Why homemade weapons are back in the ATF’s crosshairs

In blurry cellphone footage that later hit the Internet, federal officers are seen knocking on the door of a Florida gun owner, demanding that he hand over an illegal device he allegedly bought as a suppressor for his AR-15 rifle.

The man, Nick Vitiello, pushes back.

“Your whole job is to take away people’s guns… and to undermine the Second Amendment,” Vitiello told Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents on his doorstep. He spits out ATF failures like curse words: Waco, Ruby Ridge, shooting dogs.

“You’ve watched too many shows and read too many books,” agents respond. “I’m sure we’ll find you again one day.”

Last year’s impasse and its popularity online illustrate growing tensions as agencies struggle to keep pace with do-it-yourselfers who are finding ways to bypass federal restrictions.

Late last month, the ATF tried to dispel any confusion about devices marketed as “solvent traps” to catch excess cleaning fluids. In fact, most of them are silencers, which are regulated by the National Firearms Act of 1934 and banned in some states.

This is one of a number of controversial decisions related to firearm accessories. In 2018, after a mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival the previous year, the agency banned the use of bump stocks. He solved the problem of stabilizing braces, force-reset triggers, and “Glock switches” that allowed a semi-automatic pistol to fire automatically.

To dedicated gun enthusiasts and the gun lobby, these moves all fall into the same category: This isn’t a conspiracy theory – they’re coming for our guns.

A recent warning to all federal firearms license holders makes clear that the legality of a device is determined not by what the device is called, but by how it can be used. Solvent traps, it said, are classified under the statute, which includes “any device intended to silence, muffle or attenuate the sound of a portable firearm.”

ATF spokeswoman Kristina Mastropasqua said solvent traps that function as suppressors must be registered by the manufacturer or importer, not the individual purchaser. In recent years, hobbyists with machining skills have been able to avoid the long wait times for traditional suppressor purchases to be registered under “Form 4” of the Firearms Act by registering their home devices through a different process known as “Form 1.”

Solvent traps are no longer eligible for Form 1 registration, which is worrying for gun enthusiasts, lawyers advising them and manufacturers.

“ATF’s latest open letter highlights the issue of Congress’ definition of the term ‘muffler’ as it relates to its parts, the ATF’s interpretation of what constitutes a muffler, and an individual’s ability to self-manufacture or repair it,” said Adam Kraut, executive director of the ATF Second Amendment Foundation.

“People who want to produce their own silencers find themselves in a precarious situation trying to obtain materials for this purpose without violating the law,” Kraut said, “which requires a detailed registration system and waiting times of many months before any to the assembly.”

Vitiello told USA TODAY he received a Form 1 to produce his own silencer and went through the process of being fingerprinted, filling out paperwork and paying a $200 tax – a process he believed was legal in 2021, but is now considered illegal by the ATF . No charges were brought against him.

He called the ATF’s new open letter “absurd” because it claims that solvent traps require significant machining to be turned into a working suppressor.

“The ATF is increasingly exceeding its Congressionally approved authority and illegally creating laws calling them ‘rules,’” Vitiello said.

Silencers are silencers for weapons

Silencers have been regulated since the 1930s – like machine guns – in response to gangster violence.

Nationwide, Americans have purchased and paid a $200 registration fee for more than 2.6 million silencers, according to the ATF. They are legal in 42 states but are restricted in California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Washington

The Trump administration and a GOP bill in Congress aimed to legalize silencers nationwide, which failed in 2017. An NRA-backed campaign sought to rename the devices “mufflers” because they reduce noise but are not silent.

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected efforts by two men convicted of purchasing unregistered silencers to loosen regulations on the devices.

Proponents of these devices say they help protect hearing and reduce recoil and muzzle rise, leading to more accurate shooting.

Gun control activists worry that silencers make it harder to hear or see gunshots, reducing the effectiveness of law enforcement and local gunshot detection systems like ShotSpotter.

Although rare, crimes have been committed using silencers. A former Los Angeles Police Department officer armed with a Glock pistol and an AR-15, both equipped with silencers, shot and killed four people in February 2013. In 2019, a man used an H&K .45 pistol equipped with a silencer to kill 12 people in Virginia Beach.

Homemade silencers can still be manufactured and registered, but only under strict protocols, said Dillon Harris, an attorney at Civil Rights Defense.

Harris called the ATF letter a welcome clarification, but “it’s a day late and a dollar short” as new hobbyists continue to encounter solvent pitfalls in online marketplaces.

The issue of the solvent trap raises controversy and conspiracy theories

In 2022, the ATF raided a manufacturing building and shut down the website of Michigan-based Diversified Machine. Ultimately, three men pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture and sell $1 million worth of muffler kits and components without a license under the guise of “solvent traps.”

Following the seizure, the ATF obtained the names and addresses of thousands of Diversified Machine customers. In 2022, agents sent warning letters to everyone they believed had purchased the devices. In some cases, they showed up on people’s doorsteps and asked people to give them up voluntarily.

The action sparked a wave of new criticism of an agency that many in the gun rights community had previously condemned.

Vitiello says he doesn’t regret sharing the video of his August 2022 confrontation, but in hindsight he said he could have simply invoked the Fourth and Fifth Amendments and asked them to leave the legislature immediately.

“I’m here about the solvent trap you ordered,” the agent says at one point. “You still have it?”

He then explains that “they came to pick it up and destroy it” and informs Vitiello that if he does not comply, he could be charged with possession of an illegal device.

Vitiello tells them to come back with a warrant.

“I feel like I properly exercised my rights, although after one of the agents told me to take my hands out of my pockets, I admit I quickly got angry,” Vitiello told USA TODAY. “Charging two federal agents with a crime is extremely stressful.”

Harris, the firearms attorney, said the clash depicted in the video is not ideal. He advises clients approached by the ATF not to answer the door in the first place, but if they do, they should not say anything without first speaking to a lawyer.

“The last thing we want is any escalation because that doesn’t produce good results,” Harris said. “In general, agents and law enforcement are respectful, but you should not make any statements without consulting an attorney.”

Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter for USA TODAY’s investigative team. Contact him at [email protected], @npenzenstadler or via Signal at (720) 507-5273.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Conspiracy theories abound as ATF focuses on DIY pistol silencers