afghan National Police (17)
Afghanistan (704)
Afghanistan SOFA (4)
Agriculture in COIN (3)
AGW (1)
Air Force (40)
Air Power (10)
al Qaeda (83)
Ali al-Sistani (1)
America (22)
Ammunition (285)
Animals (297)
Ansar al Sunna (15)
Anthropology (3)
Antonin Scalia (1)
AR-15s (379)
Arghandab River Valley (1)
Arlington Cemetery (2)
Army (87)
Assassinations (2)
Assault Weapon Ban (29)
Australian Army (7)
Azerbaijan (4)
Backpacking (3)
Badr Organization (8)
Baitullah Mehsud (21)
Basra (17)
BATFE (229)
Battle of Bari Alai (2)
Battle of Wanat (18)
Battle Space Weight (3)
Bin Laden (7)
Blogroll (3)
Blogs (24)
Body Armor (23)
Books (3)
Border War (18)
Brady Campaign (1)
Britain (38)
British Army (35)
Camping (5)
Canada (17)
Castle Doctrine (1)
Caucasus (6)
CENTCOM (7)
Center For a New American Security (8)
Charity (3)
China (16)
Christmas (16)
CIA (30)
Civilian National Security Force (3)
Col. Gian Gentile (9)
Combat Outposts (3)
Combat Video (2)
Concerned Citizens (6)
Constabulary Actions (3)
Coolness Factor (3)
COP Keating (4)
Corruption in COIN (4)
Council on Foreign Relations (1)
Counterinsurgency (218)
DADT (2)
David Rohde (1)
Defense Contractors (2)
Department of Defense (210)
Department of Homeland Security (26)
Disaster Preparedness (5)
Distributed Operations (5)
Dogs (15)
Donald Trump (27)
Drone Campaign (4)
EFV (3)
Egypt (12)
El Salvador (1)
Embassy Security (1)
Enemy Spotters (1)
Expeditionary Warfare (17)
F-22 (2)
F-35 (1)
Fallujah (17)
Far East (3)
Fathers and Sons (2)
Favorite (1)
Fazlullah (3)
FBI (39)
Featured (190)
Federal Firearms Laws (18)
Financing the Taliban (2)
Firearms (1,800)
Football (1)
Force Projection (35)
Force Protection (4)
Force Transformation (1)
Foreign Policy (27)
Fukushima Reactor Accident (6)
Ganjgal (1)
Garmsir (1)
general (15)
General Amos (1)
General James Mattis (1)
General McChrystal (44)
General McKiernan (6)
General Rodriguez (3)
General Suleimani (9)
Georgia (19)
GITMO (2)
Google (1)
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (1)
Gun Control (1,674)
Guns (2,340)
Guns In National Parks (3)
Haditha Roundup (10)
Haiti (2)
HAMAS (7)
Haqqani Network (9)
Hate Mail (8)
Hekmatyar (1)
Heroism (5)
Hezbollah (12)
High Capacity Magazines (16)
High Value Targets (9)
Homecoming (1)
Homeland Security (3)
Horses (2)
Humor (72)
Hunting (41)
ICOS (1)
IEDs (7)
Immigration (114)
India (10)
Infantry (4)
Information Warfare (4)
Infrastructure (4)
Intelligence (23)
Intelligence Bulletin (6)
Iran (171)
Iraq (379)
Iraq SOFA (23)
Islamic Facism (64)
Islamists (98)
Israel (19)
Jaish al Mahdi (21)
Jalalabad (1)
Japan (3)
Jihadists (81)
John Nagl (5)
Joint Intelligence Centers (1)
JRTN (1)
Kabul (1)
Kajaki Dam (1)
Kamdesh (9)
Kandahar (12)
Karachi (7)
Kashmir (2)
Khost Province (1)
Khyber (11)
Knife Blogging (7)
Korea (4)
Korengal Valley (3)
Kunar Province (20)
Kurdistan (3)
Language in COIN (5)
Language in Statecraft (1)
Language Interpreters (2)
Lashkar-e-Taiba (2)
Law Enforcement (6)
Lawfare (14)
Leadership (6)
Lebanon (6)
Leon Panetta (2)
Let Them Fight (2)
Libya (14)
Lines of Effort (3)
Littoral Combat (8)
Logistics (50)
Long Guns (1)
Lt. Col. Allen West (2)
Marine Corps (280)
Marines in Bakwa (1)
Marines in Helmand (67)
Marjah (4)
MEDEVAC (2)
Media (68)
Medical (146)
Memorial Day (6)
Mexican Cartels (41)
Mexico (61)
Michael Yon (6)
Micromanaging the Military (7)
Middle East (1)
Military Blogging (26)
Military Contractors (5)
Military Equipment (25)
Militia (9)
Mitt Romney (3)
Monetary Policy (1)
Moqtada al Sadr (2)
Mosul (4)
Mountains (25)
MRAPs (1)
Mullah Baradar (1)
Mullah Fazlullah (1)
Mullah Omar (3)
Musa Qala (4)
Music (25)
Muslim Brotherhood (6)
Nation Building (2)
National Internet IDs (1)
National Rifle Association (97)
NATO (15)
Navy (30)
Navy Corpsman (1)
NCOs (3)
News (1)
NGOs (3)
Nicholas Schmidle (2)
Now Zad (19)
NSA (3)
NSA James L. Jones (6)
Nuclear (63)
Nuristan (8)
Obama Administration (221)
Offshore Balancing (1)
Operation Alljah (7)
Operation Khanjar (14)
Ossetia (7)
Pakistan (165)
Paktya Province (1)
Palestine (5)
Patriotism (7)
Patrolling (1)
Pech River Valley (11)
Personal (73)
Petraeus (14)
Pictures (1)
Piracy (13)
Pistol (4)
Pizzagate (21)
Police (656)
Police in COIN (3)
Policy (15)
Politics (981)
Poppy (2)
PPEs (1)
Prisons in Counterinsurgency (12)
Project Gunrunner (20)
PRTs (1)
Qatar (1)
Quadrennial Defense Review (2)
Quds Force (13)
Quetta Shura (1)
RAND (3)
Recommended Reading (14)
Refueling Tanker (1)
Religion (495)
Religion and Insurgency (19)
Reuters (1)
Rick Perry (4)
Rifles (1)
Roads (4)
Rolling Stone (1)
Ron Paul (1)
ROTC (1)
Rules of Engagement (75)
Rumsfeld (1)
Russia (37)
Sabbatical (1)
Sangin (1)
Saqlawiyah (1)
Satellite Patrols (2)
Saudi Arabia (4)
Scenes from Iraq (1)
Second Amendment (687)
Second Amendment Quick Hits (2)
Secretary Gates (9)
Sharia Law (3)
Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahiden (1)
SIIC (2)
Sirajuddin Haqqani (1)
Small Wars (72)
Snipers (9)
Sniveling Lackeys (2)
Soft Power (4)
Somalia (8)
Sons of Afghanistan (1)
Sons of Iraq (2)
Special Forces (28)
Squad Rushes (1)
State Department (23)
Statistics (1)
Sunni Insurgency (10)
Support to Infantry Ratio (1)
Supreme Court (62)
Survival (201)
SWAT Raids (57)
Syria (38)
Tactical Drills (38)
Tactical Gear (15)
Taliban (168)
Taliban Massing of Forces (4)
Tarmiyah (1)
TBI (1)
Technology (21)
Tehrik-i-Taliban (78)
Terrain in Combat (1)
Terrorism (96)
Thanksgiving (13)
The Anbar Narrative (23)
The Art of War (5)
The Fallen (1)
The Long War (20)
The Surge (3)
The Wounded (13)
Thomas Barnett (1)
Transnational Insurgencies (5)
Tribes (5)
TSA (25)
TSA Ineptitude (14)
TTPs (4)
U.S. Border Patrol (6)
U.S. Border Security (19)
U.S. Sovereignty (24)
UAVs (2)
UBL (4)
Ukraine (10)
Uncategorized (99)
Universal Background Check (3)
Unrestricted Warfare (4)
USS Iwo Jima (2)
USS San Antonio (1)
Uzbekistan (1)
V-22 Osprey (4)
Veterans (3)
Vietnam (1)
War & Warfare (419)
War & Warfare (41)
War Movies (4)
War Reporting (21)
Wardak Province (1)
Warriors (6)
Waziristan (1)
Weapons and Tactics (79)
West Point (1)
Winter Operations (1)
Women in Combat (21)
WTF? (1)
Yemen (1)

November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006

about · archives · contact · register

Copyright © 2006-2024 Captain's Journal. All rights reserved.