This isn't really true..... the government doesn't care about the tax, just about having power over you. If it was "just" a tax life would be simple.
The tax stamp is a canard of epic proportions. The tax stamp is just the regulatory ritz cracker that the national firearms act rides on. Without it, they would not have been able to get away with implementing those laws. The stamp is just an enabling
device- eg, the feds have the authority to collect taxes, so they built the NFA around that concept.
Think about it- if it was really just about the taxes, when BATFE found a guy with an illegal machinegun or other NFA device, why wouldn't they just assess a tax and maybe penalties/fines, as opposed to stealing the gun and locking the person in jail- which ultimately, ends up costing the feds a hell of a lot more than $200.
Also, if it was just about collecting the taxes, they would have set it up so you could go to an FFL, fill out some paperwork to buy an SBR, and pay the tax to the FFL on the spot, which would in turn be sent to BATFE. The whole NFA process could be automated through FFLs. It's not- and the reason why is because it's intentionally designed to be obstructionist to slow down/limit NFA registrations. I also think that BATFE hires NFA examiners that are dumber than a box of rocks on purpose... there is no reason why an NFA transfer should take longer than a day or so of processing time. The slowness of the system is literally "on purpose".
If the NRA had a set of balls they would have pushed something through like the "NFA modernization act" when the GOP had control of congress... Which would force BATFE to automate and expedite the process- there really is no technical reason why it couldn't be done... especially in the case of things which are not machineguns. (EG, for SBRs, AOWs, Suppressors, DDs, etc, there is literally no need to prove provenance via the NFRTR, because people are allowed to legally make "new" devices except for machineguns. )
-Mike
You make some good points Mike.