Whether you’re turning an existing pistol or rifle into a short barreled rifle (SBR), sawing off the barrel on your shotgun to create an SBS, or making your own silencer, you’ll need to first file and receive approval on the ATF Form 1 and pay your $200 tax. If you’re inclined to turn a braced pistol into an SBR right now to “take advantage of” ATF’s tax forbearance, you’re almost out of time!
Technically designated ATF Form 5320.1, Application to Make and Register a Firearm, the “Form 1” is used when you want to turn an existing, Title 1 / GCA gun into an NFA item (Title 2). If you can pass the standard NICS check when filling out a Form 4473 for the purchase of a standard gun, you are almost certain to be approved for a Form 1. It’s more about registration and tax payment than it is any sort of enhanced background check.
Thanks to the ability to eFile a Form 1 and to the lower volume of Form 1s as compared to Form 4s (transfer and registration of an existing NFA item, like when you buy a silencer or SBR retail), approval on an eForm 1 typically takes just 4 to 6 weeks.
I’m aware of two primary ways to submit an eForm 1: via the ATF eForms system and via Silencer Shop. Not gonna lie, Silencer Shop makes it so much quicker and more foolproof that I’m going to focus on that process first and in more detail.
If you don’t already have an account at Silencer Shop, that’s the first step. In there you enter your relevant information and upload a headshot-style selfie. If a dealer in your area has a Silencer Shop Kiosk, you can use it to quickly and easily submit your fingerprints in digital form. If not, Silencer Shop can provide you with a fingerprint card and ink to do it the old fashioned way and then mail it in.
If you’ve previously purchased a silencer or done any other Form 4 through Silencer Shop, your info is already there. You may just have to snap a new photo since it has to be less than a year old.
To create a new Form 1 submission, just click the “Start a New Form 1” tab and then enter your firearm information as it is engraved on the gun. You can even upload a photo(s) of the engravings, as the Silencer Shop compliance team reviews your submission for accuracy and will even verify that you’ve read and entered the relevant firearm information correctly.
That’s it! Once Compliance reviews your information you simply click the “Certify” button and Silencer Shop’s software syncs directly with ATF eForms to complete the official submission.
What this actually means is that Silencer Shop — the compliance folks and the software — is handling all of the following tasks for you behind the scenes:
• fingerprint submission to ATF
• passport style photograph submission to ATF
• CLEO notification to your county’s chief law enforcement officer and confirmation of notification to ATF
• Form 1 cover letter submission to ATF
• review and optimization of your firearm trust if you’re filing as a trust
• Form 5320.23 (responsible person questionnaire) creation, optimization, and submission to ATF
• quality assurance check by Silencer Shop Compliance Specialists
And that, really, is the biggest difference between using Silencer Shop and attempting to navigate the ATF’s eForms website on your own. Not only is that system slow and clunky and you’ll be responsible for completing all of the forms, CLEO notification, etc. on your own, but in my experience (based on doing it myself a few times plus having a couple dozen customers and friends email/text questions to me) the section where you have to enter your firearm information is not very straightforward.
In it, for example, you’re presented with drop-down menus via which you’re supposed to select the manufacturer and model of the firearm you’re starting with, and it’s a bit of a mess with multiple, very slightly different options for the same manufacturers plus missing information on models, calibers, and more. It gets even more complicated with an imported firearm where the legal “manufacturer” may be the importer rather than the overseas company that actually made the gun originally.
Anyway, for $50 Silencer Shop takes care of all of this for you, verifies it, ensures your trust and/or all other information is formatted correctly, and jumps through all of the other hoops for you. They have the lowest ATF form error rate in the industry, which is great because nothing stinks more than having to re-submit applications due to minor typos or other mistakes!
Should you want to go through Silencer Shop for a tax-exempted Form 1 SBR registration on a pistol brace-equipped pistol that you currently own, Silencer Shop is cutting these off after April 26th. You have another week! I do not personally like the idea of using this ATF-offered tax forbearance (frankly, if you want to SBR your pistol, which is always a sweet idea!, I’d suggest paying your $200 tax and filing a normal Form 1), but I’m not your mom and if you want to do it I’d still say do it through Silencer Shop.
Now, go out and create some NFA items!
