On Friday, Congressman Andy Biggs and 141 congressional colleagues sent a letter to the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Marvin Richardson, in response to what they believe is ATF’s “attempt to restrict the ability of law-abiding Americans to use silencers on firearms.”
The lawmakers claim that the ATF is preventing law-abiding citizens from creating and owning suppressors, better known as silencers.
They accuse the ATF of rejecting hundreds of the “Application to Make and Register a Firearm” form, better known as “Form 1.” According to the ATF website, the National Firearms Act (NFA) and the Gun Control Act (GCA) do not prohibit the creation of a silencer, or suppressor. Historically, the ATF has required Americans to file a Form 1, pay the $200 fee, and they would be permitted to make the suppressor for their own personal use.
“The ATF continues to infringe on the constitutional liberties of law-abiding Americans. This has gone long enough,” said Biggs. “ATF is ignoring years of precedent to restrict individuals’ ability to make their own silencers. I’ve heard from my constituents how this arbitrary change is negatively impacting them. This is unacceptable. The ATF is overstepping its authority and it must explain its actions to Congress and the American people.”
“President Biden and his radical Democrat allies have continuously attacked our most fundamental liberties. Now, the Biden ATF is attempting to further restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding American citizens. Americans have had enough and deserve to know why the Biden Administration believes that the mere possession of otherwise legal items are now considered to be violations of federal
law,” said Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary Jim Jordan (OH-4).
The lawmakers requested that Richardson provide the following information:
1. Please explain why the ATF is denying Form 1 applications for the manufacture of silencers using raw materials, components, or kits.
2. Please explain whether these denials reflect a change in policy in how the ATF regulates self-made silencers.
3. Please explain what the ATF has done to inform the American people of its position regarding a Form 1 application and devices it believes are silencers as opposed to individually sourced raw materials, components, or kits, so that law abiding Americans can attempt to comply with the law.
4. Please explain how the ATF evaluates whether a Form 1 application for a silencer is going to be used for individually sourced raw materials, components, or kits that, in ATF’s view, is already legally a silencer.
5. Please explain why the ATF has repeatedly approved Form 1 applications for silencers made from individually sourced raw materials, components or kits if the agency’s policy is that these individually sourced raw materials, components or kits are considered silencers.
6. Please explain how the ATF intends to handle approved Form 1 applications that occurred before February 28, 2022, for silencers made from individually sourced raw materials, components or kits.
7. Please explain how the ATF plans to make tax-free registration available for applicants who in good faith attempted to comply with federal law. If ATF does not plan to make tax-free registration available for applicants who in good faith attempted to comply with the federal law, please explain why.
8. Please produce all documents and communications, including but not limited to ATF legal opinions, referring or relating to the ATF’s definition of a silencer or what constitutes individually sourced raw materials, components, or kits.