If you're going to purchase a NFA weapon then
the best way to do it is to purchase a Secure Gun Trust, then purchase the NFA
weapon with the trust. This offers you a multitude of advantages over
purchasing a NFA weapon any other way.
Less Hoops to Jump Through in Your Registration with the ATF
Purchasing NFA weapons (aka Title II weapons)
through a trust protects some of your personal information from being
registered with the government. If you register with the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE, aka ATF) as an individual
you will have to submit a passport style photograph, and fingerprints with your
application. If you register with the BATFE to purchase NFA weapons with
a trust you can simply skip this step.
If you register with the BATFE as an
individual, you will have to ask the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) in
your area to sign a statement that certifies that you can own a machine gun,
silencer, or other Title II item. This requires you to put yourself
out there with your local law enforcement as owning Title II guns, and
depending on the area that you are in, a lot of the time you will simply be
unable to get a CLEO to sign that certification for you. With a NFA
Trust, you do not need to submit a CLEO signature with your BATFE application.
The Secure Gun Trust is Attorney Drafted Specifically to Hold
NFA Weapons
Secure Gun Trust.com provides you with a trust
drafted by an attorney that was specifically designed to hold NFA weapons and
pass them to your beneficiaries. If you do not want your NFA weapons
going through the court process known as probate when you die, then you can
pass them through the complete privacy and seamlessness that a Secure Gun Trust
provides. Furthermore, because the Secure Gun Trust was designed
specifically to hold NFA weapons, it was designed so that the weapons are held
in trust until the beneficiaries are eligible to receive them. Generic
living trusts would have your NFA weapons pass to the beneficiaries upon your
death, regardless of whether or not it would put the beneficiaries at risk of
being in unlawful possession of a Title II gun. This trust was designed
with that specifically in mind.
A Trust is a Completely Private Document
A trust has advantages over forming a corporation
or LLC to purchase the NFA weapons. A corporation or LLC is similar to a
trust in that those entities do not have to submit a photograph, signature, or
obtain a CLEO signature along with the BATFE form. However, a corporation
or LLC must be registered with the State, the registration documents are
public, and they have reporting requirements. A NFA trust is a completely
private document that never has to report to anyone.
Protection for Your Beneficiaries and Other Who You Wish to Use
the NFA Weapons
A NFA Trust allows you
to list close friends, family, or anyone that you trust enough to be a Trustee.
A Trustee will be legally entitled to use and possess NFA firearms.
If you registered a NFA firearm as an individual, you are basically the
only person that can touch the NFA firearm. A NFA Trust offers protection
to your loved ones who you choose to list as Trustees.
