a backyard suppressor

Its all fun and games till you commit a felony... From NFA'34...

Muffler or silencer. Any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for the use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication.

If the ATF can say a soda bottle is a silencer..

Just be careful!

--EasyD
 
From the thread.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering waht the ATF thinks- it's not a suppressor unless it's attached to the gun. I had range "experts" who saw it and would "warn" me in hushed voices about it, but they were, um, misinformd.

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Its all fun and games till you commit a felony... From NFA'34...

Muffler or silencer. Any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for the use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication.

If the ATF can say a soda bottle is a silencer..

Just be careful!

--EasyD
 
Its all fun and games till you commit a felony... From NFA'34...

Muffler or silencer. Any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for the use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication.

If the ATF can say a soda bottle is a silencer..

Just be careful!

--EasyD

then by that definition, shooting indoors at a range with insulated walls would be against the law.
 
then by that definition, shooting indoors at a range with insulated walls would be against the law.

It probably is; they just haven't for around to enforcing it yet, but rest assured that if they ever find themselves at a loss for something to show at their next budget hearing, it'll be Operation Showtime II at your local club.

Ken
 
From the thread.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering waht the ATF thinks- it's not a suppressor unless it's attached to the gun. I had range "experts" who saw it and would "warn" me in hushed voices about it, but they were, um, misinformd.

I'd tend to agree with that... because otherwise you'd have a lot of
things (even buildings) which were deemed "supressors". A lot of bullet
traps one sees would also be supressors. (I'd imagine it's still loud, but a
gun going off into a trap is probably quieter than it is in open air). I think
the ATF really only gives a shit if it's attached to the firearm, or designed to
be attached to it.

Ironically this "suppression" issue is a weird one... when ATF stamps
something a suppressor it is very subjective. There are gun attachments
which suppress sound which don't always get labeled as a supressor; but as
a barrel extension, flash hider, etc, but these often DO reduce the
amount of sound that comes out of the thing, even if it's not to an extreme
degree.

It all depends on how much tinfoil one has regarding BATFE's willingness to
rewrite the rules for their own agendas. Such fears are not entirely
unwarranted- because federal gun law is so shoddily and poorly written
with regards to certain topics that it gives BATFE way too much latitude
in making it's own definitions. Most of the time this expansionism doesn't
fly in a court of law (eg, if challenged, most jurors would not believe that a
shoestring is a machine gun) but that doesn't stop BATFE from being
absurd with regards to their enforcement. (even if the victim wins in
federal court, doesn't stop BATFE from destroying someone's life in the
process. )


-Mike
 
I'd tend to agree with that... because otherwise you'd have a lot of
things (even buildings) which were deemed "supressors". A lot of bullet
traps one sees would also be supressors. (I'd imagine it's still loud, but a
gun going off into a trap is probably quieter than it is in open air). I think
the ATF really only gives a shit if it's attached to the firearm, or designed to
be attached to it.

Ironically this "suppression" issue is a weird one... when ATF stamps
something a suppressor it is very subjective. There are gun attachments
which suppress sound which don't always get labeled as a supressor; but as
a barrel extension, flash hider, etc, but these often DO reduce the
amount of sound that comes out of the thing, even if it's not to an extreme
degree.

It all depends on how much tinfoil one has regarding BATFE's willingness to
rewrite the rules for their own agendas. Such fears are not entirely
unwarranted- because federal gun law is so shoddily and poorly written
with regards to certain topics that it gives BATFE way too much latitude
in making it's own definitions. Most of the time this expansionism doesn't
fly in a court of law (eg, if challenged, most jurors would not believe that a
shoestring is a machine gun) but that doesn't stop BATFE from being
absurd with regards to their enforcement. (even if the victim wins in
federal court, doesn't stop BATFE from destroying someone's life in the
process. )


-Mike

The BATFE can be pretty subjective about the definition of a suppressor/silencer. By their determination, simply possessing certain parts
that could be used to assemble a suppressor/silencer is illegal...


DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS
WASHINGTON, DC 20226

AUG 23 1999

901040:GS
5320/99-0115

Dear Mr. Bardwell:

This is in response to your letter of June 28, 1999, regarding the
repair of a silencer by an individual owner. You ask "whether it
is lawful for the owner of a lawfully possessed silencer ... to
repair that silencer himself, by replacing unserialized internal
components with new components of his own making." You cited the
replacement of a worn out plastic "wipe" or damaged baffle as an
example.

As you are aware, the terms "firearm silencer" and "firearm
muffler" mean any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing
the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of
parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for use in assembling
or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part
intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication. Thus,
certain internal components, intended only for use in a silencer,
are silencers as defined.

If an individual made one of these parts, even for use as a
replacement part, the individual would be making a silencer. Under
the provisions of the National Firearms Act, any person must apply
for and receive permission to make a silencer and pay the making
tax for each silencer made. This would require the individual
owner to file an ATF Form 1 application for each silencer part to
be made with the payment of $200.00 for each application prior to
making any replacement part.

In regard to the two parts in your cited example, we consider a
baffle to be a silencer, but a wipe, which is usually nothing more
than a rubber or plastic disc with a hole in it, is generally not
considered to be a silencer. Thus an individual owner could
replace a wipe.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/wbardwel/public/nfalist/atf_letter66.txt


I recall one example that pops up on firearms auction sites from time to time.

All it is is a simple threaded adapter that enables a person to screw on a plastic soda bottle to the muzzle of a firearm. I have no actual cite or ruling,
but from what I've read (several times), is that the BATFE treats this simple adapter as if it were an actual suppressor... never mind that a roll of duct tape will pretty much accomplish the same purpose.

FWIW, the adapters were being manufactured and sold by an outfit in Germany.


Hell... they even claim a suppressor for use on a paintball gun or airgun is an restricted NFA item...

(M30) Are Paintball and/or Airgun Sound Suppressers NFA firearms? [Back]

The terms "firearm silencer" and "firearm muffler" mean any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or redesigned, and intended for use in assembling or fabricating a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, and any part intended only for use in such assembly or fabrication.

Numerous paintball and airgun silencers tested by ATF’s Firearms Technology Branch have been determined to be, by nature of their design and function, firearm silencers. Because silencers are NFA weapons, an individual wishing to manufacture or transfer such a silencer must receive prior approval from ATF and pay the required tax. See Questions M15 and 16 for application details.

http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/faq/faq2.htm#m30
 
I think I get the concept of the barrels stuffed with fluffy dogs. But what does the water pipe strapped on top of the gun do?

gizmo.jpg
 
If the ATF can say a soda bottle is a silencer..

I was thinking that is what this thread was going to be. A friend of mines father told us stories about how when he was younger, they would go out shooting squirrels with a .22 rifle. They would take a bottle or two and fit it over the barrel end. He said it wouldn't make it silent but would take the "crack" away from the round. Too bad I'm a scaredy cat when it comes with messing with the laws haha.
 
Too bad I'm a scaredy cat when it comes with messing with the laws haha.

In this state there is no shame in erring on the side of caution when dealing with firearms issues. There is a fine line between smart and brave, it is rarely smart to move to the brave side of said line. [wink]
 
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