Suppressors Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

[COLOSHOOTR]

Well long story short I got ticked off about the long wait times a couple weeks ago and decident to write my congressman about it. I figured I'd go for fight I thought could be won and request that they look into streamlining the current system to reduce wait times rather then arguing about taking suppressors off the NFA like we'd all like to see done. I actually never expected to get a repy but I did feel better that I actually did something about it......

Then I pick up my phone after a meeting at work and find a voice message from a DC area code. It actually was my representitives office calling me and telling me that they agreed with my points and that they were going to present the issue to the Judiciary committee that has oversight of the ATF. He said they would see if they could come up with a fix but no promises.

We all know how politics work and they may or may not actually follow though with this. I know some of the industry guys have written congress about the issue but I think it's about time we, the regular joe shooters, start making a little more noise. If we all write congress and get our friends who shoot to write too it will be much harder for them to ignore the issue then it is with just me writing. Fixing the broken system would go a long way to help our sport by promoting more sales and keeping the industry guys in business. Plus the .gov should be happy with more sales because each $200 stamp is easy money in the bank! Just do a search for your Representitive HERE and tell them the system needs fixed

 

[SAATG]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

Love to see the effort on your part.

But, I wouldn't hold your breath on that. Especially with all the shit thats going on right now with the ATF and Operation Fast & Furious; which was all a ploy for the Obama administration to bring up Assault weapons bans again IMO.

 

[HPLLC]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

That's a great idea- we do have a representative form of government, but if no-one voices a concern to it, representation of the issues that matter to you will never see the light of day.

I wouldn't doubt they will raise the issue. What they are saying is that they cannot guaranty results- that's because they can talk to the ATF and that puts pressure on them, but they don't actually RUN THE ATF. That's not the end of the world, as the committee does exist for a purpose, and their recommendations do matter.

Really what would be most helpful is figuring out who is on the ATF oversight committee and certainly those people would be the most important representatives for people to contact.

 

[jakhamr81]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

The most likely course of action, if the ball does get rolling on this would be to send members of the General Accounting Office over to the ATF NFA branch to conduct an investigation. The GAO reps would then report their findings on how the NFA branch is currently operating and recommendations on how they could be more efficient.

I just got done speaking with these guys and gals about my job.

 

[colt933]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

We had a problem where ATF didn't cash the check or send us our new FFL when we submitted the renewal. They claimed that they didn't have it. But we had a signature and date from signature confirmation with USPS. But still no dice.

So we called our congressman. His aid called the Atlanta licensing office at about 4:00 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon and gave them the evidence that they did in fact have the packet. They called back at 9:00 a.m. on Friday stating that they had miraculously found it - behind a file cabinet on the floor.

Whether their story is BS or not is hard to say, but one thing is for certain: when we got our congressman involved, we got results in under 24 hours.

 

[HPLLC]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: colt933</div><div class="ubbcode-body">We had a problem where ATF didn't cash the check or send us our new FFL when we submitted the renewal. They claimed that they didn't have it. But we had a signature and date from signature confirmation with USPS. But still no dice.
</div></div>

We had a similar situation where we send some important paperwork (to add person of interest to our FFL)- basically an everything you need kit for identity theft- fingerprints, passport photos, name and address, DOB, SSN etc.

The paperwork was signed for and lost. We lucked out and it was found about 10 weeks later.

 

[raider1v1]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

Yes! i was wondering what happened with this. Is there a form letter that we can send or should we just call and speak with an aid?

 

[COLOSHOOTR]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

Well did a quick search on that and here are the members of the House Judiciary Committee that has oversight of the ATF. Committee Members

 

[HPLLC]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: COLOSHOOTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well did a quick search on that and here are the members of the House Judiciary Committee that has oversight of the ATF. Committee Members </div></div>

That's interesting. It turns out my congressman is on the committee. I'll have to visit and check progress on my requests when I get home in a few weeks.

 

[raider1v1]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: COLOSHOOTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well did a quick search on that and here are the members of the House Judiciary Committee that has oversight of the ATF. Committee Members </div></div>

damn. double damn. my state isnt on that committee at all and theres 8 from CA.

 

[Silenced America]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

COLOSHOOTER, please send me an email @ [email protected]. I just received the response from the Asst. Deputy Director of the ATF from my congressman's request. He wasn't happy with the response and sent a subsequent letter over. I think we are on the right track here...find the people in congress that hold some influence over the ATF/DOJ.

I wonder if 1 of those 8 Californians is in the same district where Surefire manufacturers suppressors? With their huge military contract and small business status (and showing large manufacturing growth), this could be a good way to influence the Californians. Just some food for thought.

I have been working on several congressman and senators with some success. I have an idea for a "contact your congressman" campaign, but I need to get everything lined out perfectly first so that it is smooth sailing.

 

[raider1v1]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silenced America</div><div class="ubbcode-body">COLOSHOOTER, please send me an email @ [email protected]. I just received the response from the Asst. Deputy Director of the ATF from my congressman's request. He wasn't happy with the response and sent a subsequent letter over. I think we are on the right track here...find the people in congress that hold some influence over the ATF/DOJ.

I wonder if 1 of those 8 Californians is in the same district where Surefire manufacturers suppressors? With their huge military contract and small business status (and showing large manufacturing growth), this could be a good way to influence the Californians. Just some food for thought.

I have been working on several congressman and senators with some success. I have an idea for a "contact your congressman" campaign, but I need to get everything lined out perfectly first so that it is smooth sailing. </div></div>

sorry, could you give a bit more detail on the first part? who wasnt happy, the ATF or the Congressman? From the phrasing I took it as the congressman didnt like the answer they got and send a 2nd communication.

about the surefire company, i dont know if that angle would work or not since its military vs civilian.

 

[Silenced America]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Raider1v1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
sorry, could you give a bit more detail on the first part? who wasnt happy, the ATF or the Congressman? From the phrasing I took it as the congressman didnt like the answer they got and send a 2nd communication.

about the surefire company, i dont know if that angle would work or not since its military vs civilian. </div></div>

Congressman Thornberry did not like the response from the ATF, so he did not let them off of the hook and sent them another request. Surefire sells to civillians, not just the military. If the Cali congress-people (PC BS) want the jobs that were created by military contracts at SF to stay after the contracts are up, they might want to help with the process. Who knows? I really don't care if someone tells me no. I just write another letter, call another office, pester some other staffer, or whatever it takes.

I look at it like I can sit idly by and bitch about how bad this whole thing sucks or I can get off of my ass and attempt to make a change. I will stick to the latter.

 

[HPLLC]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Silenced America</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Raider1v1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
sorry, could you give a bit more detail on the first part? who wasnt happy, the ATF or the Congressman? From the phrasing I took it as the congressman didnt like the answer they got and send a 2nd communication.

about the surefire company, i dont know if that angle would work or not since its military vs civilian. </div></div>

Congressman Thornberry did not like the response from the ATF, so he did not let them off of the hook and sent them another request. Surefire sells to civillians, not just the military. If the Cali congress-people (PC BS) want the jobs that were created by military contracts at SF to stay after the contracts are up, they might want to help with the process. Who knows? I really don't care if someone tells me no. I just write another letter, call another office, pester some other staffer, or whatever it takes.

I look at it like I can sit idly by and bitch about how bad this whole thing sucks or I can get off of my ass and attempt to make a change. I will stick to the latter. </div></div>

I'm going back to my congressman when I'm home in a few weeks, because I have dealers up my ass about getting products, and form 3's are taking more than ~2 months to be approved <that's not the real problem so much as: there should not even be a delay in shipping from one SOT dealer to another.

This is a waste of time and time is money.

We need a computer system to transfer the product from one dealer to another.

Meanwhile I recently bought a suppressor and that seller had a different examiner and their transfer took 2 weeks. <span style="font-weight: bold">Why should one entity wait 2 months when another waits 2 weeks? The government is all about equal opportunity. Well where the hell is that? </span>

It's not going to make or break most people (obviously we've put up with this bullshit for more than 4 years), but I think a business that pays utilities and rent by the month should be able to negotiate a sale in the same month. That only makes sense.

 

[texasgrunt]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: COLOSHOOTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well did a quick search on that and here are the members of the House Judiciary Committee that has oversight of the ATF. Committee Members </div></div>

I am inexperienced in this arena, but am seriously interested in suppressing several of my rifles as well as a SBR or two. I live in Texas and have one of the commitee members as my Congressman (Ted Poe). If someone will give a little insight as to what would be helpful to send my rep, I would be more than willing to give my little push. I have several friends here in the same district that would be willing to help as well.

I assume some pressure from consumers/citizens would be helpful?

Grunt

 

[COLOSHOOTR]

Re: Got somewhat good news from Washington.....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: texasgrunt</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: COLOSHOOTR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well did a quick search on that and here are the members of the House Judiciary Committee that has oversight of the ATF. Committee Members </div></div>

I am inexperienced in this arena, but am seriously interested in suppressing several of my rifles as well as a SBR or two. I live in Texas and have one of the commitee members as my Congressman (Ted Poe). If someone will give a little insight as to what would be helpful to send my rep, I would be more than willing to give my little push. I have several friends here in the same district that would be willing to help as well.

I assume some pressure from consumers/citizens would be helpful?

Grunt </div></div>

I just covered the wait makes no sense, They cash checks right away but make you wait 6-8months before you can use the item you spent money on, The background check seems to be almost the same as for buying a gun (make sure you're legally able to own), the system could be automated and much faster, NFA stuff isn't so evil and they are hardly ever used in crimes, that cans don't make guns silent like the secret agent movies, that suppressors are good because they save our hearing, you need a can to be competitive in competition now days, they are good for LE use and we have to buy our own gear a lot of the time due to budget issues so it affects LEO's.

I also covered that it's good for the industry. Keeps the guys in small business's running. With the economy the way it has been we need to support the industry guys such as the ones active in this thread and we need to support our local shops and help keep them in business and help them grow. A shorter wait time and more streamlined process would probably attract more buyers that won't buy because the system is the way it is. More sales is also good for the .gov too because they get $200 in free tax money from each sale.

That is just the basics that I covered. I went into a lot of detail and made it sound intelligent though. I also did not argue about the system as it is. Many of us, me included, do not think suppressors should be NFA items but thats a big battle we probably won't win at this time so I just requested the current system be fixed.