Has the process for buying National Firearms Act (NFA) items overwhelmed, dissuaded or frustrated you? You’re far from the only one. From feeling burdened by paperwork, lack of dealer options in rural areas, and (until recently) the wait times, the process seems designed to be the punishment. In a recent conversation with a contact at Griffin Armament, I found out about how they’re working with Capitol Armory to bring Silencers To Your Door. The program can be a great service over a nearby brick and mortar dealer near your home, which sometimes can have a limited selection, and offers another option with a wide selection for buyers familiar with shopping through similar online suppressor services. It also allows you to shop more competitively, while they walk you through every step of the process.
So, what exactly is the program? Capitol Armory bills itself as “The nation’s largest dealer specializing in NFA/Class 3 weapons, with a particular focus on suppressors.” A nationwide FFL, Capitol Armory handles the transfer process from start to finish, where their in-state rep mails you your can right to your front door. I completed every step of this transfer from within my home. Let’s break it down with a little more detail than Griffin Armament or Capitol Armory provides.
Note: my steps listed are slightly out of order from what CA has listed on their site. This is the order I did things in, which follows closely but not exactly.
Step 1: Buy Your Can
I went to Griffin Armament’s site and registered as a user, picked out the can I wanted and then bought it. Easy. I got an email shortly after from Capitol Armory, guiding me through the next steps. It’s worth noting you can purchase the can outright or use Sezzle to make payments. I didn’t use Sezzle, so I can’t offer experience with that, but it seems like a straightforward service that allows you to make payments on your suppressor.
Step 2: Pay That Tax
I got an email directing me to Capitol Armory to pay my ATF tax stamp through them. Capitol Armory deals with the ATF during the entirety of this process, including tax stamp payment. After registering on the Capitol Armory site, this ran the usual $200, plus a $6 surcharge.
Step 3: Check Your Mail
Griffin Armament sent out a welcome packet that included fingerprint cards, ink and little wet wipes for my fingers. I did my own prints, filled out the info blocks specified and mailed them back. I took my own selfie against a blank wall as well for the Form 4 photo.
Capitol Armory digitizes your prints and keeps them on file for future purchases. If you end up purchasing another suppressor through Silencers To Your Door in the future, the process goes even faster.
Step 4: Fill In The Blanks
Next, I went back to Capitol Armory’s site and filled out my personal information for the ATF Form 4. This included uploading a copy of my driver’s license to verify it showed my current legal address (important!) and uploading the photo I took earlier.
Capitol Armory will also help you form a 50-state legal trust if you want ease of transfer after death and NFA item-sharing between adult trust members.
Step 5: Certify
Once I submitted all of my paper/computer work to Capitol Armory, they went over everything with a fine toothed comb to make sure there wouldn’t be issues with the ATF once submitted. Once that step is complete, it’s time to Certify. During this brief process, you set up a video chat meeting with a Capitol Armory employee, who screen-shares to your computer. The helpful guide walked me through the paperwork step by step so I could confirm everything was correct and true.
Once I verified everything was correct, Capitol Armory electronically filed my ATF Form 4.
Step 6: Wait, But Not For Long
I quickly received my email stating my Form 4 had been submitted, and less than 24 hours later, it had been moved to approved status. I logged in to Capitol Armory again to generate and verify the form 4473.
Capital Armory submitted the form and also handled the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) notification, which the ATF requires. My local CLEO responded to the notification quickly, which kicked off the mandatory (ATF) 7-business-day waiting period before the suppressor could be mailed to my home address.
Shortly after that, I had UPS knocking on my door and asking for a signature. Now, I’m the happy owner of the Griffin Armament M4SD-L that kicked off this whole adventure.
Why or Why Not?
I can already see the comments section in my mind.
“My local FFL has the can I want in stock, I don’t need to do all this extra work.” No, not every single person is going to find a big benefit with Silencers To Your Door, but then, not many people live close enough to a gun shop or retailer that has the selection an online retailer can sometimes offer.
Griffin General Issue members can certainly benefit from Silencers To Your Door. Not all dealers choose to honor the discounts given my Griffin Armament to Military (active, reserve, honorably discharged, disabled), Law Enforcement, First Responders, and more. So, customers have the option to buy direct from Griffin Armament, guaranteeing the General Issue discount.
Most customers though, will see benefits beyond the above mentioned discount. Especially on the second time through, when your fingerprints/trust information is already on file, and you can neatly sidestep one of the biggest steps: waiting on mail, fingerprinting and mailing back.
Furthermore, there’s a lot of potential customers out there who either have no cans that they want in stock at the local shop, don’t have a local FFL for NFA items or feel pressured into buying a can they don’t really want just because it’s in stock locally.
For all of these customers, the Silencers To Your Door program can be a big benefit. Getting the can online can add a handful of days to the entire process, assuming everything would have gone perfectly had you done it yourself or gone through a local SOT. The number of people who run into issues with their form 4’s and have to resubmit, or even refile entirely, is not inconsequential. Capitol Armory provides the safety net of an experienced professional who literally has the job of fixing Form 4’s all day long. So, whether you’re experienced and want a smooth transfer, or a suppressor novice and want a guiding hand, Silencers To Your Door makes sense.
