Posted: 9/2/2003 7:40:44 AM EDT
[#16]
Quoted: If the ban is extended (a bill is passed striking the expiration, leaving the other parts of the AW ban intact) then there is no window to convert post-94 rifles to a grandfathered AW configuration.
It is possible that the ban will expire, and be reinstated at a later date. If that was the case, there wouldn't be any way to know when the conversion was done, so long as they didn't catch the hypothetical person over the course of the next year.
Also, keep in mind even the present grandfather status applies only to rifles that were legally possessed prior to the enactment of the AW ban. That's why I say without a gap, even a few seconds would do, there can be no 1994-2004 preban grandfathered rifles. Unless a provision for amnesty is attached to the bill :)
Sort of a similar situation happened with the '89 ban of imported AWs (I never heard them referred to as such, but rifles with similar features were banned from import.) There were some neutered thumbhole stocked rifles imported post-89, like the Springfield SAR-8 (made in Greece, HK91 type rifle with no flash supressor and one of the ugliest butthole stocks imaginable.) If you replaced enough parts it would be considered a US made rifle and you could restore it to full pre-ban configuration, if done before '94. But I don't think there were enough US HK91 parts available pre-94 to do this (there were Thermold HK91 mags, which count as 3 US parts, but you would need a few more.) So, if you see a SAR-8 in AW format with US parts, likely the conversion was done after '94 and while complying with the '89 ban, would be in violation of the '94 ban. If you did the conversion BEFORE '94, but didn't use enough US parts, then you were in violation of the '89 ban. The rifle, not being legally possesed in AW format pre-94, would not be grandfathered, even if you replaced foreign parts with US parts some time after '94.
Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, since I'm now assuming all AW format SAR-8 rifles are in violation of the AW Ban.
View Quote Maybe yes, maybe no. If the Post '89 imported weapon had anything done to it, prior to the AWB, that would have qualified it as a grandfathered weapon, it could later be upgraded with U.S. parts into a military (read non-sporting) configuration. For Example: Owner had his thumbhole stocked sporting weapon threaded by a gunsmith for a muzzle brake. The brake was not permanently attached by any of the BATF approved methods. This was legal prior to the '94 AWB. Since the weapon had a thumbhole stock, which for the purposes of the AWB is considered a pistol grip, and an additional qualifing feature of a threaded barrel, it would now be considered to be a grandfathered AW. Last week, you purchased the weapon from the original owner, who provides, among other things, a receipt indicating the barrel threading prior to the '94 AWB. I don't think there is anything preventing you from removing the thumbhole stock and restoring to military configuration, as long as the requisite number of U.S. parts are used. It already is grandfathered under the '94 AWB and the U.S. parts will ensure it stays compliant with the '89 ban. HTH.
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