NFA GUN TRUST CHANGES EFFECTIVE JULY 13, 2016

In about three weeks, rule changes related to NFA Gun Trusts and instituted by the ATF will go into effect.

Here are the changes:

As of July, 2016, responsible parties on NFA trusts will be required to “notify” their local CLEO (Chief Law Enforcement Officer) when a new NFA application is sent. In addition, responsible parties within a trust will need to send ATF photos and fingerprint cards when submitting a Form 1 or Form 4.  As part of these executive actions, the Obama Administration will also reportedly be dropping the dreaded CLEO sign off requirement originally proposed in ATF 41P.  So that is a big win and welcome news for NFA enthusiasts living in anti-second amendment jurisdictions

The new rules have no effect on existing trusts, which will still be valid as long as they were validly created.  However, an application filed by an existing trust after July 13 will be subject to the new rules, regardless of whether the trust was created before July 13.

An NFA Gun Trust is still an excellent option to acquire and hold NFA weapons because:

• NFA Trusts will continue to allow multiple parties to use and transfer NFA weapons assigned to the trust.  NFA ownership as an individual leaves you subject to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for illegally transferring an NFA weapon to any unauthorized individual.
• NFA Trusts provide clear directives for passing down NFA weapons and protect beneficiaries against tricky NFA laws.  The ATF also makes it clear that beneficiaries of NFA Trusts can acquire NFA weapons from a decedent on a tax exempt basis.
• Our NFA Gun Trsut is fully revocable, which means it can be easily amended at any time if you need to make changes to trustees and/or beneficiaries on the trust.

Our office has helped many NFA gun enthusiasts create an NFA Gun Trust and will continue to do so.  We’ve seen a definite uptick in client interest in recent months with the rule changes looming and expect this to continue.  We still offer a turn around of less than a week and an affordable flat rate to create an NFA Gun Trust.