As the Federal Government Shutdown Drags On....ATF Stops Processing NFA Paperwork

As the Federal Government shutdown drags on, with an unclear reopen date or timeframe, the ATF has stopped processing all NFA paperwork.  The submitted ATF Form 1's, ATF eForm 1's, ATF Form 3's, ATF Form 4's, ATF Form 5's, ATF 5320.20's are not being approved, or being reviewed now.  We have heard in rare cases that some of the ATF Paperwork related to the ATF Form 3's are being processed, but that is about it.  The Federal Government shutdown is straining many manufacturers and vendors of NFA firearms because inventory cannot be shipped to vendors and ultimately cannot be shipped to your local SOT/Class 3 dealer.  With the current backlog of applications growing by the day, we hesitate to estimate what the wait times will be for the ATF Form 1's, ATF eForm 1's, ATF Form 3's, ATF Form 4's, ATF Form 5's, ATF 5320.20's once the Federal Government does reopen. We still recommend our clients and others to continue to submit your ATF Paperwork to the ATF, because the backlog will only get longer adding more time to your wait time.  In short nothing on the NFA side of the ATF is happening with the Federal Government Shutdown.  If you are on the verge of applying, you should heavily consider to apply now and secure your place in the backlog line.