Cheatham County NFA - Halted

[NotPbFree]

A buddy went to the Sheriff's office todayfor the purpose of having his NFA form for a suppressor signed by the Sheriff. The Sheriff refused saying the DA's office has told him that suppressors are prohibited by TN State law!:banghead:

Um, no they are prohibited UNLESS they are registered which is what my buddy is trying to accomplish by having the NFA form signed by the chief LEO for Cheatham County.

Apparently my buddy is not the only one affected. A couple of other forums list a more complete description of the problem.

http://www.saysuncle.com/archives/2007/12/13/anti-gun_stuff_in_tennessee/

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=8&f=38&t=290274&page=1

 

[mikec]

From the ATF's web site:

(M18) What law enforcement officials’ certifications on an application to transfer or make an NFA weapon are acceptable to ATF? [Back]

As provided by regulations, certifications by the local chief of police, sheriff of the county, head of the State police, or State or local district attorney or prosecutor are acceptable. The regulations also provide that certifications of other officials are appropriate if found in a particular case to be acceptable to the Director. Examples of other officials who have been accepted in specific situations include State attorneys general and judges of State courts having authority to conduct jury trials in felony cases.

[27 CFR 479.63 and 479.85]

 

[arcticap]

TN is statutorily a shall issue state for CLEO sign-offs on NFA forms.
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/acts/103/pub/pc0275.pdf

 

[Jamie C.]

NotPbFree, have your buddy call the BATFE office in Nashville and talk to one of the agents. They will no doubt call Sheriff Holder and explain things to him.


J.C.

 

[Outlaws]

TN is statutorily a shall issue state for CLEO sign-offs on NFA forms.
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/acts/103/pub/pc0275.pdf

Well that makes things a little less complicated.

 

[Jamie C.]

Well that makes things a little less complicated.

It does except for when you're dealing with "Good ol' boys" and small-town politics...


J.C.

 

[mikec]

Please explain why calling the ATF will fix anything, the problem is on the state level.

If anything contact the state AG's office.

 

[Jamie C.]

Mikec, the problem isn't at state level, it's at the local level. The state gives the CLEO's 15 business days to get the paperwork signed. It's entirely a BS snow job by the county sheriff that suppressors have been banned by the state. ( I also doubt very much that the county D.A. said any such thing. )

Calling up the local BATFE guys and letting them know what's going on will generally have them contacting the CLEO and/or the local D.A.s office and setting them straight.

I know 'cause I've had to do it before.


None of us much like the BATFE, but I have to admit that they do, at times, have their uses.


J.C.

 

[mikec]

Jamie, it is a state law that the local guys are failing to abide by. Wouldn't the state AG be the office to bring charges of misconduct or abuse of power?

The big issue is getting the locals to abide by the state law.

 

[Jamie C.]

Mikec.... The BATFE works a bit quicker than the AG's office does. They'll call and inform the Sheriff of what he needs to do, then if he fails to do it, they'll talk to the AG themselves. ( It's their paperwork, after all, and they don't like other folks screwing around with it. ) Sheriff Holder knows this as well as I do. He also knows that it's a lot more difficult for "Joe Citizen" to get the AG's attention than it is for the BATFE.

Anyway... if the goal here is to get the papers signed as quickly as possible, go to the BATFE.

If you want to drag things out as long as possible and do a fair amount of paperwork yourself... go straight to the Attorney General.

Or at least that's how it worked 9 or 10 years ago, when I worked for Sheriff Holder's predecessor...


( By the way... now the smart ones of you can probably figure out why I'm not in Law Enforcement anymore. )



J.C.

 

[wideym]

Thats the problem with some Sheriffs and DAs. Mainly its reelection strategy. My brother was arrested for "carrying a weapon" when he was pulled over for speeding. It was an unwarrented charge and he went to court to fight it. We talked to the new DA and he said he would drop the weapons charge if my brother would surrender the pistol to department to be destroyed. Instead my brother fought it and the judge said he met resonable dought. The DA still requested that the pistol be destroyed, but the judge said no and had them return it that day. Later one of the arresting officers said the new DA wanted to be able to say he "took illegal guns off the street" and wanted high numbers before the next election.

 

[NotPbFree]

Apparently something has changed in Cheatham county. My form was signed by the same Sheriff Holder in 2006, and another friend had a form signed earlier this year. In both our cases, we mailed the form to the Sheriff's office along with a self addressed stamped envelope. No problem.

TN is statutorily a shall issue state for CLEO sign-offs on NFA forms.

Since the DA's office can't or won't correctly interpret the prohibited weapons law for TN, they don't seem to have a problem ignoring the shall issue law too.

 

[feedthehogs]

The same problem exists in Palm Beach county Fla with the Sheriff's office.
If you live in county territory he will not sign even though he is supposed to.
There was even a judge who issued an order some years back to force the office to sign but it was ignored.

The legal dept at the sheriff's office states that the reason they refuse to sign is the liability it creates if someone uses a class 3 item they sign off and injures someone. Which we all know is a line of crap.

Easiest way around that is form a corporation or trust. You do not need to be fingerprinted or need the local cop to sign off.