NFA items and moving from one state to another

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09-02-2012, 22:49
XC700116

NFA items and moving from one state to another

I've been considering getting a suppressor or 2 and I have a question that I've got some split answers on.

My job moves me around a bit (4 states in the last 6 years) and being from MN, which doesn't allow ownership of supressors, I'm looking for some options.

First if I do it I'm planning on setting up a trust so everything revolves around that option.

So say I set up a Trust and get a couple items added to it and I have to move. Assuming I move to an NFA friendly state I'm thinking I can continue on and keep them with me, surely some paperwork is involved but I should be able to do it. Is this correct?

The problem arises should I end up moving back to MN or other non NFA friendly state. From what I understand even with a trust I can't take them with me. I have no family in CO or any other NFA friendly state so I'd be left with the only option being adding a trustee that lives in an NFA friendly state and leave them with that person until I can sell them.

Is this a realistic look at it? How difficult is it to sell and transfer NFA items to another party? I'm assuming it's just a matter of getting a dealer to do the transfer paperwork and their wait time/tax stamp ect.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
09-03-2012, 08:12
hatidua

Call the ATF. They are very helpful and their answers carry a good bit more weight than anything you hear on a gun forum.
09-03-2012, 12:05
XC700116

Haha, good point, I just thought someone here might have been down the same road. I'll give them a call and post what I find out here for future reference.
09-03-2012, 12:27
hammer03

If you are expecting to move to a non-NFA state, but only for a short time, it might be worth just investing in a safety deposit box. Are those considered secure storage by the ATF? Or would that be considered transfer of the items to the bank?
09-03-2012, 12:28
Great-Kazoo

http://www.atf.gov/forms/download/atf-f-5320-20.pdf
Line's 5, 6 &7 and see
NOTE: Under lines 9-11
However call and when you do note time, date and person you talked with.
09-03-2012, 12:40
kidicarus13

It's my understanding that a silencer can be moved from NFA state to NFA state without paperwork being dlsubmitted to BATF. It is not the same as the other items considered NFA like machine guns, SBR, etc.

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...Number=1587089
...plus many other places online.
09-03-2012, 13:21
Circuits

Quote:

Originally Posted by XC700116

First if I do it I'm planning on setting up a trust so everything revolves around that option.

So say I set up a Trust and get a couple items added to it and I have to move. Assuming I move to an NFA friendly state I'm thinking I can continue on and keep them with me, surely some paperwork is involved but I should be able to do it. Is this correct?

Fill out and get back an approved 5320.20, and tick the "permanent move" box for permanent moves.

Quote:

The problem arises should I end up moving back to MN or other non NFA friendly state. From what I understand even with a trust I can't take them with me. I have no family in CO or any other NFA friendly state so I'd be left with the only option being adding a trustee that lives in an NFA friendly state and leave them with that person until I can sell them.

You could also stash them in a safe deposit box or storage unit, or put them in a friend's house/safe, inside a locked container only you or trustees have key/combination for.

Quote:

Is this a realistic look at it? How difficult is it to sell and transfer NFA items to another party? I'm assuming it's just a matter of getting a dealer to do the transfer paperwork and their wait time/tax stamp ect.

A dealer is not needed to sell to a private party in the same state. It's the $200 tax, six-plus month wait, and continual price inflation that makes used NFA besides machineguns nearly worthless as a secondary market.
09-03-2012, 13:32
JohnnyEgo

A silencer and an AOW can be transported between states without having to submit the 5320.

You can leave your firearms in the state in which they are legal, provided solely you have access to them. When I worked in a state that was not NFA friendly, my NFA collection lived in a locked Ridgid Jobsite Box in my parent's garage. The keys to that box lived with me in Manhattan. The 5320s were filed with their address until I moved to a friendly state, at which time I filed a 5320 with my address.

It is easy, but time consuming, to sell NFA items in your home state. You hang on to them until the paperwork clears. One tax stamp.

It is harder and more time consuming to sell NFA items to someone in another state. It requires two tax stamps and an 03 SOT dealer to facilitate the transfer.

Silencers have little resale value out of state because of the two-stamp transfer. SBR Lowers also have little resale, because the time frame is such that one might as well do it with their own lower and not have your trust or name engraved all over it. Factory SBRs do better for precisely that reason.

Machine guns and the obscure do well on the NFA boards, because $400 in transfer tax isn't that much compared to purchase price. AOWs transfer at $5 a pop.

Moving with a Trust is no different then moving without one. You fill out the 5320s and wait for the ATF to send them back to you. Then you move the guns.
09-03-2012, 18:42
Circuits

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyEgo

It is harder and more time consuming to sell NFA items to someone in another state. It requires two tax stamps and an 03 SOT dealer to facilitate the transfer.

One small correction - no SOT is needed for an interstate transfer, just an FFL - though typically a C2 or C3 SOT manufacturer or dealer will be both more familiar with, and more comfortable with, handling interstate NFA transfers than a plain old FFL.
09-03-2012, 19:57
hammer03

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyEgo

Moving with a Trust is no different then moving without one. You fill out the 5320s and wait for the ATF to send them back to you. Then you move the guns.

Not to hijack the thread, but what do people who live in rentals do? Or someone who needs to move quickly for whatever reason? I'm guessing the BATFE doesn't take 6-9 months to return a 5320, but if you're in an apt and don't have more than a month or so notice that you're moving (or have the new address for that long) what are you supposed to do?

Purely hypothetical. Just wondering.
09-03-2012, 20:41
JohnnyEgo

You don't make sudden moves between states.

In-state moves do not require the 5320 to be completed prior to the move, although it is still a good idea to do so.

In the best of times, my 5320s took two weeks to process. Nowadays, the last one I filed took a little over 3 weeks to be processed and returned to me.
09-03-2012, 20:57
XC700116

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyEgo

Moving with a Trust is no different then moving without one. You fill out the 5320s and wait for the ATF to send them back to you. Then you move the guns.

What I'm thinking is if I put a close friend on the trust as a Trustee and I should happen to move to a non NFA friendly state I can leave the items with him and try to sell them or just leave them there until I get a chance to move to another NFA friendly state and at that point update to my new residence in said NFA friendly state.
09-03-2012, 21:02
RANGERRON72

5320 is a less than 30 day turnaround, faster if you ask nicely and fax in.
09-03-2012, 21:08
XC700116

Thanks again for the info guys, I'm still learning a lot and just want to make sure before I make the investment that I'm not doing something that's going to put me in a position to be SOL and have to surrender it later.
09-03-2012, 21:10
Great-Kazoo

Quote:

Originally Posted by RANGERRON72

5320 is a less than 30 day turnaround, faster if you ask nicely and fax in.

This, i had a 14 business day turn around,of course i planned ahead, i was told [at that time] 2 weeks is more than enough time. It was for a shoot out of state.
09-04-2012, 08:45
O2HeN2

Quote:

Originally Posted by RANGERRON72

5320 is a less than 30 day turnaround, faster if you ask nicely and fax in.

Two months for me about half a year ago.

O2
09-04-2012, 13:06
HoneyBadger

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyEgo

You don't make sudden moves between states.

Clearly you aren't in the military.... I got PCS orders to move from Colorado to California and my "Report no later than" date was 4 days after I got my orders. Got screwed out of about 2 months of rent, and had to find someplace to live in California real quick like. [Bang]
09-04-2012, 14:32
JohnnyEgo

Quote:

Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

Clearly you aren't in the military.... I got PCS orders to move from Colorado to California and my "Report no later than" date was 4 days after I got my orders. Got screwed out of about 2 months of rent, and had to find someplace to live in California real quick like. [Bang]

You are right. I am not in the military. I was honorably discharged from it after six years of active duty service.

My comment wasn't that people don't move on short notice in real life. My comment is that you don't move suddenly between states with your NFA weapons, because you have to wait for the 5320 to come back. Might be that my post wasn't clear, or it might be that your reading comprehension is off. Either way, thank you for your service.
09-04-2012, 20:45
HoneyBadger

Well thanks for your 6 years of honorable service. [Beer] Sorry for misunderstanding your post.