Is there a way to get Silencer Shop to give you your fingerprints electronically? I've emailed them a couple of times and no results. I know I can order them as cards no problem. But I'm hoping if I get them electronically I can use them on an Efile F1 and not have to run to the post office etc. etc. would that be true?
“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
No, they won’t do that. You can buy paper cards with your prints on them from SS, but they won’t give or sell you the digital file. Likely this is to keep you going through them for your purchases, because if they every gave you the file, there would be little reason to use SS anymore.
Posts: 2867 | Location: South FL | Registered: February 09, 2007
Originally posted by hrcjon: I'm ok with that philosophy but then why don't they offer an eform1 service. I wouldn't care if was for a fee. makes no sense.
They tried offering it when eForm 1 came out a few years ago, but got badly burned on it. The ATF position was that the maker needs to have their own individual account and be the one who actually fills out the eForm 1. SS submitted a bunch of eForm 1s using their own ATF account. A bunch of SS generated eForm 1s were stuck for months, until SS and the ATF worked out a one-time deal to get the forms unstuck that they didn’t allow to be used again.
Basically, SS can’t submit a eForm 1 for someone else. They have to have their own eForm account do it themselves. Note that SS isn’t submitting eForm 4s either. It’s the dealer submitting the eForm through their own account.
Posts: 2867 | Location: South FL | Registered: February 09, 2007
Originally posted by hrcjon: I'm ok with that philosophy but then why don't they offer an eform1 service. I wouldn't care if was for a fee. makes no sense.
Because YOU have to complete a Form 1 since YOU are the one making the gun.
Posts: 4598 | Location: Iowa | Registered: February 24, 2011
Originally posted by Chowser: Bump with a different question.
Is there any way someone can scan a fingerprint card into an eft file for transmission?
Without having to go to a PD or store?
Not that I am aware of as an individual. There are companies offering this service. I suspect the file format requirements are strenuous and very specific.
Seeing as you're a cop, you might consider ordering 20 (or more) cards from ATF (for free) and either rolling your own or having a trainee do it.
The processing of paper prints are not the bottleneck in this process. Consider that the ATF's goal is 30 day approvals by the end of 2023 and eForm 1 approvals have been at roughly 30 days with paper prints for a good while now.
Posts: 4598 | Location: Iowa | Registered: February 24, 2011
I roll my own and have been for awhile. I order the max amount of free cards from the ATF every few months. My SOT was asking about it and our chief told him he couldn't bring people to our station to do livescan fingerprints (My SOT retired from this department after 33 years and I guess our chief never liked him).
I told my SOT guy that he could still send in the cards since that's not going to change the pace. He's just trying to computerize everything I guess. He doesn't do very many suppressors for individuals. All his big customers are area departments.
That's more or less the boat that I'm in. There is at least one company out there offering mail-in conversion of an FD-258 to EFT (I think for $50) and a couple doing EFT software for dealers that are either on a monthly or per EFT model but require expensive hardware.
The most reasonable for a low volume guy was something like $25 per EFT file, but you needed an $1100 fingerprint scanner. https://www.eftcreator.com/
I ended up choosing not to pursue it since, at $50 per EFT ($25 profit), it would take 44 people to break even. So much of the NFA business for me is cops that can print themselves and repeat buyers that the value just wasn't there when the customer can mail an FD-258 to somebody else and get an EFT back.
Posts: 4598 | Location: Iowa | Registered: February 24, 2011
This is basically a service offered through some UPS Stores. Check for the ATF type and a location near you. I found it awhile back and a buddy just got his done on Friday (email came to him almost immediately with EFT file attached)
