See this link for some really good news on the subject of purchasing a LEO Only AR for duty use, and what you have to do to keep it when you leave law enforcement.  Yes, you can keep it!

[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=111836[/url]

Drat!  I just thought of something.  This would not apply to a LE Only [b]Colt AR-15A3[/b].  The name makes it a 921(a)(30) assault weapon by name regardless of evil feature count.

Points to ponder:

To keep it, you have to neuter it (remove all the scary stuff).

A neutered LEO is called a 'post-ban'. Anyone can buy one of those. The only thing you come away with is a 'LEO' roll stamp on a post-ban rifle.

I'd sell it to another LEO or the department and put the proceeds toward a nice pre-ban with all the evil pieces intact.

I heard it is up to the discretion of the dept if you can keep it - anybody heard the same?

If the department owns the weapon, they can give it to the officer on retirement, along with magazines.  If the officer owns the rifle, he can keep it if it isn't a "Colt AR-15" and he removes all but one evil feature.  That's Federal and California law.  Other state laws may vary.

Here in Canada, Any AR-15 I buy comes with all the nasty thing attach to it. I can walk over to my gun store and buy a shorty 14.5 AR with flash hider, Bayonet Lug for $1440 CAN and it comes with that neat little stamp on the reciver that says LEO/Goverment/Export only. The only downside is the 5 round mags. [v] To bad you cant keep all that stuff on the rifle.

i know Retired LEOs who have kept their ARs (specifically the AR15 A3 tactical carbine)
with no problems.

It may not be legal, but it would be nuts to go weld a muzzle brake on it and whack the bayo stud off.  After all they paid for the rifle with their own money.

Hmmm...

For that to be legal, the weapon would have to be owned by the agency and transferred to the individual officer on retirement.

922(v)(1) It shall be unlawful for a person to manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon.

(4) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to...

(C) the possession, by an individual who is retired from service with a law enforcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited from receiving a firearm, of a semiautomatic assault weapon transferred to the individual by the agency upon such retirement;

921(a)(30) The term ''semiautomatic assault weapon'' means...

(A) any of the firearms, or copies or duplicates of the firearms in any caliber, known as... (iv) Colt AR-15;

A personally-owned LE Only AR-15A3 would have to be disposed of to an agency or another qualified officer.

Unless you sold it to the agency before retiring and they gave / sold it back afterward.

There's a thought...

A couple of years ago a former member, Glen, who was an officer and Dept armorer in a Department in Ohio did some research on this subject with ATF and posted it to the (old) AR15.com forum.  His research indicated that if the personally owned "semiautomatic assault rifle" and "high capacity ammunition feeding devices" were transferred to the Department at some point prior to retirement, then the Department could "gift" the weapon and mags to the retiring or resigning officer.  His research also indicated that the spirit of the law was not intended to take away the personally owned LE only weapon and mags upon the officer leaving the Department, as long as the leaving was lawful and not under felony criminal conditions.  However spirit has little to do when you get into a cold courtroom.  

Personally, I don't see any reason to take a semiautomatic firearm, LE only or not, from a honorably retiring or resigning officer who is not a felon, criminal or a violent offender.  I dont see how they all of a sudden become menaces to society, absence any other circumstances, upon leaving the Department.

I don't see any reason to take a semiautomatic firearm, LE only or not, from [b]anyone[/b] who is not a felon, criminal or a violent offender but that's what happens when you give liberals the keys.

This comes from the ATF FAQ site.

(O9) May law enforcement officers keep their semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices when they retire or leave their employment with a law enforcement agency? [Back]

No. They may not lawfully keep semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices that they purchased or acquired as their own property. However, the law provides an exception for items that belong to a law enforcement agency and are transferred by the agency to an officer upon the officer's retirement from, or termination of his or her employment with, the agency. Neither this exception nor the exception for official use permits officers to retain their own weapons or feeding devices after retiring or leaving the agency or to acquire additional items. Officers who retire or leave their employment with a law enforcement agency should transfer assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices that are their own property to a Federal firearms licensee or another qualified officer. [18 U. S. C. 922( v)( 4), (w)( 3)]

I spoke to a deputy sheriff recently, with a AR that he converted to tactical, with a 10" barrel, rail system, collapsible stock (still semi only). It's his personal weapon as the small agency can't afford to outfit the deputies with weapons of that nature. He contacted ATF prior to the conversion by phone and letter to register it as a short barrel rifle. He stated to me, that the response was that as long as he was active LE, it was alright...If anyone knows for sure let me know, I would like to build a M-4 clone..and use it in my duties..

BeerCop,

Such a weapon built on a 922(v)(2) exempt (preban) weapon would be legal if properly registered as an SBR and you could have all the evil features you want.  If built on a non-exempt postban, you could have only one evil feature, the pistol grip.  No collapsable stock, flash suppressor, etc.  921(a)(30) applies to SBR's.

I also agree entirely with CantHit... on the taking of lawfully acquired firearms from a law-abiding citizen, LE, military or civilian.

Seems that every time you ask you get a different answer.  I personally asked ATF and the agent told me that it is up to the agency that "sponsored" you when the weapon was purchased (Department letterhead authorizing the purchase).  However, he did tell me that if you are employed by a Federal Agency such as the FBI, DEA, etc, Federal "policy" DOES NOT allow their officers to retain pistols or rifles with Hi-cap mags.