How to Buy a Silencer with Charlie's
Chances are, if you are looking at suppressors, you have a pretty good idea of the overall process, but here is the recap.
Buying a suppressor at Charlie's is as easy as buying it at your local gun store. And, you get the best selection of high performance suppressors available.
Obviously, you can see that Charlie's carries a very wide selection of suppressors. We are one of the only shops that carry both current popular brands like Silencerco and DeadAir, but also niche brands like Rugged, Q, Thunderbeast and Energetic as well as military correct suppressors from Knights Armament, Surefire and Allen Engineering.
- Buying a suppressor follows all of the process for buying a firearm. Some states are more restrictive on suppressors than firearms, so be sure to check on your local laws.
- Buying a suppressor online is a pretty straightforward process. Note, that in all cases, we do not ship firearms or suppressors to individuals. In all cases, we ship firearms and suppressors to a local federally licensed firearms dealer, who is overseen by the ATF. The only exceptions are official sales to military and law enforcement agencies, and not to individual officers.
- You must be able to own the suppressor of your choice in your State, and Locality. You must determine that. We suggest you consult with your local gun store.
- You pick your suppressor here and check-out online. At this point, if you know your FFL, go ahead and put that shipping information in your order. If you do not know the address, just use your own address. We will adjust that later.
- You pick a local firearms dealer where we will ship your suppressor. Please be sure to ask your local gun dealer if he/she will accept our shipment and do a transfer for you. Do not assume. Most local gun shops and individual dealers (FFLs) will do this, and charge you a small fee. A few will not.
- Your Dealer must be a Class 3 Dealer. When you pick a local dealer, you need to make sure your dealer is what is known as an SOT, and also referred to as a Class 3 or Class 2 dealer. Not all dealers are. This is a separate tax fee and registration for dealers to sell and stock NFA items like suppressors, short barreled rifles and machine guns.
- WE ONLY SHIP TO FEDERALLY LICENSED FIREARMS DEALERS in the USA. We cannot export suppressors outside of the United States.
- Ask your chosen dealer to send us their credentials by email. We will need a copy of their FFL and their SOT. Tell your dealer to email both to us. Some dealers will want us, here at Charlie's to verify our license first. That is not needed, but we understand that not every dealer may be familiar with us, and many dealers are rightfully reluctant to have their soft copy of their license circulating. If that is the case, just email us, with your FFL's email, and we will send them our short-code FFL number. your dealer should send us an electronic (soft copy) of their FFL and SOT licenses to: FFL@charliescustomclones.com
- Next, is an ounce of patience. At Charlie's, we separate compliance from operation and sales, so no suppressor can move out of our safe and into the general warehouse until our compliance manager has given us the green light. Likewise, our sales team, either by email, telephone or online chat cannot advise you whether your documents are in order. Generally speaking, this process takes a number of days. For suppressors, we need to get approval from the ATF (what is known as a Form 3) before we can ship to your gun dealer. You should expect a 5 to 10 wait until your suppressor is shipped to you, once we have your dealer’s information.
- Our Compliance Manager will send you an email when we have the required documentation. If you are missing documentation, our Compliance team will send you an email with instructions. All orders will receive an email from our compliance team when your FFL information is cleared.
- When we are ready to ship, we will let you know. We send emails when your order ships, and provide tracking. Usually, we also give you an update when your dealer has your firearm.
- You will file your Form 4 paperwork with your local dealer. You probably know that you can buy a suppressor as an individual or in a Trust. You will need to complete the Form 4 information with your local SOT dealer, and provide them with fingerprint cards and a tax of $200. Right now, the Form 4 approval process is taking a number of months. Your local dealer can give you an estimate of time. In 2018, wait times were running 6 to 12 months. We understand that time is getting shorter every month, but it is still a long wait. During this time, your local SOT dealer will hold your suppressor. Some SOTs that also provide range services will allow you to retrieve your suppressor to use on their range, and return before you leave, so keep that in-mind when looking for a local SOT dealer.
- When your tax stamp arrives, you will go to your local SOT dealer, and be required to pass a background check at the time you pick it up, and then you take it home and use it.