Disposing of suppressors?

I'm still thinking through my first suppressor, so please bear with me.

If I move somewhere suppressors aren't legal, what are my options for getting rid of it - sell, give away, donate?

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Originally Posted by Jaywalker

I'm still thinking through my first suppressor, so please bear with me.

If I move somewhere suppressors aren't legal, what are my options for getting rid of it - sell, give away, donate?

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First of all, you wouldn't have to get rid of it. You could put it in a container which no one else has access to. This could be a safe deposit box, or it could be a locked safe or Pelican case at a friend's house for which you retain the key or combination, or any number of other options. You just can't leave it where someone else can use it, without transferring it to that person. If at some point you're going to come back to where silencers are legal, this is probably the best option.

Selling it, giving it away or donating it to someone else are all options, but all of those require that you complete a form 4 transfer. Generally, most dealers won't bother with buying used silencers, since they can get brand new silencers without having to pay the transfer tax. Also most people outside your state won't want to buy a used silencer since 1) it's used and 2) they'd have to pay two transfer taxes to get it: one to a dealer in their state, and one to themselves. So if you want to try to sell it, you're effectively limited to residents of your own state, and you're probably going to have to price it at a pretty good discount. People do buy them though, I've sold two of my silencers in the past year. Since you're a Texas resident, this is probably a more realistic option for you than if you were in a much smaller state, since the number of potential buyers is much larger in Texas.

You could also destroy the silencer (talk to the ATF for destruction requirements), or give it up voluntarily to the ATF, but one of the options listed above is probably better.

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Originally Posted by CleverNickname

First of all, you wouldn't have to get rid of it. You could put it in a container which no one else has access to. This could be a safe deposit box, or it could be a locked safe or Pelican case at a friend's house for which you retain the key or combination, or any number of other options. You just can't leave it where someone else can use it, without transferring it to that person. If at some point you're going to come back to where silencers are legal, this is probably the best option.

Selling it, giving it away or donating it to someone else are all options, but all of those require that you complete a form 4 transfer. Generally, most dealers won't bother with buying used silencers, since they can get brand new silencers without having to pay the transfer tax. Also most people outside your state won't want to buy a used silencer since 1) it's used and 2) they'd have to pay two transfer taxes to get it: one to a dealer in their state, and one to themselves. So if you want to try to sell it, you're effectively limited to residents of your own state, and you're probably going to have to price it at a pretty good discount. People do buy them though, I've sold two of my silencers in the past year. Since you're a Texas resident, this is probably a more realistic option for you than if you were in a much smaller state, since the number of potential buyers is much larger in Texas.

You could also destroy the silencer (talk to the ATF for destruction requirements), or give it up voluntarily to the ATF, but one of the options listed above is probably better.

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Thank you. That's what i needed to know.

If you haven’t already purchased as an individual, this is one of the advantages of purchasing via a trust.

The trust owns the suppressor, so if you have to move you can add a trusted person in your current state and then leave the suppressor with them until you move back or move to another NFA state.

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Originally Posted by HCM

If you haven’t already purchased as an individual, this is one of the advantages of purchasing via a trust.

The trust owns the suppressor, so if you have to move you can add a trusted person in your current state and then leave the suppressor with them until you move back or move to another NFA state.

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Good point. If I move, though, I expect I won't return.

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Originally Posted by Jaywalker

Good point. If I move, though, I expect I won't return.

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would not necessarily have to. just an example.

Being on the trust would allow a 3rd party to hold the suppressor for you without it being locked from their access.