The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) has trimmed Form 4 processing time significantly. That trend began roughly five years ago, but it has accelerated in noteworthy fashion during the recent tsunami of submissions to take possession of suppressors, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns.
In early 2021, it took somewhere around 280 days for BATFE to approve a Form 4, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Individuals applying electronically in August 2026 waited only 9 days. Old-school paper submissions took about a month.
Enthusiasts submitting “trust” paperwork had longer delays, however. They were 33 and 34 days, respectively.
The process to trim down wait times began five years ago. The first big step came in 2021 when the agency announced a new electronic Form 4. An earlier 2014 and 2015 attempt to do that same was abandoned due to an outdated database.
By early 2024, as BATFE modernized and improved its process, enthusiasts waited 53 days for their electronic forms to be processed. Paper submissions, still handled manually, took an average of 245 days. Even that figure was trimmed by more than a month compared to 2021.
Improved efficiency and streamlining in the process has dropped the numbers to about 1/6th the time electronically and 1/8th by paper. Accomplishing that feat in a period in which applications have more than tripled in number is notable and impressive.
In July, BATFE received 120,623 Form 4s for suppressors alone. It even finalized more than came in—133,942 to be precise. So far, this year, it has processed 1,045,503 Form 4s.
An NRA-backed landmark court case struck down National Firearm Act requirements on suppressors, short-barreled shotguns and short-barreled rifles in early August. The decision isn’t necessarily the blanket ruling that some claim—visit NRA/ILA’s Q&A article here for details—although any reduction in the volume of Form 4s will drop processing times even further.
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