Suppressors - Legal Issues

[Kched]

Has anyone been refused by their local Sheriff signing off on the Tax Paper for purchasing a Suppressor?
My Sheriff declined to sign mine:mad:, said he spoke to the ATF and they told him its illegal for me to own one if he didn't sign the paper.
He also said they (the ATF) told Him they are illegal in Mississippi.
I read elsewhere that if I have a Revocable Living Trust, I can present a copy to my FFL Guy and in that case I would not need the Sheriff's Signature to file the paperwork to the BATF.
Can anyone elaberate on this?
If I go that route and buy a Suppressor, and the Sheriff pays me a visit - Can I get arrested for popping tin cans in my back yard????

[PPK 32]

Your really need to check your states rules and regs. I am not saying this to be a smart@ss but you would be surprised at how misinformed officers are sometimes. Cop once tried to give me a ticket for no turn signals on a 1934 Oldsmobile, nice try but in Illinois if the car did not come equipped with features such as that, you cannot get a ticket. And I did use the proper hand signals. The officer was not to happy when I relayed this fact to him.

[southernshooter]

Where are you at in Ms. The Sheriff here in Jackson county don't have a problem. If you live in the city you can have the Chief sign off as well as a DA. If you form a trust or LLC you will not need the LEO signature. And the good thing about the trust is that you could put you and your spouse both on their and both of you can be in possession of it rather than just one person with a basic Form 4

[Kched]

Originally Posted by southernshooter

Where are you at in Ms. The Sheriff here in Jackson county don't have a problem. If you live in the city you can have the Chief sign off as well as a DA. If you form a trust or LLC you will not need the LEO signature. And the good thing about the trust is that you could put you and your spouse both on their and both of you can be in possession of it rather than just one person with a basic Form 4

Thanks SS,
I'm in Pearl River County, just outside city limits. Thats what my FFL Guy said also - go the route of the Revocable Living Trust....I don't know what my Sheriffs problem is, according to his secretary, he does not want to be held accountable if I do something bad and he has his name on the document. - I tried explaining to her, but it was still a NO Sign answer.....
I just find it hard to believe that the ATF told him that suppressors were illegal in Mississippi, I visited the ATF website and it tells you on there which states are legal and which ones are not.
If I were out to assisinate someone, I would surely not be wasting my time and hard earned money buying a suppressor and paying the taxes on the transfer -----

[southernshooter]

Up until about 4 or 5 years ago cans were illegal here in MS. I work a Jerry's Shootin Irons over here in Ocean Springs and we are a Class III dealer so I am fairly familiar with the process. If the sheriff is worried about liability he shouldn't be because he has sovereign immunity and ATF should have told him that. BTW what dealer are you transferring it through.

[UncleFudd]

Kched;

I am a class 111 dealer in Az for the past 35 years and have seen some problems such as you describe.
We have had sheriff and AGs, one or the other at times who refused to do their assigned duties and there was nothing anyone could do at the time except go around the blockage.

My point is you should be able to send your application to your States Attorney or Attorney General to sign as either are able and under the law recognized as signors for class 3 applications.
At least this is the procedure here and in many other states.
Southernshooter works at a class 3 dealer and would have more knowledge of this, but it would be another avenue to check.
Good luck on something that should not be a problem in the first place.
Maybe you should while your at it, write a big letter to the editer of your local rag and give the Sheriff some publicity about failing in his responsibilities to the community.

Take care and I sincerely hope you are able to find a worthwhile conclusion soon.

UncleFudd

[Vladimir]

If you need the AG's signature as well try getting that first and pointing out to the sheriff that his superior had no problem signing it.

[user]

If it's important to you, you can file a complaint in the local court of record (around here it's called the "circuit court") to compel the sheriff to do his duty (common law phrase for the cause of action is a "suit for a writ of mandamus"). That assumes it actually is a duty.

One thing to keep in mind is that a trust, a LLC, and every other kind of corporate entity is a separate person from you, legally speaking; it can sue and be sued, own property, etc. So you're creating a can of worms for yourself, what with tax reporting issues, personal property taxes, bank accounts, etc. And if you treat the corporate entity's property as your own, you may be guilty of the crime of embezzlement, the BATFE may say you're running a sham corporate entity for the purpose of evading regulations, the effect of which is you've got an unlicensed class 3 weapon, oops, there goes the next 20 years in Talladega (and I'm not talking about stock car races).

Get you a lawyer before you jump in with forms you get off the internet and crap like that.

[Kched]

Originally Posted by southernshooter

Up until about 4 or 5 years ago cans were illegal here in MS. I work a Jerry's Shootin Irons over here in Ocean Springs and we are a Class III dealer so I am fairly familiar with the process. If the sheriff is worried about liability he shouldn't be because he has sovereign immunity and ATF should have told him that. BTW what dealer are you transferring it through.

I am using Smiths Speed Shop in Purvis, nice Guy.
Its not that I need to be spending my money on things like that - I just like collecting things that other people think is very facinating, and i like Guns.
And up till a few weeks ago, I thought suppressors were still Illegal.

[jinn]

Originally Posted by UncleFudd

Kched;

I am a class 111 dealer in Az for the past 35 years and have seen some problems such as you describe.
We have had sheriff and AGs, one or the other at times who refused to do their assigned duties and there was nothing anyone could do at the time except go around the blockage.

My point is you should be able to send your application to your States Attorney or Attorney General to sign as either are able and under the law recognized as signors for class 3 applications.
At least this is the procedure here and in many other states.
Southernshooter works at a class 3 dealer and would have more knowledge of this, but it would be another avenue to check.
Good luck on something that should not be a problem in the first place.
Maybe you should while your at it, write a big letter to the editer of your local rag and give the Sheriff some publicity about failing in his responsibilities to the community.

Take care and I sincerely hope you are able to find a worthwhile conclusion soon.

UncleFudd

Godbehere's office refused to sign. Around 1980, I had no trouble whatsoever, the clerk went away to a back office, returned with signed papers, the signer never laid eyes on me.

[jinn]

Missouri is one of the states having suppressor "no-no" on the books. It is to be rescinded August 28, 2008.

[Charlie the sniper]

Can it be true !!, That it's easier in the UK, than America to get a suppressor ?????

" Mind you, they will not let us have the guns to go with them".

[Alpo]

Sure. In Europe, a silencer is considered good manners, so you can shoot without disturbing the neighbors. But here, back in 1934 (the height of the Depression) the theory was advanced that poor people would use their cheap, legal silencers to poach. So when they wrote the National Firearms Act (which was, supposedly, aimed at "Motorized Bandits", like Bonnie and Clyde, or Dillinger) they put silencers in it, along with machine guns and short barreled rifles and short barreled shotguns. That 200 dollar tax (when a good job, if you could find one, paid 25 dollars a month) effectively took them away from the "common people".

[mrkirker]

Kched,
While it may be legal to possess and shoot with a supressor, some states have rules regarding minimum distances from occupied dwellings and firearm use. While you may be perfectly legal in possessing and using the suppressor, if the local LEOs were bent outta shape, they might come calling on that issue, if they could apply it.

Just a thought . . . . . .

[Old Timer]

Yes, Charlie, it is. I used to work with some of the people there and they traded me a
Bell & Howell (?) .22 silencer, which I no longer have, of course. Another chap gave me an adapter to fit silencer to my bull-barreled Ruger. Some problems there though. The adapter was just a tad small (therefore the gift, but not with one of their high-quality silencers attached), but I was able to open it up so that the adapter more or less fit the barrel The adapter was fitted to the barrel with three small allen bolts, if I remember correctly. Damned thing pointed a different direction every time I put it on. I was initially disappointed with the sound moderator. It was quite loud, or seemed so to me (based on TV observation of silencers), but I gradually came to realize that loud to the shooter was not necessarily loud 20 - 50 yds away, or when fired inside a car or room. The small silencer was thumb sized and about six inches long. It was built like a tank part; well machined and quite heavy. I've been shown silencers by the MOD police that they said were almost completely silent. You know, the loudest part of shooting one was the slide cycling. Always wanted one of those for a .22, but never did get one.
I don't know how easy things are now. In 1990 I had to put my Browning pump on my firearms permit. When I was working in N. Yorks I had a shotgun permit for my game and skeet guns, a firearms permit for two rifles (.25/06 and .22, roe deer and rabbit control) and four handguns (.22, 9mmP, .38 and .45 ACP). Bet I couldn't own them now, since 1990. About every month or so the crime prevention officer of the local constabulary would drop by, count my guns and ammo, warn me about my vicious springer, have a cup and leave. He once surprised me with a big bucket of recently reloaded .38s and 9mms. He gave me a letter of repremand and said he'd better not see them again. Old Timer

[Charlie the sniper]

Suppressors/moderator/silencers, are very easy to own here in the UK. Yes you need to apply for it on your license(F.A.C). This is one time where those silly little "Health and Safety" rules come in handy. Noise levels are reduced, not only for the user but for other people around you.
We had one guy in my shooting club,who applied for a suppressor, the local firearms officer was being awkward with him. So he asked for a letter stating that they would not let him have a suppressor. When the firearms officer asked why, my friend said "simple, if my hearing or somebody else's gets damaged, I can hold you responsible", two days later, he was in his local gun shop, purchasing a T8 sound moderator.

One guy I shoot with uses a .22 Martini Henry rifle, with a silencer and subsonic ammo, it's that quiet, the only thing you hear is the pin striking the cartridge. People at the range's always think it's a dud round in the chamber.

You can own a pistol for "humane dispatch" if your a professional game keeper, some times limited to 2 or 3 rounds. Some Police forces are better than others at issuing these licenses. (section 5 firearm)