Gun trusts have long been popular with firearms enthusiast due to their ability to sidestep federal laws which restricted ownership of certain types of weapons such as fully automatic guns and silencers. Recently, new regulations were published concerning the application process and clarifying certain terms related to the trust. One of the major changes made is that CLEO certifications are no longer needed with only a notice given to “responsible persons” which is now limited to trustees and some beneficiaries. For a beneficiary to be considered a “responsible person” they must have the power to hold, transfer, or dispose of the firearm which clarifies a previous version of the regulation which created ambiguity. The new regulations will be effective stating on July 13th, 2016 with all applications before that time being controlled by the previous incarnation of the rules.
See David M. Goldman, 41F Published: Some Gun Trusts will have problems, Gun Trust Lawyer, January 15, 2016.
