Hey,Is a complete lower that was bought from the factory before the 94 ban able to be built into a complete preban rifle now or did it have to be shipped from the factory as a complete rifle before the 94 ban to be a preban now?

 What if there is a letter from the gunstore owner who made it into a complete rifle and sold it before the ban? Does that count?

If you know the answer I,d be abliedged.
               

I've never seen any information regarding the legality of pre-ban lowers, only post-ban and what a person can put on one. I wonder if it's just a scare tactic telling someone that a pre-ban HAD to be built into a complete rifle prior to the ban. Who would know but the owner anyway? To answer your question though, I've seen several Colt SP1 lowers built into non-SP1 rifles.

You've got two questions here, let me answer them one at a time...

First, on the issue of building a preban from a receiver, BATF has issued an advisory opinion that to be a grandfathered assault weapon (see 18 USC 922(v)(2)), the firearm in question had to be completed with the ability to accept a detachable mag and two or more defined assault features [i]prior to 9-13-94[/i].  Thus, if you bought a stripped receiver that was never assembled, but was manufactured prior to 9-13-94, you are out of luck.  If it was completed for 5 minutes and then disassembled prior to the ban, you are good to go.

Now, as for the issue of whether a letter from your friendly local gun store owner would 'count', it would probably suffice if it can be shown he did in fact own the gun prior to the ban.  The problem is that there's no particular form of proof that is deemed acceptable or not acceptable in the law.  Basically what you need is a form of proof that will make a prosecutor or a jury believe that the receiver was actually built into a complete firearm with all the required features prior to the ban.  A letter from the manufacturer is pretty strong proof of that.  A letter from a dealer is pretty good too, but probably not quite as convincing as a letter from the manufacturer.

yup, both of mine were complete before the ban.  they sure were.  how am i supposed to know.  i have 2 preban lowers that left the factory before the AWB.  one left as a lower.  i bought it from an FFL in preban config.  i'm not worried about anything.  

Since all SP1s left the factory as complete rifles, and ATF knows it, thet're not an issue.  Ir's the aftermarket types that either were sold only as stripped, or either completed or stripped, that raise the issue.  The outfits rhat sold them both ways, like Oly, can document for you whether the specific piece went built or stripped. It's the small producers, who often aren't even around any more, that can give you gray hair trying to document whether or not they were built before the ban[:D]