Tag Archives: National Firearms Act

Hearing Protection Act ‘thwips’ past 100 sponsors in the House

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ruger-10-22-rifle-with-armtac-monotube-integral-suppressor-and-hogue-overmold-stock-brand-new-assemblies-975-00

A bill that would remove suppressors and silencers from National Firearm Act regulations is picking up momentum on Capitol Hill.

The Duncan-Carter Hearing Protection Act was introduced by GOP sponsors U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina and Rep. John Carter of Texas last month and aims to deregulate suppressors as a safety measure to help promote their use in protecting hearing. Enrolled as H.R. 367, the measure picked up its 100th co-sponsor last week.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Hanging out at SHOT Show

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Whelp, back from the annual gathering of the gun tribes in Las Vegas. Saw some interesting things. Did some interesting things. I think the biggest stories, besides the new SIG M17, is was the Hudson H9 and the SilencerCo Maxim 9.

Prefaced by a quiet build up over the past few weeks via social media, the H9 melds a full-sized 9mm semi-auto to a striker-fired pistol with a crisp 1911 trigger that has a .115-inch travel. But the innovative handgun with its cyberpunk panache didn’t just hatch fully formed from an egg last month.

More here.

Then there is the Maxim. The pistol, a 9mm that accepts double-stack Glock 17 magazines, can be arranged in either a short or a long configuration– both of which are suppressed. The difference in length between the two options is about an inch, with the full-size configuration measuring 10.75-inches overall and the abbreviated one taping out at 9.54-inches, which is about an inch longer than a standard 1911. Weight varies between 37-39 ounces.

More in the video below and in this piece in my column over at Guns.com.

Get ready for homemade suppressors if HPA passes (but not in every state)

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oil-filter-suppressor

With the possible removal of silencers/suppressors from National Firearms Act control, a number of legal questions around the devices emerge.

The current mechanism for change, H.R.3799 — the Hearing Protection Act — is stuck in the U.S. House but would likely see a stronger reboot in the next Congress in 2017. If a new bill gains enough momentum to make it through Capitol Hill and onto the waiting desk of President Trump, it would leave a few things undecided if signed into law with its current language.

I spoke with Adam Kraut, an attorney specializing in Second Amendment rights and NFA issues in particular, about just what could be in store.

More in my column at Guns.com.

NFA deregulation of suppressors a very real prospect for 2017

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Firing the 03 Springfield with the Maxim silencer, 1910. From left to right Hiram Maxim, Lieut. Col. Richard J. Goodman, and Capt. Earl D Church

Firing the 03 Springfield with the Maxim silencer, 1910. From left to right Hiram Maxim, Lieut. Col. Richard J. Goodman, and Capt. Earl D Church

A Republican trifecta in Washington next year will likely see action on a bill to remove firearm suppressors from National Firearms Act regulation after 82 years.

The Hearing Protection Act was introduced last October by U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., and currently has 78 bipartisan co-sponsors from 34 states. Since then, the HPA has been among the top 10 most-viewed bills on Congress.gov almost every week since it was introduced.

However, with a slim Republican majority in the Senate unable to override a near-certain veto from President Obama, the bill has been in doldrums.

Now, with the White House under new management next year, advocates for the measure feel signs are looking up and will likely return to the next Congress with a fresh mandate.

“Imagine for a second that we lived in a world where you had to pay a $200 tax to buy a pair of earplugs,” Knox Williams, president of the American Suppressor Association, the industry trade group for the devices, told me on Wednesday. “Now, imagine that even after paying that tax you still had to wait 8 months before you could bring your earplugs home with you. As silly as that sounds, it’s the world we live in with suppressors in the NFA.”

Maybe not any more…

(More in my column at Guns.com)

Getting shot while you are getting stabbed

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grad-rs1-knife-gun

In the late 1990s, the Global Research and Development (GRAD) Company designed the world’s first production fixed blade knife that held a multi-shot firearm inside its grip.

GRAD produced four knives, three of which contained working 22LR double-action revolvers.  The knife in each case was a high-quality 440C heat-treated high carbon stainless steel single edged fixed blade. Inside the grips lay the cylinder for the revolver with a 1.75-inch rifled barrel. In the lower half of the knife handle a spring-loaded trigger lever could be pulled down and when depressed would fire the revolver. The barrel’s muzzle was shrouded by the top half of the grip and fired over the top of the blade through the hilt of the knife.

To load and clean the revolver, the grips separated and folded open, allowing access to the concealed gun.

They came in several variants.

The Hybrid Standard Edition of the knife had black aluminum checkered grip panels and held a 5-shot revolver.  A deluxe 22-karat gold-plated Millennium version of the Standard had a highly hand polished blade and frame.

grad-milime-knife-gun grad-milime-knife-gun-s grad-milime-knife-gun-as

The Hybrid Bayonet held a 6-shot revolver and mounted to the standard NATO bayonet lug carried on the M16/AR-15 style rifle. The bayonet version could be fired either mounted or unmounted to the rifle. The knife only version, the Model RS1N, was the base knife with no barrel or firing assembly.

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Across all versions, less than a thousand of these weapons were made. The company history is murky; they seem to have folded around 2007 and as such have no warranty or production to fall back upon.

The firearms versions are all NFA Title II weapons and are transferable under the $5 Any Other Weapon clause. When new and still in production they sold from $699 for the Standard models to $1999 for the gold-plated series. Today if you can find one today, they basically worth whatever the market will pay and are rare at any price.

And the ATF generally frowns upon keeping and/or selling them or any other neat AOW such as cane guns without the proper paperwork, as exemplified by a pair of Big Pine Key FFL holders last week.

A veritable NFA buffett

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The NFA Review Channel carefully crafted what they call their “Case of Mayhem” that includes select-fire, SBR, SBS, suppressors and more.

nfa mg glock 17c sbs sbr class 3 title ii
Contents, LtoR: MK18 MOD0 with AAC M42K, SEA Bears Bark 20G SBS, Glock17c with JNC select fire sear, and a Dakota Tactical D54R-N with select fire trigger pack and Silencerco Omega 9K, if you are curious.

The case is a Pelican 1750 with customized B&W Kaizen foam.

Stencil on the outside could be Krylon, color chit unknown.

The problem with Destructive Devices

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nfa-destructive-device

Photo: ATF

For the purposes of the National Firearms Act, the ATF interprets the term “Destructive Device” for Title II weapons to mean:

A missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than 1/4 oz.

Any type of weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may readily be converted to expel a projectile, by the action of an explosive or other propellant, the barrel or barrels of which have a bore greater than one-half inch in diameter.

A combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a device into a destructive device and from which a destructive device can be readily assembled.

This means everything from a Sherman tank with a working 75mm gun (as well as each shell, if it is explosive) to the .55 caliber Boys anti-tank rifle (if functional and still in the original caliber) to the infamous ‘Street Sweeper’ shotgun, is considered a DD by the ATF and falls into the title 2/NFA realm, which requires tax stamps and typically storage in an approved explosives magazine.

As of Febuary 2015, the ATF’s Firearms Commerce Report, which gives the public a rare glimpse into the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, contained 2,446,984 registered DDs nationwide. The super high numbers largely come from registered artillery shells and grenades.

For comparison, there are only 792,282 suppressors, the next most common NFA item.

Further, these items are very rarely used in crime. The only one incident I can think of is when a Canadian gang (!) from Montreal stole two Lahti 20mm anti-tank guns in 1965 and spent over two hours battering a bank vault door in a quiet New York town with them. And again, these were crooks with stolen guns a half-century ago. So there is that

Enter TXMGO…

And there is a shop in the Lone Star state; Texas Machine-Gun & Ordnance, a Type 10, Manufacturer of Destructive Devices FFL; and Type 20, Manufacturer of Explosives FEL, who is pushing the envelope on these items such as selling an NFA Legal Molotov Cocktail on Gunbroker for $125.

txmgo molotov

Photo: Gunbroker

“This is not something you just buy over-the-counter. It transfers in full compliance with NFA laws, its owner is explicitly registered with the ATF, will take 5-6 months to get after a detailed background check, and payment of a $200 transfer tax. Service includes custom laser engraving and S/N,” reads the auction.

So in other words, a legal Molotov, complete with registration with the feds, for $400~ after taxes, shipping and fees. Of course you can build your own for like $4, but it wouldn’t be all legal like.

“People thinking that novelty Destructive Devices such as a Molotov Cocktail or a pipebomb, is in any way related to the 2nd Amendment, or have some sort of practical purpose are terribly mistaken. This is about grown men, having fun,” notes TXMGO.

The shop found itself the victim of lots of digital mudslinging after they showed up at a gun show selling $150 clock pipebombs (without explosives, needing a  BATFE Form 1 to complete, making it, like the Molotov, a $400 legal endeavor), a fake improvised Claymore that was not for sale and a “Martyr Creation” suicide vest with 31lbs of high explosives and 14lbs of nails.

Photo: TFB

Photo: TFB

TXMGO has used similar vests on blow up dolls in online videos to show them off.

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Photo: TXMGO

The Firearm Blog ran the piece first as “Idiot Sells Pipebombs and Suicide Vests at Gun Show Legally” then changed it to a more sedate “Selling Pipebombs and Suicide Vests at a Gun Show in Houston” calling TXMGO out on the stunt as being the equivalent of “that guy.”

To which TFB allowed a rebuttal from Sean with TXMGO who said in part the company is trying to shake up the industry, is doing everything legal, is not part of a fringe group, and has some neato things they are working on:

While everyone is getting all wound up on the 100% legal, NFA registered pipebombs we are selling as novelty items; they missed the reusable Molotov Cocktail, affordably priced 60mm mortar, recoilless rifle, and other projects we are working on to bring something new to market for the law-abiding citizen. This is in addition to us working to build a facility for us to offer people the chance to come and literally blow shit up, and shoot exotic weaponry.

Which in the end, provided its all perfectly legal, the government gets their tax and gives their blessing, isn’t really a big deal, is it?

Of suppressor deregulation and upcoming ATF changes

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At SHOT Show this year I had a chance to throw some knives and hawks on range day and did so like shit. They were SOGs and, while I can make the excuse I wasn’t used to them and prefer my own edged weapons which I do throw much better, I still did miserably.

sog knives and hawks

However, I also did it right behind Josh Waldron, the co-founder and CEO of SilencerCo, the company that is like the Glock of suppressors. How big are they? They ship 10,000 cans a month, which is more than most suppressor makers ship in a year.

I had a chance last week to catch back to up him without the tomahawks and talk about various states dropping prohibitions against private suppressor ownership (42 states now allow it), hunting with suppressors (39 now allow it, up from 22 in 2011), potential deregulation of suppressors from NFA requirements via the Hearing Protection Act, and the impact that ATF 41F is going to have on trusts and CLEO requirements.

SilencerCo.founder.believes.in_.creating.a.lifestyle.to_.mainstream.suppressors
“We’re trying to make guns sexy again because they always really have been in this country,” Waldron said. “It’s been part of the fabric of the culture here but we want to make sure that that continues and so we’re trying to revive that.”

You can read the interview over at Guns.com.

Boy Scouts use donated guns, suppressors in unique training program

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When I was at an ASA shoot in Nashville back in April, I first heard about this and have been researching this for a bit. Its a little personal to me as I learned to shoot in the scouts and have taught rifle marksmanship at several local camps off and on for the past decade.-CE

Scouts in Maine are getting a chance to participate in the shooting sports with an increased level of safety on behalf of new suppressors, rifles and ammunition contributed free of charge.

This spring, the Boy Scouts of America’s Pine Tree Council, which serves ten counties in central Maine, took possession of a windfall of gear with the help of gun rights groups and the shooting industry. That equipment is allowing the scouts at Camp William Hinds, a 280 acre facility in the state’s Sebago Lakes Region, to use suppressor-equipped rifles, pistols and shotguns during its week-long summer camps this year.

The equipment came from a variety of vendors to include Sturm, Ruger & Company, which chipped in eight American Rimfire .22 rifles with threaded barrels; a local federal firearms license holder, Furlong Custom Creations, who handled the transfer paperwork; and two suppressor companies, Gemtech and SilencerCo, who contributed both devices and ammunition.

Venture Scouts, aged 14 and up, are using suppressor-equipped Smith and Wesson 22s in their pistol course. (Photo: Gemtech)

Venture Scouts, aged 14 and up, are using suppressor-equipped Smith and Wesson 22s in their pistol course. (Photo: Gemtech)

More in my column at Guns.com

4 legal ‘thing that goes up’ stabilisers for pistol AR builds

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Super-short AR-15 guns that legally fall under the ATF’s definition of a pistol have been around for decades. However, in recent years these guns have been given a phenomenal jump in popularity due to the Bureau’s approval of a number of non-buttstock braces that can be fitted to these handguns to give the user the ability to fire the gun from a more supported position. We take a look at some of the better designs on the market.

According to the National Firearms Act of 1934 (the NFA), arms that the government thought to be too dangerous for over the counter sales, such as machine guns, suppressors, and short barreled rifles and shotguns, were regulated with an obscene $200 tax and special requirements to obtain one of these registered devices. When you take into account that $200 in 1934 is some $3500 in today’s dollars, you can see why this was thought so unachievable.

In regulating short-barreled rifles, the NFA states that any rifle less than 26-inches overall had to be registered and so regulated. However, as long as a pistol did not have a buttstock, and was made from the beginning as a handgun, it could be shorter than this requirement. That’s where these braces come in at..

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Read the rest in my column at University of Guns.com

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