Applying as an individual may be cheaper depending on your situation. If you only want one or two NFA items, it is probably cheaper than having a gun trust created by an attorney. However, you loose a limited amount of protection should you unknowingly violate the Nation Firearms Act. Also, since the NFA item will be granted to you individually, there may be some legal issues after you die.

You will need the following when applying as an individual:

• Photo of the applicant
• Finger print card
• Signature of chief law enforcement officer

The first two are simply a pain in the butt. You will have to go somewhere that takes passport photos and pay to have one done. It must be an original. It cannot be a copy, scanned image, or self-taken photo.
The finger prints will have to be done at a local police station which means they will charge you and you will probably need to make an appointment or know the specific hours they are willing to do finger print cards.

The CLEO signature is a tough one. Some will sign them, others will not. If you cannot obtain a CLEO signature your next option should be to apply using a gun trust. You should check with your local law enforcement agency and see if you can get the CLEO signature on such forms. If not, there is not sense in going through the first two steps.

The ATF recently announced they are omitting the CLEO sign off. However, it is unclear at this time when they will actually start accepting individual forms without it.

Remember, that when NFA items are granted to an individual, those items must be turned over to the government or transferred via re-application by next of kin when primary holder dies. This is usually why a trust is used because it allows you to pass the items onto certain individuals listed on the trust with less paper work and a $5 fee per item.

Read more about using a gun trust.