When I founded TFB back in 2007 the gun market was very different. AR-15s were very popular, but they had not permeated all the way through gun culture (best exemplified by Outdoor Channel personality Jim Zumbo’s Terrorist Rifle blog post/rant). Meanwhile suppressors were viewed with even more skepticism and hostility than black rifles by the general gun community.

Most shooters were ignorant of the benefits of suppressors. They were convinced by decades of exposure to Hollywood that suppressors were only useful to gangsters and assassins. They thought that the overt adoption of suppressors by the gun community at large would only lead to more gun bans.

The reality is that silencers are very beneficial to the community. They prevent hearing loss, reduce recoil without the punishing shockwave of a muzzle brake to all those around you (even been at an indoor range standing next to someone shooting a .338 Lapua bolt action? I have. Never again.) and they reduce the impact of hunting and shooting to nearby residents, campers and wildlife. Also, they are fun!

Well, I am preaching to the choir, my point is that gun culture has come a long way since the dark days of the early 2000s. We are in a Golden Age of suppressors, an age not seen since the early 1930s when suppressors could be purchased at any local hardware store.

Today we have online retail stores dedicated to suppressors. Silencer Shop is one of these. They have just launched their Silencer Shop Direct program which takes care of all the work needed to get a suppressor to their customers. All their customs have to do is register a corporation (easy) or a trust (harder, requires a lawyer). From their website …

This new program is referred to as Silencer Shop Direct, and it makes the buying and registration process easier, faster, less expensive, and more consistent for everybody – regardless of what state you live in!

How does Silencer Shop Direct work?

It’s actually very easy using either a trust or corporation:

Purchase the suppressor directly from our website or over the phone. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have when picking out a suppressor, and we’re happy to help!
Pay the $200 NFA tax. Most people just add this into the initial order; but, it can be purchased a bit later if you prefer – and a credit or debit card works just fine. (Remember that we can’t start your Form 4 transfer until the tax stamp has been purchased.)
We’ll email you instructions on how to provide us a copy of your trust (typically email or fax works best). If you’re registering using a corporation, we only need the legal name.
That’s it! We’ll take care of getting everything reviewed and submitted electronically right away.

Once your Form 4 transfer has been approved by the NFA Branch, we’ll let you know right away – and you can simply pick up your suppressor from a local FFL/SOT1 that we have contracted with.

With this program, we will take care of 100% of the NFA process for you. There is no need to pay any additional transfer fees – and you don’t have to worry about locating a local FFL/SOT1 to handle the transfer.

It is not as easy as walking to the local hardware store and paying $7 (or $82 in today’s money), but nor is it prohibitively difficult.