I have a buddy who tried to buy ar lowers at a missouri gun shop friday (he resides in Illinois) and was told due to new legislation that took effect on November 15th that they were not allowed to sell lowers to an individual who was not a resident of the state.  He said that they are now treating stripped lowers as pistols and that if he wanted to purchase them they would have to be shipped to an Illinois FFL.  Has anyone heard of this change?  Is it national or does it apply only to Illinois?

I believe this is a Federal requirement and not unique to a paticular state. Take look at the instructions for filling out the paperwork involved. I think you must show proof that you're a resident of that state in order to buy in the state. It's one of the residency requirements. You can buy in another state only if you can show you own property in that state and you're considered a resident for the period you're in the other state.