AR Sponsor
Posted: 12/28/2002 1:49:52 PM EDT
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A buddy of mine says he can get me a preban lower receiver at a great price, I don't question his good intentions but. How can I tell if it was part of a complete rifle before the ban? And if it was can I now rebuild it and put preban gear on it? Thank You |
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To be sure, ship the buddy a complete pre-ban upper to put on the lower when he ships it to you - that way you've taken possession of a complete pre-ban rifle instead of just a lower. According to ATF, if you get JUST the lower, it loses pre-ban status, unless it's a Colt with "AR-15" on it. Proof that would give me a warm fuzzy would be a signed letter from the previous owner that they possessed the rifle as a complete pre-ban "assault weapon" on or before 9/13/94, or a letter from the factory, if possible, verifying that it left as a complete "assault weapon" on or before 9/13/94. If the person you're buying from bought it as a stripped or unassembled lower, or is not the owner of the complete rifle from 9/13/94, and doesn't have a factory letter or some other proof, I'd personally pass on it. |
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The general consensus when reading that wonderful little law seems to be that AR-15s, i.e., COLT rifles and lower receivers, qualify as AWs regardless of whether they had the requisite evil features on 9/13/94, because the law identifies "assault weapons" in two ways: a specifically enumerated make (in this case "AR-15"), OR any rifle w/ a removable magazine and at least two evil features. Under this interpretation, Colt is, indeed, "grandfathered." FWIW |
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Quoted: Set me straight, you're saying if I find a Colt lower that I know was made before the ban, it doesn't matter whether or not it came as a complete gun? Colts are sorta grandfathered? I'm not challenging you, I really don't know... A "Colt" brand rifle/receiver, marked "AR-15" is a "semi-auto assault weapon" regardless of configuration or date of manufacture, because it is named as such in the language of 18 USC 922(v). If it happened to have been made on or before 9/13/94, it is a grandfathered "SAAW" regardless of configuration or date of possession. All other 'AR-15' style rifles can only be "SAAW" based upon the features definition, and only qualified for grandfathering based upon their date of manufacture and configuration as a complete "SAAW" configured semi-auto firearm on or before the effective date of that legislation. ATF has issued an opinion that stripping a non-"Colt AR-15" AR type firearm of its "SAAW" defining features and transferring it as other than a complete "SAAW" configured semi-auto firearm causes it to lose its grandfathered status. The law is clear on two points, at least - unless it's a "Colt AR-15", or AR-15 type which was a complete kit or functioning firearm with "SAAW" features made on or before the effective date of 922(v) (9/13/94) it does NOT qualify for grandfathering. Whether a rifle so grandfathered on 9/13/94 and later transferred as other than a complete "SAAW" or a named "Colt AR-15" actually legally ceases to be grandfathered has not been adjudicated in court yet, to my knowledge. But... you have been given ATF's position on such a transfer, and ignore it at your own risk. If you don't think ATF will enforce 922(v) as they've interpreted it, what's stopping you from building a post-ban into "SAAW" config? If you think they might, why would you take the chance going against their stated position? |
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According to ATF's current position, yes - your pre-ban Colt Sporter would become postban under certain conditions: If you put a post ban upper on it, take off the telestock (if it has one), and sell off or otherwise dispose of all your pre-ban uppers and telestocks so you've got no way to reconfigure it as a complete pre-ban config rifle, or; if you sold it as a lower-only, or with that post-ban upper on it and no other AW features besides the pistol grip. Simply slapping a post-ban upper on a pre-ban doesn't cause it lose pre-ban status, provided you've still got the parts required to build it into an "AW" config. Since ATF has no way to police what parts you may or may not have in your possession, as a private citizen, at any given time, they've focused on the transfer of other than complete firearms (lowers and stripped lowers), and the letter so often referenced on this subject only addresses the sale or purchase of those lowers/stripped lowers, and not specifically possession of a previously 'grandfathered' lower or stripped lower. I personally don't agree with that position, and that consequence is not clear to me from reading the law, but it's ATF's position, and is not inconsistent with the law as written. |
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Quoted: According to ATF's current position, yes - your pre-ban Colt Sporter would become postban under certain conditions: If you put a post ban upper on it, take off the telestock (if it has one), and sell off or otherwise dispose of all your pre-ban uppers and telestocks so you've got no way to reconfigure it as a complete pre-ban config rifle, or; if you sold it as a lower-only, or with that post-ban upper on it and no other AW features besides the pistol grip. Simply slapping a post-ban upper on a pre-ban doesn't cause it lose pre-ban status, provided you've still got the parts required to build it into an "AW" config. Since ATF has no way to police what parts you may or may not have in your possession, as a private citizen, at any given time, they've focused on the transfer of other than complete firearms (lowers and stripped lowers), and the letter so often referenced on this subject only addresses the sale or purchase of those lowers/stripped lowers, and not specifically possession of a previously 'grandfathered' lower or stripped lower. I personally don't agree with that position, and that consequence is not clear to me from reading the law, but it's ATF's position, and is not inconsistent with the law as written. Aren't stripped lowers logged as a rifle when transferred by an FFL? Unless a note is attached there's no way to tell that it is a lower only? |
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