re: My conclusions after hours of Online AR research

NFA Trusts are most often encouraged to avoid the required CLEO sign-off on the transaction, it does not avoid any other requirement, but in some jurisdictions the CLEO for political reasons refuse to sign off, so it is helpful in that regard. It also facilitates the use by "Trustees" where the usage by a non-owner of a registered item would violate federal law, among other things, depending on the situation.

As to the use of trusts in estate planning, they are in fact very useful, but limited as are all legal strategies. They work if properly done to avoid probate, but are often neglected or lack follow-through, that is not always, even often the lawyers fault in my experience. They are much more cost-effective than a Will if the probate estate is of much over a couple hundred thousand dollars (depending on the state you are in). But, this has little to do with NFA trusts.