Those who consider themselves “stamp collectors” will be familiar with both the website NFATracker and the company SilencerShop. NFATracker enables those waiting on the ATF to approve their National Firearms Act-regulated item can log their details and use the experiences of others in line to judge how long they’ll need to wait until they can use their newly-purchased item.
SilencerShop offers some of the dirt-cheapest prices on silencers, the best customer experience for NFA purchasers, and is continually pushing the envelope in terms of technology to make the process as seamless and painless as possible. In a “chocolate in my peanut butter” move, the two have decided to combine forces.
The acquisition seems to be designed as a way for SilencerShop to market their services to a wider audience. NFATracker has recently gotten a facelift and a complete re-fit of their internal workings to make the site run much more smoothly, but that’s probably not the reason SilencerShop dropped the coin for the site.
The real purpose is buried in the brand new News and Reviews sections. Once solely used for tracking processing times, NFATracker now seems to be positioning itself as a general authority on silencers, providing reviews of the same products offered for sale by SilencerShop.
It’s a smart move by SilencerShop as they try to increase their market share in the highly regulated field of suppressors…depending on the extent to which readers perceive a conflict of interest in NFATracker’s content. The accuracy and reliability of their reviews will determine ultimately how useful the site remains to the average gun owner. While we remain optimistic, as someone once said, trust, but verify.
Looks like Silencer Shop understands the Republicans passing the HPA is mental masturbation.
That is what I was thinking on seeing the title… they know something commenters here don’t.
More like a ’84 Dan Hartman song. But I think HPA could succeed if the Dims don’t want to filibuster everything.
I suspect that all the Republicans (even McCain) would vote Yes (now that the slimy Kirk is gone), even Toomey since HPA would treat silencers as firearms and subject them to background checks.
On the Dim side, it’s possible that Manchin would vote Yes (same “logic” as Toomey), as would Heitkamp, Tester (who was on record as supporting national CCW reciprocity), Donnelly and Heinrich.
That’s 56 votes. I don’t see where the other 4 votes will come from if the bill goes to the floor under filibuster rules. Warner? Casey? And then who?
Now we have control of the lower and upper house, we need a new filibuster rule.
That being, if you wanna filibuster, you do it the old-fashioned way.
Warm up your vocal chords, buster…
This seems like a smart strategic acquisition. I hope it works out for both businesses.
Silencer Shop having good customer service? They filled out my Form 3 & 4 with incorrect information, in addition to losing my form 3 twice (and always blaming the ATF). My third form 3 only was approved two weeks before my form 4, so the entire batch of suppressors was nearly rejected by the ATF. I was the one constantly on the phone with the ATF trying to figure out if they had received my applications, not Silencer Shop. Every time I called them they seemed annoyed to have to deal with me. I used them in the first place because they were supposed to have the expertise to do everything correctly. I will not buy another can using them.
This makes little sense should the HPA pass. Regardless of the other applications in the NFATracker, you don’t overpay for a component that may have marginal application knowing that a huge piece of it will achieve obsolescence in the next 6-9 months.
The springs on that Ford has to be best ever made, all those boxes full of Form 4’s and it’s still sitting level.
When you see an acquisition like this it’s the sign of a market top.
9/10 times when I see a company make a “strategic acquisition” of a technology company that mainly provides a marketing platform, the end is near. The bubble is bursting. NFA tracker is worthless as a brand because on the internet, customers are not sticky. I can go into almost any gun forum and find a thread with similar information. Not a cute little graph, maybe. but whatever.
The good news: This is a clear indication wait times have peaked. Actually, they peaked for submissions in June. If you filed after, your wait time is likely to be much lower.
Pretty soon, wait times will be a thing of the past. There are 10 “endangered” Democrats in states won by Trump. We have the votes. Seeing a stupid acquisition gives makes me even more optimistic.
Except that Silencer Shop has owned NFA Tracker for a year at least. Just look at their Facebook pages. Both have obviously been written by the same person for a very long time. Look at how NFA Tracker never posts anything from SilencerCo, despite them being the largest manufacturer by a large margin.
I’ve found the S Store pleasant to deal with, and their local Kiosk location is one of my two regular gun smithing/gun transfer dealers. They’ve done pretty well for a local Austin-area gun store, no? They don’t need to become Wallmart, just need to survive and grow enough to pay down the capex, which shouldn’t be much.
EXTRA DIRECTOR’S CUT MEDIA: Nick, I should thank you for your boundless enthusiasm for the 300 BLK. The day PA’s guv signed the “OK to hunt with semi-autos” bill I finally sold off my 45 carbine-like thing, bought a BCM BLK upper, some 220’s and some 110s/125/s/130s, and went out to shoot the thing. I normally hunt local whitetail with my ’06 and 150s, but It’s just such a nice solution, providing both an HD carbine and light woods-walking deer gun, where shots at deer in our forest need never be over 125 meters. And it’s really a good host for a Liberty Cosmic. Thanks again for highlighting the subject!