[Corvette95]

Can anyone explain to me, knowing NOTHING, about the subject the benefits and drawbacks of a gun trust? I have a decent personal collection of rifles, and considering a silencer but seems like a lot of hoops. Research on the silencer is where I came upon the gun trust. I don't quite understand and moreso, with the political climate and coming administration, would it in "theory" prevent taxing already purchased guns and also give me more standing to keep all my guns in the event of the highly unlikely scenario of some left field law or SCOTUS ruling. I realize this is most likely never going to happen but the tax thing might have legs. Thanks to all!

 

[45Auto]

Think of it this way, a trust is like a person, and this make believe "trust person" owns the stuff, such as firearms and silencers. Now, you are the trustee of the trust, so you decide what to do with the stuff owned by the trust. There have been some rulings about class three firearms in trusts, and it can get complicated. As far as taxes, I'm not sure if a trust will help you avoid taxes. That question is highly specialized. With any luck, someone with more experience will educate us about that.

 

[Pawpaw40]

I have a gun trust. There is a silencer and an SBR registered to the trust. I am the trustee of the trust, therefore I have control of whatever is in the trust. There is a list of beneficiaries of the trust. They can use whatever is in the trust, without the trustee present. If I die, the primary beneficiary becomes the trustee. The trust is the actual owner of whatever is listed as being in the trust, and as the trustee, I can add or remove things from the trust. As trustee, I can also add or remove beneficiaries of the trust. You will need a lawyer licensed in the state of your residence to create a trust. In times past, your beneficiaries did not need to be photographed or fingerprinted to be beneficiaries of an NFA gun trust, but that is not true anymore, if adding an NFA item to the trust, all beneficiaries along with the trustee must submit photographs and fingerprints to the ATF. Since that change, there are no longer much in the way of benefits to an NFA gun trust other than beneficiaries may be in possession of the NFA item without the "owner" (trustee) present, and it is slightly less problematic if the "owner" (trustee) dies. I am not a lawyer, the laws may be different in your state of residence. This is a simple explanation that I was given when I had my trust created.

 

[Afshin]

There is one more thing I would add to what PawPaw said above. The biggest advantage to having a trust is that you no longer need a signature from the local sheriff. As gun friendly as Dallas is, the sheriff is well known for not signing for ownership of class III items. So I went the trust route. You can find reputable lawyers online who have done this many times before and they'll setup your paperwork for you and you just have to sign and notarize them.

Also makes it easy to pass your class III items on to the next in line person in the future as Pawpaw mentioned.

 

[Pawpaw40]

The requirement for a signature of a chief law enforcement officer on a certification of an NFA item is no longer required. It is now only a notification requirement. This is true for a trust or simple ownership/registration.

Is the chief law enforcement officer required to sign the law enforcement certification on ATF Form 1 or ATF Form 4? | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

www.atf.gov

 

[Afshin]

Great to know, I wasn't aware of that change. Thanks.