WASHINGTON (PNN) - November 27, 2011 - "Put down the Chore Boy and back away from the weaponry!"
It's an order that actually could be heard, given that a letter has surfaced from the federal government warning against consumers stockpiling Chore Boy household scrubbers because they can be considered a component of a gun silencer and, therefore, regulated by federal gun laws.
The letter is from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and it comes from a federal agency that earlier determined a 14-inch-long piece of shoestring must be regulated under federal gun laws and restrictions because it is a "machine gun."
The latest insane determination from the fascist agency is found in a letter submitted to the agency on behalf of a client. The letter is dated Nov. 26, 2010, and it was recently obtained by a reporter.
In it, an attorney was asking about a repair that a client wished to make on an already-registered silencer for a .22 caliber rifle. "Does sound/gas absorbing materials manufactured from Chore Boy copper clean pads, along with fiberglass insulation, constitute a silencer part as defined in 18 U.S.C 921(a)(24)?" he asked
"Yes," confirmed the letter signed by John R. Spencer, the chief of the Firearms Technology Branch. "Gas/sound-absorbing material is the same as a baffle in that it is designed to reduce/trap hot gases within the expansion tube to allow cooling before they are released from the silencer, subsequently reducing sound."
Spencer, responding to a question about whether such material, which becomes worn in a silencer, could be replaced, said it would be a violation of federal law. "Replacement of any component part or parts of a registered silencer, other than a silencer wipe, would be a violation of the NFA if performed by a non-licensed manufacturer," the letter said.
The correct procedure would be for the owner of the registered silencer to submit an application to the ATF and pay a $200 tax, the letter said.
"Further, he would have to submit a 'no-marking' variance to FTB since there is no viable area in which to apply a serial number to the sound-absorbing material," Spencer wrote.
He also noted that it would not be lawful for the owner of the registered silencer to "have a stockpile of sound-absorbing materials for his own use in replacing deteriorated sound-absorbing material."
