NFA dealers in the Upstate of South Carolina are reporting a current Form 4 processing time of 5 to 6 months. While this time is a bit absurd for a two page form (four pages if you count the instructions), the ATF has taken steps to increase their throughput.
The ATF has hired several temporary processing agents to help them through the stack of pending Form 4s, and we have even seen some Form 4s approved on a Sunday. We may never know if the agents were working on Sunday or just had their time stamp off, but we are seeing a leveling in process time despite an ever increasing number of Form 4s submitted.
Currently, the average wait time for a Form 4 submitted for a trust is slightly less than a Form 4 submitted for an individual, but this difference is insignificant. However, the time it takes to complete the trust can be significantly less than the time necessary to obtain photographs, fingerprint cards, and a CLEO signature.
In most instances, I can turn a trust around in one week after receiving a completed intake form, and the signed trust is then immediately available for filing with the Form 4. The ATF is working to shorten processing time, but they are still the slowest point when acquiring a NFA firearm. If you are ready to purchase a suppressor or other NFA firearm, contact me or one of these local gun shops dealing in these firearms.