by Bitter Bastard on Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:54 pm
Got my Form 4 in the mail on Tuesday. I waited until July 1 to get the paperwork from my dealer to make sure there were no ATF hijinks for getting it signed prior to July first, got the form 4's signed on Monday, and in the mail Tuesday. Went with a .22 silencer to start with, will add either an AR or a .45 or a 9mm can later this year with any luck.
To those who think it's a big deal, it really isn't too bad in your in an area where the chief will sign. My city does free fingerprints for its citizens, and I took my own photos with my phone and printed them on the color printer at work. So, the whole process is a bit more work than walking in to a store an walking out with a silencer, but not much. Here's the "hassle" I've gone through:
1) Got fillable PDFs emailed to me from my dealer, filled them out and printed them. 10 minutes
2) Had a friend at work take a pic of me in front of a whiteboard. Put the pics in Word to play with sizing, and printed them out. 10 minutes.
3) Went to my dealer, who let me shoot my suppressor plus a few other goodies he had in stock. Yay! Paid him, got my paperwork from him. Turned a 5 minute trip into an hour, but that was my fault. (Thanks Jason if you're reading this!)
4) Went to my local PD, got printed and since the chief wasn't in, left my forms there for him to sign. 15 minutes.
5) Went back to the PD later that day to get my paperwork. 5 minutes.
6) Double check everything is together, write a check, put it all in an envelope. 5 minutes
7) Take to post office to make sure the postage amount is correct. $1.20 and 5 minutes
Total time so far dealing with this "hassle" - under an hour, plus the range time at the dealers. That's not bad. It could be lessened with a trust, but I don't have one of those and I DO have a chief that signs, so I just went that route.
I'm not counting the wait for the approval as part of the hassle since it doesn't impact my life one iota. Oh, and add another trip back to the dealer to get my toy when the paperwork comes in, but there is a good chance that will involve shooting more of his inventory, so I'm not counting that as a hassle at all!
So, YAY! silencers. And poo on anyone who corrects me to say suppressor. My form 4 said silencer, that's good enough for me!
Good luck!
Bitter Bastard