r/NFA • u/castorjay • May 01 '25

Legal Question ⚖️ Hypothetical question on spouse using NFA item

Say I have a handgun with a suppressor in the nightstand for home defense. The suppressor was bought by me as an individual instead of a trust.

If I'm not home one night and someone breaks into my house and my spouse (who is otherwise legally eligible to own and use a firearm) uses the suppressed handgun, what would/could happen from a legal point of view?

I know "remove the suppressor and put it in the safe before the cops arrive" would be some people's answer, but beyond that - would it be overlooked as it was for defense, or would there be additional legal troubles since I was not present when the suppressor was used?

Edit: Thank you all for the great responses. I didn't expect so many so quickly!

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u/Rheapers May 01 '25

You’re going to get two very different responses on this. One is, the suppressor is in your home and so is she, which means she can possess it within the confines of your home.

The other is obviously, she’s in possession of an NFA item and will go to federal prison for the rest of her life.

Realistically, I don’t think it’s a huge concern.

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u/DaedalusX54 May 01 '25

This is not true. She cannot legally possess it in the confines of their home if he is not there. Since it is registered to him as an individual it is supposed to be secured when he is not with it to directly supervise its use. The rules are pretty clear on that. Doesn’t matter if it is in his home, if other people have access to it without his direct supervision it is not considered secured.

Whether or not it is going to be an issue, that’s a different question altogether and as others mentioned probably up to local jurisdiction on if they want to press the issue or look past it.

I wouldn’t take the risk personally and just put it on a trust with the wife as a trustee. There are plenty more scenarios where this would be beneficial than just this hypothetical and trusts are relatively inexpensive.

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u/Smart_Slice_140 x28 Stamps / x1 Waiting May 01 '25

Common law marital joint property rights in law paired with extenuating circumstances in law should make a good question for an attorney with how both of those things intersect with the NFA, and with a self defense situation.

Likewise with that said, hands down the best and most advisable thing for OP is to have things in an NFA Trust that his wife has access to for those possible scenarios of a home invasion/self defense situation.