Silencer Laws
Minnesota (MN) Gun Trust for Class III NFA Weapons – Benefits Discussed
If you are like many of Minnesota’s firearm owners, then you were thrilled to hear about how Governor Mark Dayton graciously signed Senate File 878 into law, making suppressors legal for game hunters. This law finally opens the doors for Minnesota to join 39 other states in recognizing the rights of law-abiding citizens to own and use silencers or suppressors for their firearms.
Unfortunately, what the bill does not do is remove the federal red tape surrounding the sale and transfer of suppressors and other NFA-regulated class 3 weapons. Anyone who has the funds to pay for the suppressor and a firearm to attach it to must still jump through several hoops before they can bring the two together. The registration and approval process can take many months, or it could be delayed indefinitely while Chief Law Enforcement Officers (CLEO) let the paperwork sit on their desks.
An alternative is to hire a lawyer who can draw up the paperwork for you to form your own gun trust. This relatively simple legal action lets you transfer the class 3 weapon without having to satisfy every last NFA requirement. The Minnesota Gun Trust would negate the need for fingerprints, pass photos, sheriff’s signature and the trust will cut the approval time by 70%. Gun owners can rejoice that as of July 1, 2015 they not only have a legal right to possess suppressors and use for hunting on August 1, 2015, but they have a way to do so with as little headaches as possible.
What Is a Gun Trust?
To know what a gun trust is, it helps to know what a living trust is first. Living trusts are legal arrangements where one person, known as the “beneficiary,” can own the property of another person, a “trustee,” on their behalf. Living trusts work similarly to wills in that they transfer property in a way that is legally binding and indisputable.
One interesting use of a trust is that the trustee and the beneficiary can be the same person. In other words, rather than someone “owning” a property outright, the property belongs to the trust and the trust belongs to the person. Confusing? Yes, but it allows for property ownership that has extended legal benefits.
A gun trust is nearly identical to a living trust but one that is filed specifically for property that is normally NFA firearms. More formally known as an NFA trust, these arrangements allow firearm owners to skip many of the legal requirements for buying, selling or transferring firearms. They are most useful for items that are tightly controlled like class 3 weapons such as:
- Automatic weapons
- AOW (Any Other Weapons)
- Suppressors
- Shortened barrel rifles or shotguns
What Does a Gun Trust Do?
Just because class 3 weapon sales are now legal does not mean that they are convenient or even realistic to the average firearm owner. Requirements include:
- A form including the name of the seller/transferor, the buyer/transferee and a description of the firearm
- The serial number of the firearm along with the new owner’s fingerprints and a photo of the new owner
- An NFA tax stamp costing $200
With a gun trust, the new owner can avoid having to send in fingerprints and photos, and they can also avoid the CLEO signature. Getting these steps out of the way greatly simplifies the buying process for people who want to own a suppressor without waiting months for the paperwork to clear.
Consult a lawyer near you to arrange for your gun trust to be filed or discuss with Silencer Central on how to obtain a FREE MN Gun Trust. Best of all, this trust can be used to procure other firearms and regulated accessories, so a one-time arrangement can benefit the sale of all your other suppressor purchases down the road!
Silencer Central can help you transfer your new suppressor to your trust through our knowledge and experience, we have completed over 4,000 silencer transfers into NFA Gun Trusts. We have helped countless individuals in the Midwest get their trusts setup correctly and use them to purchase Class 3 toys. We can even help you modify the gun trust in the future as state laws change. Visit our FAQ page to learn more.