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Give 'em an ear full about the stupidity of adding the CLEO to trusts!

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What I said:


Simply put the chief law enforcement officer's involvement in the process has been obsolete since the implementation of national records for felons.  The approval of the local police should be eliminated, not expanded.

The law being implemented by this regulation is quite simple and is not served by the uneven denial of a single person in the jurisdiction of the applicant.  Arbitrary and random refusals to simply sign a form by the CLEO has created a the need for people who would normally proceed with an individual transfer to create a trust to bypass a capricious local official.  There is no requirement in the law that such a person should be allowed to insert themselves into the dealings of a law abiding citizen and their federal government.  Implicit in the requirement is an assumption that the applicant is somehow guilty or unworthy to own an NFA item unless an implacable and often distant "local" official proves them innocent with the stroke of a pen.  A stroke that may be withheld for any and no reason.

The assertion that trusts might allow a felon to possess a NFA firearm is ridiculous on its face and in detail.  Especially in the light that not a single registered weapon has actually been found with a felon as a trustee.  It's literally not a problem.  Completely overlooked are a myriad of innocuous and legitimate reasons why an NFA item would be owned by a trust that have no intent to bypass the law in any way.

The proposed rule changes address a problem that does not exist in reality and acerbates problems which are already present.  Such changes do not serve the community at large and create only injustice through the uneven application of the law.