The Elusive NFATCA Petition that Prompted the ATF to Enter into Rulemaking Regarding Silencer Engravings

As Chief Counsel Joshua Prince reported back in May, the organization responsible for ATF 41P/F, the National Firearms Trade and Collectors Association (“NFATCA”) had once again petitioned Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) to enter into rulemaking, this time in relation to silencer engravings.

The docket specified that copies of the petition would be available on www.regulations.gov and in the ATF Reading Room which is located in Washington, D.C. After having inspected the docket, there was no sign of the petition which was purportedly available for inspection.

After doing some digging, I was able to obtain a copy of the Petition that NFATCA had filed with ATF back in 2008. As noted in the docket, ATF had previously released guidance to the industry regarding the marking of silencers.

NFATCA in its petition stated “There has been an overwhelmingly negative response from the members of our trade to this particular guidance . . . there is strong policy agreement between ATF and our trade that only the silencer [outer] tube should be marked in accordance with the marking requirements of Parts 478 and 479 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations. . . . Allowing end caps to be the possible marking location for silencers does constitute a serious public safety issue in the areas of diversion, tracing, and evasion of other NFA rules.”

NFATCA went on to say “[w]e have also been further advised that the Bureau does not see how they would be able to take any adverse legal action against a person or entity that should decide to mark the end caps of a silencer without promulgating a change in the regulations.”

As a result, NFATCA requested that ATF “immediately draft and propose to the Attorney General an emergency regulation prohibiting marking a silencer in a location other than the tube, unless a variance is granted by the Director on a case by case basis for good cause”.

Also included with the Petition are the exhibits that NFATCA references in its Petition.

Of particular interest is that NFATCA, an organization which purports to represent the industry and individual collectors, actually asked for more regulations which would restrict the flexibility of the industry and requested that the regulations be adopted as “emergency” measures without going through the Administrative Procedures Act notice and comment period.

If you are interested in leaving a comment in opposition to the proposed regulatory change, head on over to www.regulations.gov and search for “ATF 29P” or click here. Comments are due on or before August 2, 2016.

If you found this blog post helpful or informative, be sure to share it with your friends by clicking the buttons below. Don’t forget to like Firearms Industry Consulting Group and Prince Law Offices on Facebook!