ATF approving Form 4's but FCC not handing out Callsigns?

[Northcutt114]

How's that work? Is the ATF more "essential" than the FCC? I've been waiting on a callsign for over a month now. Just got a Form Four back yesterday. Huh?

 

[SteveShannon]

3 hours ago, Northcutt114 said:

How's that work? Is the ATF more "essential" than the FCC? I've been waiting on a callsign for over a month now. Just got a Form Four back yesterday. Huh?

Form 4 results in a tax stamp, not a license. The government never stops taking taxes. 

[WRTC928]

Most (maybe all?) federal law enforcement agencies continue to be funded during the shutdown. I guess that extends to activities that I would consider not entirely essential, such as approving Form 4s.

[marcspaz]

The ATF stopped processing forms and got sued under the concept of a Right delayed is a Right denied.  ATF employees were forced back to work.

 

Radio dorks aren't as passionate about their radios, that 10s of thousands, possibly millions, use without a license anyway. 

[Lscott]

12 minutes ago, marcspaz said:

Radio dorks aren't as passionate about their radios, that 10s of thousands, possibly millions, use without a license anyway. 

And if you carry one concealed without a license under your coat you won't get arrested either. 

[TNFrank]

[Off Topic]

Edited November 12, 2025 by rdunajewski
Off Topic

[marcspaz]

10 hours ago, Lscott said:

And if you carry one concealed without a license under your coat you won't get arrested either. 

 

It's pretty wild to see Radio service is more heavily restricted.

[SteveShannon]

4 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

The Tax on SBR's, SBS's AOW's and Suppressors is going away on Jan 1st so it'll just be an illegal Registration by the government which should also go away with a couple well placed law suites. At that point I might save up and get a threaded barrel for my Glock 45, 9mm and a suppressor but until then it's a "no go" for me. 

Frank,

You might not realize it but it’s against the rules of the forum to talk about guns.  Rich hasn’t come down hard on us yet but it’s worth remembering. 

[LeoG]

2 hours ago, marcspaz said:

The ATF stopped processing forms and got sued under the concept of a Right delayed is a Right denied.  ATF employees were forced back to work.

 

Radio dorks aren't as passionate about their radios, that 10s of thousands, possibly millions, use without a license anyway. 

Push the 1st amendment since it worked on the 2nd amendment.  The govt is restricting my right to speak on the airwaves.....

 

Worth a shot.  But the govt is suppose to open on Wed.  The had to observe Veterans day holiday instead of coming into work for a few hours to get the govt up and running again.

[SteveShannon]

17 minutes ago, LeoG said:

the govt is suppose to open on Wed.  The had to observe Veterans day holiday instead of coming into work for a few hours to get the govt up and running again.

Last I heard Mike Johnson ordered the representatives to return by Wednesday. Until they vote to approve and Trump signs, the government can’t open. 

[LeoG]

Yep, I know.  He could have told them to get their azzes to DC that night.

It's been shut down for 41 days, what's a few more.  The president is working today.  So shouldn't our representatives especially to solve this dilemma they created.

[TNFrank]

2 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Frank,

You might not realize it but it’s against the rules of the forum to talk about guns.  Rich hasn’t come down hard on us yet but it’s worth remembering. 

I had no idea firearms were a restricted topic. I can't understand why since radios and firearms go hand in hand with the Prepper Lifestyle. 

Aside from that I was mostly talking about Tax, not firearms. 

[Bogieboy01]

43 minutes ago, TNFrank said:

I had no idea firearms were a restricted topic. I can't understand why since radios and firearms go hand in hand with the Prepper Lifestyle. 

Aside from that I was mostly talking about Tax, not firearms. 

Likely because firearms are an even more devisive a topic than which antenna gets the most fars

[Northcutt114]

5 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

Form 4 results in a tax stamp, not a license. The government never stops taking taxes. 

Isn't that the dang truth! 

 

[Northcutt114]

4 hours ago, marcspaz said:

The ATF stopped processing forms and got sued under the concept of a Right delayed is a Right denied.  ATF employees were forced back to work.

Interesting. I had not heard that. 

[WRYZ926]

15 minutes ago, Bogieboy01 said:

Likely because firearms are an even more devisive a topic than which antenna gets the most fars

Or asking what type/brand of oil to use. I've seen oil topics on different forums get down right mean and nasty.

On topic, it was deemed that not processing Form 1s and Form 4s was a denial of rights. Exercising constitutional rights is different than getting a license. Rights are guaranteed while licenses are a privilege. Having any type of license, to include a driver license, is a privilege.

[LeoG]

1 hour ago, Northcutt114 said:

Isn't that the dang truth! 

 

Everyone should take off 42 day worth of taxes on the IRS form.  They were closed, why should we pay?

 

Like that will fly

[gortex2]

2 hours ago, TNFrank said:

I had no idea firearms were a restricted topic. I can't understand why since radios and firearms go hand in hand with the Prepper Lifestyle. 

Thats becasue no one reads the rules....

https://forums.mygmrs.com/guidelines/

[SteveShannon]

15 minutes ago, LeoG said:

Everyone should take off 42 day worth of taxes on the IRS form.  They were closed, why should we pay?

 

Like that will fly

Just be glad we don’t get all the government we pay for. 

[TNFrank]

So how is having to get a GMRS or HAM license to use a radio not an infringement on our 1st Amendment Right to Free Speech? 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, TNFrank said:

So how is having to get a GMRS or HAM license to use a radio not an infringement on our 1st Amendment Right to Free Speech? 

They aren’t preventing you from speaking; they’re preventing you from operating a radio transmitter. The content is mostly immaterial to the regulation. 

[Davichko5650]

24 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

They aren’t preventing you from speaking; they’re preventing you from operating a radio transmitter. The content is mostly immaterial to the regulation. 

They're not even preventing you from operating the radio, just not letting you do it within the purview of following regulations while doing so...

[WRYZ926]

2 hours ago, TNFrank said:

So how is having to get a GMRS or HAM license to use a radio not an infringement on our 1st Amendment Right to Free Speech? 

Granting or not granting an amateur or GMRS license is not an infringement of any rights to include the 1st Amendment. Again, a license is a privilege. Not having a license does not keep anyone from exercising their freedom of speech. The license grants the privilege to use radios.

And a privilege is not the same thing as a constitutionally protected right.

Driver licenses are another prime example. A driver license allows you the privilege of operating a motor vehicle on public roads. Not having a license does not keep one from traveling.

 

[LeoG]

The govt is wrong about drivers licenses.  The should only be able to license commercial vehicles.

[rdunajewski]

5 hours ago, TNFrank said:

I had no idea firearms were a restricted topic. I can't understand why since radios and firearms go hand in hand with the Prepper Lifestyle. 

Aside from that I was mostly talking about Tax, not firearms. 

It's just off-topic and many people like to ramble on about their arsenal and post pictures when it has nothing to do with GMRS. Discussions about weapons also affects our ads, as we would fall under a restricted category for adults, and this website is for a broad all-ages audience.

Though I didn't post a rule for it, a lot of posts about drugs, alcohol, smoking, gambling, or pornography would all fall under the same restricted content, but they are less likely to be posted here except for the occasional spam posts. Guns in particular always come up at some point. 

This isn't a prepper website either, although there's some overlap in the communities. 

It's not you in particular but the topic took a sharp turn with people chiming in about weapons specifics, so that's the issue. Taxes and the ATF as an agency are just fine to bring up in the context of two-way radio.