Silencer FAQs

• Relax! Your Silencer Transfer Dealer knows the process, so you don't have to. It's not complicated, but it requires patience waiting for the ATF to approve. You can buy your silencer from Alpha Silencer on this website or at a dealer in your state. A few days later, when we receive ATF approval, we then transfer your new silencer to your chosen silencer dealer for final transfer to you. You sit down with that dealer for a few minutes and fill out the ATF application together. The online ATF application asks for your identifying information and the usual prying questions about your felony background, illegal drug use, and other disqualifiers. They take your picture, fingerprints, $200 for the ATF Tax Stamp, and their transfer fee. Then, you go home and wait for the ATF approval. Your dealer will call you to come and pick up your silencer at their location, where you will do some final paperwork on the day you pick it up. The only thing you will need is your driver's license and credit card.

• In general, anyone who can own a handgun can also own a silencer! The purchaser must be at least 21 years of age, a legal resident of one of the 42 states that allow civilian ownership (not CA, DE, HI, IL, MA, NJ, NY, RI, or DC), pass a background check, including submitting fingerprints and a photograph. Additionally, the buyer must pay a $200 tax for each silencer and receive approval from the ATF. That last part has been averaging over nine months, so it is best to start ASAP. Please visit our How to Buy page and ATF Wait Times page for more detailed information and examples of all the forms needed.

Go to the ATF webpage https://www.atf.gov/resource-center/current-processing-times and look at Form 4 Trust and Form 4 Individual. You'll see numbers roughly between 6 and 12 months as typical. Other groups that track the ATF's performance are less optimistic and tend to be closer to 12 months. It takes about one week for Alpha Silencer to get ATF approval to ship your silencer to your dealer, a few days for shipping, and a few days for your local silencer dealer to arrange a good time for you to come in and fill out the online application with them. So get started ASAP to get shooting sooner!

• Note: The following is not legal advice, and we are not attorneys. The following is simply an aggregation of information that can be found online.

A trust is like a living will and may have multiple Trustees. When used as an NFA Trust, it is a revocable, living, legal document designed to allow multiple people to legally possess NFA/Title II items such as short-barreled rifles, shotguns, and especially silencers. If you choose, it can also hold common firearms or other items that you wish to pass on. A properly drafted NFA Trust will legally 'hold' these items on your behalf, typically in your possession, and clearly define who is authorized to possess and handle them (the "Trustees"). This may provide you with significant legal protection and allow more than one Trustee to possess the silencers in the trust. Typical costs online are under $100 and $500 at your lawyer's office. You will have control to name the Trustees. For example, your spouse, children, siblings, and/or a trusted friend could each be a trustee, but you could add or delete a friend or family member when you choose.

Each would qualify to possess the silencers or other items in the trust legally, so your brother would still be legal if you let him take a silencer on his hunting trip without you. This is particularly important because NFA firearms, like silencers, are more highly regulated than other firearms. Like wills, trusts are not registered with the government, except that you will submit a copy of the trust to the ATF each time you add an NFA item. Each Trustee, or Responsible Person, must complete a separate Responsible Person Form for the ATF application each time you add a silencer to the trust. Additional details can be seen on our Gun Trusts page.

• Suppressors are taking over the shooting world, and for good reason. They make shooting far safer and far more enjoyable for you and those nearby. Smart shooters now use them for home defense, hunting, indoor and outdoor ranges, plinking, competition, training, law enforcement, and military uses. They play a crucial role in protecting your hearing and the hearing of others, improving the accuracy of your rifle, significantly reducing felt recoil (much more than a muzzle brake), crushing muzzle flash, adding to the enjoyment of shooting, decreasing the impact on the neighbors, and saving the planet. Little AOC approved and loved by all Prius owners; you gotta shoot suppressed!