NFA Wait Time Calculator

[Docjon]

I am a class 3 and today I received two form 4's. Went pretty quick. NOT!!!
Sent them in first week of September of 2011. I specified the year because is seems that in the very near future we may have to start doing that. Jon

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

Also factor in the fact that they are down to 7 examiners (from 12) and there is a hiring freeze on in the ATF.

 

[Beowulf]

Also factor in the fact that they are down to 7 examiners (from 12) and there is a hiring freeze on in the ATF.

Shocker. The one place in government that the Obama Administration is apparently willing to make spending cuts just also coincidentally happens to be the same place that allows them to thwart the Second Amendment. Color me surprised.

Well, I'm on month 3 of waiting for my Form 4 on my MAC 10 .45. I was really hoping I would have it by this summer. Who knows, miracles do happen.

 

[Rick983]

I've sat around for years and griped about wait times and the ATFE in general, and decided today to do something besides bi#ch about it. I wrote my congressman and asked if he could do something first about the ridiculous 6 month wait period and secondly, why are suppressors treated as a firearm in the first place! It may not help but if a bunch of the class 3 guys would also write their representatives, how could they ignore us. Keep in mind, this is an election year.

 

[Bert]

I've sat around for years and griped about wait times and the ATFE in general, and decided today to do something besides bi#ch about it. I wrote my congressman and asked if he could do something first about the ridiculous 6 month wait period and secondly, why are suppressors treated as a firearm in the first place! It may not help but if a bunch of the class 3 guys would also write their representatives, how could they ignore us. Keep in mind, this is an election year.

that's a good idea . i'm doing it tonight

 

[mp40gunner]

Wait Times

I wrote to Mike Pence as well. My Form 1 on my AR SBR went pending Jan 4th and I was told today when I checked on it not to expect it till mid to the end of July.

That means the Sterling I am buying and the SBR I am filling out for the 33k will be lucky to clear by the end of the Mayan calander.

I bought my first NFA in 1994 and this is just getting out of control and something needs to be done. It is an election year and if more of us contacted our reps it sure couldn't hurt anything.

Come on 2013

 

[menzzer37]

My wait:
Form 4 to individual. Bought August 28th
Pending September 19th
Approved March 14th

To give you an idea...

 

[Sig]

Form 4
Mailed December 17, 2011, Check cleared December 21, 2011, Pending January 6, 2012, Approved June 9, 2012, Dealer received June 16, 2012.

Mailbox to Mailbox was a DAY short of 6 months

 

[Beowulf]

Yeah, I think they are pretty much at 6 months now.

My paperwork went pending January 20th. I called them on Monday (18th) and they just looked at it that day. Unfortunately, they marked an exception because the former IMPD Chief didn't fill in his name (just signed it) and I missed it.

They said once I get the paperwork back to them, it would be probably a couple weeks to get it approved. I'm checking the mailbox constantly now.

 

[Beowulf]

By the way, I did write to both our senators and to my current representative (Andre Carson, so fat lot of good that will do).

Here is my letter:

Senator Lugar,

I'm writing to you to express my dissatisfaction with the way the ATF is handling NFA (National Firearms Act) transfers. While their performance has been generally deplorable for decades, it has gotten steadily worse under the current administration.

As per the National Firearms Act of 1934 (rewritten by Congress in 1968), all machine guns, silencers, short barrel rifles, short barrel shotguns, and other assorted regulated firearms types require a tax stamp from the Federal Government to possess.

Despite all modern technology and the fact that we've had a national instant background check system in place since the mid-90's, the ATF chooses to still process these applications manually, the same they have been doing it since 1934. An applicant must fill out duplicate forms with photos, duplicate fingerprint cards, and a local law enforcement chief signature and submit that with a check for $200 to the ATF. These applications are reviewed by dedicated personnel at the ATF (there are 12 positions for the entire country) and approved or denied.

Historically, this process has taken somewhere from 2 to 3 months. Today, again with all our modern technology and the instant background check system which is effectively the exact same check the ATF reviewers are doing manually, the process takes anywhere from 6 months to a full year. Can you imagine any other perfectly legal purchase requiring a 6 month process for government approval? This is ludicrous and clearly falls under the concept of "infringement" spoken of in the 2nd Amendment.

What I find even more offensive is that in the midst of one of the largest spurts of growth within Federal government jobs, taking a larger and larger amount of tax payer money to fund an already over bloated Federal government, the number of NFA examiners has fallen to 7 (for the entire nation) with the ATF refusing to hire replacements. Somehow, despite hundreds of thousands of new government jobs being created, the ATF decided to be "fiscally responsible" by purposefully bottle-necking the process of approving these applications.

This is unconscionable. There is no reason this process should take more than a few weeks even doing it in the extremely antiquated fashion in which they are choosing to operate. But really, this process should just fall under the already existing instant background check system, with the tax stamp fees to be paid online or over the phone... like every single other business allows (and even the IRS does this).

I strongly urge that you and your fellow senators take action to encourage the ATF to stop using bureaucratic foot-dragging to prevent law-abiding Americans from making NFA purchases and to modernize their process in such a way to take advantage of the available technology to greatly speed the process, while still maintaining the integrity of the security of the process.

 

[Sig]

Excellent letter

How do we take a message exactly like the above to a National Scale?

To change the law would be an extremely heavy burden.
Without changing the law the current administration has started changing the law or more process. So when do we scream, when it is a 1 year wait?

I am happy to submit a letter but believe it needs to be a National campaign maybe with a web type auto form in order to really get traction. There are web forms to submit to congress.

Not sure if Senator Luger is the right recipient. Maybe your local Congressperson rather than Senator.

 

[Beowulf]

Excellent letter

How do we take a message exactly like the above to a National Scale?

To change the law would be an extremely heavy burden.
Without changing the law the current administration has started changing the law or more process. So when do we scream, when it is a 1 year wait?

I am happy to submit a letter but believe it needs to be a National campaign maybe with a web type auto form in order to really get traction. There are web forms to submit to congress.

Not sure if Senator Luger is the right recipient. Maybe your local Congressperson rather than Senator.

Well, I wrote to all three (Coats, Lugar, and my rep, Carson). It's always good to cast a wide net when writing these letters. I just basically changed the first line for each (well, and I refer to senators at the end, which needs to be changed to representatives for reps).

 

[dudley0]

I hate using that calculator. It keeps saying that I shouldn't expect my stamp yet anyhow. But I do expect it each day, even though I am months away from getting it.

I went pending toward the end of March... looks like I will be shooting in the cold.

Maybe I will go check the mailbox today, even though it is the 4th of July.

 

[ctbreitwieser]

Anyone used this recently?

My 2 suppressors went pending April 16 and it said I should expect them in August. Thats only 4 months. The last time I used this in February it told me I should expect 7-8 months. Hopefully this is a good sign.

 

[MontereyC6]

Anyone used this recently?

My 2 suppressors went pending April 16 and it said I should expect them in August. Thats only 4 months. The last time I used this in February it told me I should expect 7-8 months. Hopefully this is a good sign.

I just ran this again on my 2 pendings, and it said July for both. The ATF told me September last week. I'll be happy if it happens sometime in the middle.

 

[ctbreitwieser]

I just ran this again on my 2 pendings, and it said July for both. The ATF told me September last week. I'll be happy if it happens sometime in the middle.

Me too!

The sooner you get yours, the sooner I get mine!

 

[dudley0]

Mine now says July as well. I need to call and see what they say.

EDIT: Well I called and am still pending. She said they are still six months from pending. Hopefully that is just a canned response.

 

[praff]

I can tell u that i had run my status a couple weeks ago. I went pending Jan 9th on a form 4 for a 308 can and it said that i had about a 50/50 chance for Aug/Sept. I got a call last week from SSNFA and my form was in and approved. So.....the form was returned by the end of June and the calculator said August or September. So maybe the calculator is just a good way to make us wait a little more patiently.

 

[Beowulf]

I know this thread is a little stale, but since I finally got a response to one of the letters I sent, I thought I would share it.

So after 3 weeks, surprisingly, the first response I got was from Senator Lugar (still no response from Carson or Coats).

Dear Mr. Beowulf:
Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about processing of documentation required under the National Firearms Act by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). I appreciate having the benefit of your concerns.

I support the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to possess firearms for sporting, collecting, and defensive purposes, and I support Indiana law related to the purchase and ownership of firearms. Indiana's Constitution provides both a liberty and a property right to bear firearms, which is stronger Second Amendment protection than the residents of many states enjoy.

I have contacted the ATF to express my interest in this matter. I will promptly share with you a copy of the ATF's response, and I will continue to closely follow oversight of the ATF in the Senate Judiciary Committee with your concerns in mind.

Again, thank you for contacting me.


Sincerely,


Richard G. Lugar
United States Senator

 

[Mongoose1.1]

this is why I'm getting my AR first and my SBR second...holy cow they need moere staff members.