Reports of Mass Disapprovals of eForm 1 Silencers

[This is an ongoing story with updates posted on the bottom.]

Starting today, February 28, 2022, many users who submitted BATFE eForm 1's to make and register their own silencer began receiving emails with denials.

Here's an image from the FRAC Instagram Page:

The official wording is:

Reason for Disapproval:

A SILENCER IS DEFINED UNDER FEDERAL LAW TO INCLUDE, IN RELEVANT PART, ANY COMBINATION OF PARTS, DESIGNED OR REDESIGNED, AND INTENDED FOR USE IN ASSEMBLING OR FABRICATING A FIREARM SILENCER OR FIREARM MUFFLER, AND ANY PART INTENDED ONLY FOR USE IN SUCH ASSEMBLY OR FABRICATION. SEE GUN CONTROL ACT (GCA) AT 18 U.S.C.921(A)(24) AND NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT (NFA) AT 26 U.S.C. 5845. PARTS THAT FALL UNDER THE DEFINITION OF SILENCER MUST COMPLY WITH THE REGISTRATION, TAX, AND TRANSFER PROVISIONS OF THE NFA. UPON REVIEW OF YOUR EFORM 1 APPLICATION, THE PART FROM WHICH YOU INTEND TO MAKE A SILENCER ALREADY MEETS THE NFAS DEFINITION OF SILENCER. THE PART WAS NOT REGISTERED NOR TRANSFERRED IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE NFA, THEREFORE, YOUR EFORM 1 APPLICATION TO MAKE A SILENCER IS DISAPPROVED. NFA DIVISION NOTES THAT IT IS UNLAWFUL FOR YOU TO POSSESS A SILENCER MADE OR TRANSFERRED IN VIOLATION OF THE NFA. 26 U.S.C. 5861(B)(C).

Some months ago the BATFE determined that parts kits solely from Diversified Machine were now silencers.

It looks like the BATFE may have decided solvent trap kits are silencers/silencer parts themselves. It's important to note that it appears all eForm 1s for silencers are being kicked back whether or not it was disclosed that solvent trap parts were used. And plenty of people have rolled their own with the aid of a lathe and Home Depot.

The “Ask the Experts” line just says to wait for an official announcement.

It's also noteworthy that we are not currently hearing similar reports about eForm 1 short barreled rifles.

Questions Currently Unanswered:
-Will people receiving these new disapprovals be receiving their $200 back?
-Will all eForm 1 silencers be denied from now on? (IE, will only SOTs be able to manufacture them?)
-Will current solvent traps be subject to seizure, if they are to be unilaterally determined to be unregistered silencers?
-What of already-approved tax stamps which used these parts in construction?

LATEST

Some have been receiving this email:

FRAC Action posted this:

It reads:

Dear Industry Members and Supporters:

The news broke yesterday that the ATF has been erroneously and unjustifiably denying Form 1 suppressor (“silencer”) applications as well as emerging indications that they may move to cancel the registration of previously-registered suppressors based on after-the-fact and legally bankrupt interpretations of law and in reliance on secret guidance documents not available to the American People.

As I'm sure many of you are aware, the NFA has been historically peddled as a tax law, with the basis for its constitutionality being predicated upon the collection of tax and the corresponding NFA registry being strictly upheld on the basis that it is necessary for the government's efforts to track such taxable events (makings and transfers of NFA firearms). The ATF, as the statutorily designated tax collector, has an obligation to accept those filings and to collect the corresponding tax in good faith, without retribution, and while respecting the privacy of the taxpayer. Such payment and collection thereby both remove the taxpayer from criminal liability for the non- payment of the tax (and the possession of an untaxed article) and generates revenue for the U.S. Treasury. This is the constitutional basis for the NFA, and the ATF's specific statutory purpose with regard to this law.

If this latest abuse proves to indeed be true, the ATF has crossed a serious line here. Any such conduct demonstrates that they do not view their role as neutral tax collectors—a role that government attorneys have peddled to federal courts for decades to get this law upheld against constitutional scrutiny—as a sacrosanct role of governance that must be carefully carried out through principled actions. Rather, their actions indicate an abject disregard for both the constitutional basis for the tax law in which they enforce, as well as a gross disregard of basic regulatory and governmental duties owed to the American People.

We are actively circulating this issue through Congressional channels and will explore all legal options available in coordination with other allies in the industry and advocacy realms. FRAC sees them, the industry sees them, the American People see them, and we will not take this sitting down.

–Travis R. White

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