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  • Gun trusts are one of the most popular methods of ownership for NFA items.  
  • Trusts give you much more freedom and flexibility with your firearm and silencer collection than individual ownership.  
  • We offer two primary types of firearms trusts: Single Shot® and traditional NFA trusts. 

Gun Trust: Single Shot Trust vs NFA Trust Key Differences 

Gun trusts offer you many benefits over individual NFA ownership. They allow you to share your NFA items with family members or friends, named as trustees, and easily pass them on to your successors.   

Single Shot trusts are generated without additional paperwork and do not require notarization; they're formed specifically to hold one NFA item and are an incredibly economic trust option.   

NFA trusts can hold multiple NFA items under one trust. However, they require more setup than a Single Shot trust and are more costly.  

Let's break down the differences between Single Shot Ttrusts and traditional NFA gun trusts to determine which option is right for you.

Table of Contents

Silencer Shop Single Shot Gun Trust  

The Single Shot Trust is an exclusive Silencer Shop gun trust. The trust requires no additional paperwork or setup. It's automatically generated using the same information from your Form 1 or Form 4 submission. And you don't even need to have it notarized. 

The Single Shot® was designed to be the simplest way to create a trust for maintaining an NFA firearm, such as a silencer. It combines the ease of filing as an individual with the flexibility granted by placing your NFA items in a trust.  

Single Shot trusts allow you to assign additional users, known as responsible persons/parties, so others can also use the silencer, SBR, or other NFA item when you're not around.  

Single Shot trusts also allow you to add users after approval, meaning there is no need to submit everyone's info during the Form 4 process. Streamlining the submission process. 

Each Single Shot trust is created to hold a specific NFA item so you can decide which responsible parties can access your separate items. For example, if you want your hunting group to be on your suppressor trust but not your SBR trust, you can set that up. 

The Single Shot® is the most adaptable NFA ownership solution available. 

Single Shot Benefits

  • Fully automated—no additional paperwork, notary, or headache.  
  • The most flexibility for owning NFA items.  
  • The most affordable trust on the market.  
  • Each item has its own trust.  
  • Assign responsible persons after approval; adding another NFA item to your collection is no hassle.    

NFA Gun Trust  

NFA gun trusts are specially drafted legal entities designed to hold NFA items such as silencers, short-barreled rifles or shotguns, and machine guns.  

Traditionally, these documents required hiring an attorney to establish the trust. This process was difficult and expensive; however, Silencer Shop has made setting up a traditional NFA trust easy. We have a pre-established, lawyer-drafted trust that only requires a notary to set up.   

This style of trust can hold an unlimited amount of NFA items all within the same trust. This means you only have to keep track of one trust, but it can create complexity and additional steps when adding new items to your trust.  

NFA gun trusts allow for the addition of responsible parties, just like on Single Shot® trusts, potentially allowing your whole family access to the items held by the trust. With the basic NFA trust, you only need to create one trust, but any trustees or responsible persons you add to your trust will need to be included in future NFA applications (with fingerprints and photographs, etc.) unless they are first removed from your trust. 

NFA Gun Trust Benefits  

  • One trust can hold all of your NFA items.  
  • Allows you to establish successors and responsible parties.  
  • Potentially simplifies estate management. 

Gun Trust Cost  

With the Silencer Shop Single Shot® trust, you can establish a gun trust for just $24.95.  

If the tax stamp collector bug bites you and you plan on owning multiple items, getting a Single Shot Unlimited (TM) trust for $129.95 might be the better option. You'll automatically get a Single Shot trust every time you purchase a new Silencer, SBR, or other NFA item from Silencer Shop. 

You can also set up a traditional NFA trust for $129.95 to host all of your NFA purchases. 

Conclusion  

We’ve covered the advantages and disadvantages of each gun trust but wanted to leave you with a few general guidelines. 

If you want the simplest trust option available, Single Shot® trusts are a fast, easy, and flexible way to register your new firearm or silencer.  

If you're thinking of acquiring a large number of NFA items, a Single Shot Unlimited trust or a traditional NFA trust would be your best route.  

If you still have any questions about our trust form products, please email us or call us at 512-931-4556. 

*NOTE: Single Shot Trusts are not available/valid in Iowa or Vermont. This blog post is not legal advice and should be used at your discretion. Consultation with an attorney is highly recommended. This post is not a substitute for appropriate legal advice in your state.