Quote:
Originally Posted by Joekerr
Don't live in the US, so a Form 4 means you can only have a silencer on the firearm to which you originally indicated? I just assumed you had to fill in the paperwork for a silencer, but once approved, you could buy whatever you wanted for whichever firearm.
Interesting. Life is so much simpler in Canada.
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Hello
Joekerr
In the USA, a citizen can go through a Federal background check to purchase a firearm. If you want to carry a concealed pistol in Washington state, you have to go through a more lengthy Federal background check process to obtain this special license. There are a variety of disqualifying things, which are meant to screen out those who have mental illness or previously demonstrated willingness to commit crimes.
If you want to purchase either an SBR (short barreled rifle, being a rifle that is less than 26 inches in length overall) or a Suppressor you have to pay $200 and wait about a year for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to review your application.
To answer your question directly, whether you are purchasing a firearm, a suppressor or specifically an SBR/AOW(government term for "All Other Weapon"), you have to fill out the paperwork each and every time you make a purchase.
If you go through the federal background check to get a Concealed Pistol License, (which I have), it makes it so that, if I venture into a gun store to make a new purchase, the store will contact the federal government to determine if there is anything new on my record since the issuing of the license and if it comes back clear, I can walk out that day with any standard firearm. But that is only for people who have a license and have already gone through a Federal background check.
For SBR/AOW/Suppressors, they are in a special class of weapons that the US government regulates. It is a bit silly, given that they aren't any more deadly than what can be immediately purchased. In fact, a Suppressor in it self isn't a firearm at all (obviously).
There are some weird laws in the USA. For example, I could carry 4 Glock 9mm pistols on my body with extended magazines but if I carried a fixed blade knife, it would be illegal. (I don't own 4 Glocks; it was just a hypothetical example).
A citizen with a CPL can carry a pile of loaded pistols in his car, but it is illegal to have a loaded rifle or a fixed blade knife in the car. Go figure.