2018 NFA Paperwork Timeline

[NathanB]

There's no reason this shouldn't be instant. It's pure BS.

Absolutely it’s just some coding. My collection would be much bigger if it was. I go through phases where I get tired of waiting

[Justin///M]

Congrats.

And agree, I read here or somewhere else the prints simply get filed and they run the same NICS check performed for routine firearm purchases which take minutes.

Yes that's what my NFA guy (A treasury agent) and my examiner confirmed.

That said, I've heard that e-forms are back and are much faster...,

[thebearpack]

There's no reason this shouldn't be instant. It's pure BS.

Yes it is.

I wonder what the rejection rate is. How many people are honestly going through the fingerprint/photo/fee/application process knowing they'll be rejected? If you're taking the time to do it right, I'd imagine there's a pretty high chance you're not prohibited.

Not that they don't have to check applicants out, but a year to do it is utter bull.

[Palerider]

Yes that's what my NFA guy (A treasury agent) and my examiner confirmed.

That said, I've heard that e-forms are back and are much faster...,

I’ve seen posts with approvals coming back in 2 weeks. Still no eform 4 yet and no update on ATF website when they will be available.

[Truck]

Maybe this has been covered before, but with so many people having the same issue with what should take mere minutes taking months or years, has nobody thought to class action sue the government over this? seems like every lobbying group in the country sues the government when they feel something isn't as it should be in DC. I believe the long wait times are intentional, not due to high volume or time consuming processes. Instead of getting mad, it should be treated business like and an action seeking damages should be brought in court.

Oh, and I just e-filed my form 1 for a suppressor today. I really hope it goes through as quickly as I've read they do (1 to 3 months).

[thebearpack]

My Form 4 Individual check for a suppressor was cashed on 8/1/18, approved on 6/6/19, and in my dealer's mail today, 6/14/19.

[ShooterInPA1]

My Form 4 Individual check for a suppressor was cashed on 8/1/18, approved on 6/6/19, and in my dealer's mail today, 6/14/19.

My check was cashed July 2018 and I still do not have my suppressor.

[Palerider]

My check was cashed July 2018 and I still do not have my suppressor.

Form 4 check was cashed 8/7/18 and nothing yet. F’ing annoying.

[ShooterInPA1]

Form 4 check was cashed 8/7/18 and nothing yet. F’ing annoying.

There really needs to be a law which makes them pay you interest on the tax stamp for anything over and above a reasonable wait time, say 3 to 6 months.

[Xringshooter]

There really needs to be a law which makes them pay you interest on the tax stamp for anything over and above a reasonable wait time, say 3 to 6 months.

Anything over 1-2 months (and that's stretching it) is unreasonable. When you submit your paperwork, the folks in Portland deposit you money and forward the Form 4, prints and photos to WV (what does that take, a week maybe by snail mail). The NFA Division forwards the prints to the FBI (another week maybe). The FBI does a NICS check on you (15 minutes plus the time it sits in someones in basket). I really doubt that the fingerprints are read by anyone, they are probably scanned into a computer and the computer does the "reading" (which shouldn't take that long as fast as computers are nowadays and the FBI wants results fast so they probably have some pretty good computers). Then the FBI sends the results back to the NFA Division for the examiner to finish things up. The examiner looks at what the FBI said, probably checks to see if any LEO weighed in in your CLEO notification and then puts the stamp on the form and has the mail room send it to the FFL. Should not take more than a month or so (due to the mail system), even with the number of Form 4's going through the system.