There is no “Class 3 gun license” for private citizens, so the honest answer to how to get a Class 3 gun license is that you don’t. Class 3 is a Special Occupational Taxpayer status held by firearms dealers, not a permit an individual applies for. What people mean when they use the phrase is the process for legally owning a firearm regulated under the National Firearms Act, such as a suppressor, a short-barreled rifle, or a machine gun. That process runs through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: you submit an application, pay a federal tax, pass a background check, and wait for the tax stamp before you can take possession. As of January 2026, electronic applications were clearing in roughly 10 to 14 days.
What You Are Actually Applying For
The NFA covers eight categories of firearms and devices, including suppressors, short-barreled rifles (barrel under 16 inches or overall length under 26 inches), short-barreled shotguns (barrel under 18 inches or overall length under 26 inches), machine guns, destructive devices, and a catch-all group called Any Other Weapons.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5845 – Definitions Suppressors and SBRs are what most civilian buyers are after.
Machine guns are a special case worth flagging up front. Federal law bans civilian possession of any machine gun not lawfully registered before May 19, 1986.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts The pre-1986 supply is finite, and prices reflect it: a transferable M16-pattern rifle runs roughly $25,000 to $35,000. You cannot make a new one, and applications to manufacture machine guns are denied except for government or export use.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Make and Register NFA Firearm ATF Form 1
Check Your State Law Before You File Anything
Federal approval is meaningless if your state prohibits the item. Some states ban suppressors outright. Others prohibit short-barreled rifles or shotguns, restrict machine guns beyond federal rules, or have assault weapon laws that sweep in certain NFA configurations. A few allow ownership but add their own registration on top of the federal filing. The ATF will deny an application if making or possessing the item would violate any other law, so verify state and local rules before you spend a dollar.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5812 – Transfers
Who Qualifies
You must be at least 21 to buy an NFA item from a dealer, and you must not fall into any of the federal prohibited-person categories. Those categories bar possession if you have a felony conviction or pending indictment for a crime punishable by more than one year, are a fugitive, are an unlawful drug user or addict, have been adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, received a dishonorable discharge, renounced U.S. citizenship, been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, or are subject to a qualifying restraining order.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons These rules apply whether you register the item to yourself, a trust, or a business entity.
Decide How the Item Will Be Registered
Before you file, choose one of three ownership structures. The choice affects who can legally touch the firearm and what happens when you die.
Individual Registration
The simplest option. The item is registered to you and only you can lawfully possess it. If your spouse takes your suppressed rifle out of the safe while you’re away, that is technically unlawful possession of an unregistered NFA firearm.
NFA Gun Trust
A trust lets multiple trustees possess and use the items the trust holds, and it lets those items pass to successor trustees or beneficiaries without probate. The trade-off is paperwork: every “responsible person” in the trust must submit fingerprints, a photograph, and the Responsible Person Questionnaire (ATF Form 5320.23) with each application.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National Firearms Act NFA Responsible Person Questionnaire Five responsible persons means five sets of prints per filing.
Corporation or LLC
An entity can hold NFA items and offers liability protection and continuity, but every individual who directs the entity or can possess its firearms is a responsible person with the same fingerprint and background-check burden. This structure fits businesses with an actual operational need, not individuals looking for a workaround.
Buying From a Dealer: The Form 4 Process
The most common path is buying a finished NFA item from a dealer that holds both a Federal Firearms License and SOT status. The transfer runs on ATF Form 4, and the electronic version through the ATF eForms system is the reason waits are now measured in days rather than months.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. eForms Applications
- Pay the dealer and pick the item. The dealer holds the firearm in inventory until your stamp arrives. You cannot take it home until the ATF approves.
- Complete Form 4. Individual applicants attach a 2×2-inch frontal photograph taken within the last six months and submit fingerprints on FBI Form FD-258 cards. Electronic filers can upload prints as an EFT file conforming to FBI specification 8.1.0 with a maximum size of 12MB.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm Tax-Paid ATF Form 5320.49Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. eForm 1 Fingerprint Options
- Notify your CLEO. Send a copy of the completed form to the chief law enforcement officer in your jurisdiction. It’s notification only; the CLEO does not approve or deny.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm Tax-Paid ATF Form 5320.4
- Pay the tax. Under the December 2025 revision of Form 4, the transfer tax is $200 for machine guns and destructive devices and $0 for other NFA items. The tax is non-refundable even if the application is denied.8Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transfer and Register NFA Firearm Tax-Paid ATF Form 5320.4
- Submit and wait. As of January 2026, electronic Form 4 applications averaged about 10 days for individuals and 11 days for trusts. Times fluctuate, so check the ATF’s processing page before you file.10Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times
Once approved, the ATF returns the stamped Form 4 to the dealer, who calls you in for pickup. Dealers typically charge a handling fee of $25 to $100 on top of the item’s price, sometimes bundled into the sticker.
Making Your Own: The Form 1 Process
You can also build certain NFA firearms yourself, such as converting a pistol into an SBR, assembling a suppressor from parts, or cutting down a shotgun. That path runs through ATF Form 1 (Application to Make and Register a Firearm), and approval must come before you assemble anything.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5822 – Making
The mechanics mirror Form 4: fingerprints, photograph, CLEO copy, tax payment, and a wait. The making tax follows the same split under the December 2025 form revision, $200 for machine guns and destructive devices and $0 for SBRs, SBSs, and suppressors.3Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Make and Register NFA Firearm ATF Form 1 Electronic Form 1 applications averaged 14 days in January 2026.10Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Current Processing Times You cannot make a new machine gun.
Engraving the Finished Firearm
After approval, and before you assemble or use the NFA configuration, the frame or receiver must be permanently marked with the maker’s name (or trust or entity name), city, and state, plus a serial number, caliber, and model if applicable. Markings must be engraved, cast, or stamped to a minimum depth of 0.003 inches, and the serial number must be at least 1/16 of an inch in print.12ATF eRegulations. 27 CFR 478.92 – Identification of Firearms and Armor Piercing Ammunition by Licensed Manufacturers and Licensed Importers Most builders use a local engraving shop.
Living With an NFA Item
Approval starts the compliance obligations rather than ending them. Keep your stamped Form 4 or Form 1 secure and carry a copy (a phone photo works) whenever the item is with you. If law enforcement asks for proof of registration, you need to produce it.
Crossing State Lines
Taking a machine gun, SBR, SBS, or destructive device across state lines requires advance written permission from the ATF on Form 5320.20, describing the dates and destinations. You cannot travel with the item until that approval comes back.13Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transport Interstate or to Temporarily Export Certain National Firearms Act NFA Firearms Suppressors and AOWs are exempt from this interstate transport approval under federal law, though you still have to comply with the destination state’s rules.14Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application to Transport Interstate or Temporarily Export Certain National Firearms Act NFA Firearms ATF F 5320.20
Moving Permanently
An in-state move is a simple address update with the ATF after you relocate. Interstate moves are different: for machine guns, SBRs, SBSs, and destructive devices, file Form 5320.20 and wait for approval before the items cross the line. Suppressors can move with you and be updated after arrival. Confirm every item is legal in the new state first.
Passing Items to an Heir
NFA items can be inherited tax-free. When the registered owner dies, the executor or trustee transfers the item to a lawful heir using ATF Form 5 (Application for Tax Exempt Transfer and Registration of Firearm); the heir still has to pass a background check and be eligible to possess firearms, but the $200 tax is waived.15Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Application for Tax Exempt Transfer and Registration of Firearm ATF Form 5 This is one of the strongest arguments for a trust: with a trust, surviving trustees can keep possessing the items while the estate settles. With individual registration, no one can lawfully hold the item during the gap between death and the completed Form 5, which can stretch for months. Anyone receiving an item from an estate who is not a beneficiary or heir by operation of law must use a standard Form 4 with the full tax.
What Happens If You Skip the Process
NFA violations are federal felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties Possessing an unregistered NFA firearm, transferring one without paying the tax, making one without approval, or receiving one you know was transferred illegally each carry that maximum.17GovInfo. 26 USC 5861 – Prohibited Acts
The trap that catches people most often is constructive possession. You do not have to assemble a working NFA firearm to be charged. Owning a pistol lower, a short barrel, and a rifle stock together, without an approved Form 1, is the kind of parts combination federal prosecutors treat as an unregistered SBR. Every step of the process above exists to keep you on the lawful side of that line: file the form, pay the tax, wait for the stamp, then possess or build.