NFA timeline more than doubled since O took office

[NomadS]

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/class_iii_nfa/8841-nfa_timelines_thread.html

the wait to get approved for a NFA item was less than 3 months according to the thread above back in 2008. Now it is over 6 months.

Is the ATF being used to harass citizens just like the IRS, and other alphabet soup government agencies?

 

[shooter521]

Is the ATF being used to harass citizens just like the IRS, and other alphabet soup government agencies?

No, at least not in the way you are suggesting. Rather, Obama's election and re-election have caused an unprecedented surge in interest toward firearms of all kinds, including NFA.

The ATF's NFA branch, which has always been understaffed and underfunded, is simply being deluged with massive amounts of paperwork (i.e. our forms) and is unable to keep up.

 

[ryknoll3]

Isn't the NFA Branch also subject to some sequester - induced furlough time, too?

 

[NomadS]

No, at least not in the way you are suggesting. Rather, Obama's election and re-election have caused an unprecedented surge in interest toward firearms of all kinds, including NFA.

The ATF's NFA branch, which has always been understaffed and underfunded, is simply being deluged with massive amounts of paperwork (i.e. our forms) and is unable to keep up.

Do you have any links to statistics that back that up? you may be right but would like to see the number from early 2008 and from now. Are there really twice as many application for NFA items?

 

[CountryBoy19]

Do you have any links to statistics that back that up? you may be right but would like to see the number from early 2008 and from now. Are there really twice as many application for NFA items?

I have NO doubt in my mind that there are at least twice as many applications hitting their mail-slot today as there were then.

In all reality, those were the good days. 2008-2009 ish was right after NFA branch hired a bunch of new examiners and the wait dropped significantly. Prior to that time (80-90's) it's said that the wait was 1+ years. So even though the wait has doubled since 2008, its still very acceptable.

 

[rvb]

I have NO doubt in my mind that there are at least twice as many applications hitting their mail-slot today as there were then.

In all reality, those were the good days. 2008-2009 ish was right after NFA branch hired a bunch of new examiners and the wait dropped significantly. Prior to that time (80-90's) it's said that the wait was 1+ years. So even though the wait has doubled since 2008,[STRIKE] its still very acceptable[/STRIKE].

I don't think I would go so far as to ever call the NFA process and delays "acceptable." Our rights are "Slightly less infringed upon" than in the 80s-90s, maybe...

-rvb

 

[CountryBoy19]

I don't think I would go so far as to ever call the NFA process and delays "acceptable." Our rights are "Slightly less infringed upon" than in the 80s-90s, maybe...

-rvb

Considering that to do it legally you have to submit to the process. So strictly speaking about the timeline or delay of said process, we'll use acceptable in that sense.

 

[Airwolf]

What caused the long wait in the 80's and 90's? I would have thought being Republican owned would have helped things through like greased lightning.

 

[JoshuaW]

Its not like the Executive Branch tells them to hold onto the paperwork and that is the result of the wait time. Its volume in relation to the number of staff on hand. Im sure the number of applications that one person can process has gone up as well, since computers are more widespread.

 

[amafrank]

As Shooter521 noted it has nothing to do with the current administration creating slowdowns or oppressing us poor nfa gun owners. Its strictly a situation where there is more work to do than qualified people to do it. There were 11 examiners in 2006 if memory serves right and now there are 8 with some probably leaving. The job of examiner is not one people aspire to, it is a stepping stone to higher govt "service" and as such not many want the job. In addition it is a thankless job because they get blamed for all the issues that come up from our side and their own. Having been to NFA branch and knowing how the paperwork trails work I wouldn't want that job for any amount of money. To come into work each day and see a pile of paper that I know I can't do in a year sitting on my desk would be very depressing. 2008 wasn't a particularly good year for transfers as the number of forms just about doubled from the year before and times increased a lot. In 2005 when NFA had been in Martinsburg WV we were looking at form 4 transfers taking about 1-3 weeks. In 1999 with NFA in DC we were looking at 6-9 months. Now here we are back at 6-9 months only we have reduced the number of people working on the forms and we have over a million forms going in. They have promised us that they are going to hire 9 examiners......sometime soon.....we hope. What they haven't said is that the 9 new ones will be replace 6 or 7 that are leaving to either be promoted to supervisory positions or transferring out to other jobs in the system. We won't have 9 more examiners....we'll be lucky to have 9 which we don't right now. My personal opinion is that obama and his minions don't care about nfa because we aren't a big enough bunch to worry about and we haven't caused enough problems to even notice us. They aren't trying to screw with us as we do that job well enough on our own. On the other hand, they're not going to give us any help or increase the budget for NFA and ATF when they have hungry mouths to feed from their stolen tax money. I've been in the business for quite sometime and I have very few complaints about NFA Branch. They've done pretty well for me and my customers and others I know too. Its not fast and never really has been except for the short period after they moved from DC, hired people who spoke english (american type) and wanted to work rather than just sit and take up space. The examiners who are there now are for the most part good people who want to do their jobs and make an effort to do so. Few of us give them any credit or thank them for the work they do so what incentive do they have to do more? Thankless job, govt service so no bonus or upgrades for doing well and just a step to a better paying less stressful job somewhere else. I can't believe that many of the examiners who actually work have been there so long. Our examiner for Indiana has been there since the move to WV to the best of my knowledge and she has done outstanding work.

Here is a link to the ATF statistics site so you can see for yourself how many forms were done each year. Remember that the fiscal year is not jan-dec but more like july to june so 2012's stats did not include the additional rush of forms from prior to and just after the election last year.

Frank

Statistics | ATF