Gun trusts seem to be everywhere nowadays. You can’t enter an online gun forum or a physical gun shop dealing with tightly restricted weapons without hearing someone discussing them. Using a gun trust is one of many significant decisions to make when purchasing a silencer, machine gun, or short-barreled rifle (SBR).
So, what is a gun trust? How did they become so popular? A gun trust is both a prudent means of securing National Firearms Act (NFA) weapons and an estate planning document.
An NFA trust, alternatively referred to as a gun trust, Class 3 trust, Title II trust, or As Trustee For (ATF) trust, is a type of legal trust used in the United States for the purpose of registering and owning NFA firearms.
A gun trust enables NFA firearm owners to register their firearms and designate trustees who are authorized to use or access firearms. Additionally, a gun trust enables the legal transfer of an NFA firearm to the original owner’s heirs.
You can work with a gun trust attorney to ensure that your gun trust meets all requirements for legally transferring your NFA firearms upon your passing.
When buying a gun trust, there are several factors to consider. With that in mind, let’s first discuss a few factors that need careful thought before purchasing a firearm.
Physical And Mental Preparedness
Are you willing to shoot to protect yourself or your family? Do you think you’ll be able to keep cool and make rational decisions in a stressful situation if you have to draw your gun? It can be difficult to decide because no one knows when or how a life-threatening scenario will occur – but you can plan. That’s why training is necessary.
There are defensive-shooting classes that provide real-life scenarios that you can practice in order to keep your mind and skills strong under extreme pressure.
Do you have any religious or moral views that restrict you from defending yourself or your family using a gun? Also, can you really defend yourself and your family, physically?For example, you may need crutches or a walking boot due to a medical condition, or you may not be as fit as you’d want to be. These physical limits must be taken into account when training.
Lifelong Commitment
Being a careful gun owner requires commitment. It involves money and effort. Investing time, effort, and money in proper firearms training is highly encouraged. Being well-trained will make you a better shooter by recognizing and improving your weak points.
Enrolling in a basic introductory class is an excellent place to start for new or aspiring gun owners. For more knowledgeable gun owners, consider training to speed up follow-up shots or adding movement to drills. This is true for any type of gun, as even airgun suppliers will readily attest to this important advice.
This is a lifelong commitment since gun safety and shooting skills require constant refreshing. It’s also critical for shooters of all levels to constantly find new skill sets to learn and maintain during range time.
Set Up Cost
Trusts are documents that are fundamentally legal concepts that differ by state. Each state has its own trust law, and trusts must be written to meet both state and ATF requirements. That is, you’ll most likely be paying a lawyer for a few hours of work the first time you draft one.
The trust has a lot of boilerplates; however, it must be customized the first time around. As such, a trust setup can be quite costly in terms of attorney expenses. That being said, once a trust has been constructed, it can be copied and sold to a large number of individuals.
Gun Trust Set Up Guide
NFA gun trusts can take one of three approaches:
Expensive boilerplate trusts. This is probably the most predatory and costly method. It’s marketed in a way that capitalizes on people’s ignorance of trusts and NFA legislation.In the absence of their high-priced trusts, some law firms warn of midnight raids for illegal NFA products. Or they’ll argue that NFA gun trusts are so arcane that they’re practically difficult to get correctly, and that failing to do so exposes you to criminal responsibility.
Boilerplate trusts at a low cost. A lawyer has created a standard NFA gun trust for your state and is selling it cheaply. Thus, the lawyer profits handsomely, and gun owners obtain trust at a fraction of the cost.
Free trusts. NFA dealers and manufacturers will provide trusts in exchange for the purchase of a product; this is a common marketing technique used to entice customers who may lack a trust.
The Bottom Line
If you are considering the purchase of a firearm, you should take the time now to properly set up an NFA firearms trust so you can share the thrill of shooting with your loved ones, be it for hunting or sport shooting.
Most importantly, itll also allow you to easily transfer your NFA firearms to heirs who will value them in the future.
Photo Credit: stock photo
IMO, the last thing anyone owns a firearm for years ought to do is to tell the government about it.
Same goes for those who eventually inherit the firearm.
The folks who would condemn this behavior are likely, as am I, to applaud the “illegal” behavior of those engaged in securing other civil rights, such as the events in Selma, Alabama (for example) which secured access to public facilities for everybody.
I agree, Dave. All these laws do is punish law-abiding citizens.
The bad guys don’t follow – nor do they worry about – breaking these gun control laws. In fact, they applaud them because it makes their “job” easier.
Since the evidence that what you say is true, overwhelming and of long standing, it is not plausible to believe the gun “control’ establishment does not know it.
Therefore, one wonders what there real motive is?
Tell the government that I own firearms? I think not! There are many left wing Dems who want to pass laws banning all firearms. Then the only gun owners will be the bad guys.When somebody breaks into your house at 2am you can call the local “social worker” to come over to protect you and your family.
Madea: I don’t have any concealed weapons. All my guns are made by Smith and Wesson.
I own the least amount of guns in the family. I own 3 guns. All of them were gifts.
I got my first shotgun when I graduated from 3rd grade. I got my 38 when I got back from reform school. I got my other shotgun when I graduated from high school. My dad asked Mr. Dave what he thought would be good gifts for me. Mr. Dave knows best when it comes to guy gifts. (wink)