by Ian K. Friedman, Esq.
It has been reported by one of the moderators at the AR-15.com message board (who covers NFA sub-forums) that there has been a significant amount of new hirings recently at the NFA Branch (which handles approvals for Tax Stamps for NFA items). The moderator “tony_k” reported that, “There now are two Section Chiefs (examiner supervisors), eight Specialists and 14 Examiners to plow through our 62,000 pending applications.” He also stated that the state assignments are in a (forgive the pun) state of flux at the moment and that nearly half of the “new examiners are newbies.”
While the increase in the number of examiners is always good news, the backlog caused by the Government shutdown and the threat caused by ATF 41P (which there is still time to file your opposition to if you haven’t already at this link and before that, reading our previous articles on how the rule making process works and how to structure your comments) has simultaneous increased the back log to the point where people are being told that the wait for a tax stamp is now 15 months.
We will continue to keep you apprised of changes, as we learn of them, including, hopefully, REDUCED approval times.
Prince Law Offices Blog 
Wait times had already reached six to nine months before ATF 41P was announced and before the partial government shutdown, so I would not excuse the backlog on those bases. Moreover, ATF had some flexibility in determining how to reduce staffing levels during the shutdown so, again, I would not let ATF management off the hook.
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I agree about responsibility, but I do think it helped to exacerbate matters, more ATF 41P, than the shutdown.
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I am not sure how before the 17 day shutdown there was a 9 month wait and after the govt. shutdown it is now 15 months????????? 17 days + 9months+ 15 months ?????????????????
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Keep in mind you also had the effect of ATF 41P, encouraging people to send off for NFA items at a rate far more than would be normal.
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It wouldn’t surprise me if before the shut down vs. after people bought a lot more NFA items. Look at what happens after a scare especially in the times were in. After Sandy Hook you could not find any ammo or an AR for under 2k(thats a lowball figure). So after witnessing that, it doesn’t surprise me that in 17 days, the amount of pending apps doubled. That seems to follow suit with whats been going on lately in the gun world. People thought the S was going to hit the fan during that, and I’m glad it didn’t, so they may be preparing extra now. Who knows, its a government thing. Impossible to explain lol.
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