Armory Sponsor
Posted: 7/28/2006 5:51:57 PM EDT
| If a person who owned a home were to rent out a room to another person, and the person to whom the room was being rented was storing legally owned NFA weapons (SBSs, SBRs, MGs, suppressors, that sort of thing), could the person who owned the home get busted for illeagal possession of restricted weapons? |
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It would depend on whether the homeowner had access to the NFA items. As long as they were locked in a case or safe, and the homeowner did not have a key, they would not have access and thus not be in possession. OTOH, if they were just stacked in the closet or slid under the bed, then yes: The homeowner could get busted for illgal possession. Just like your wife could be charged, if she has access to NFA which is in your name only. She may not legally have access to the safe, or even know its combination. |
Tony, What if you had all your NFA guns in a safe (wife/husband) would I have to lock mine(trigger locks) with my own set of keys and she have her own set of keys. I suspect his wouldnt work if I had SBR's and she owned a AR15. It there a specific reg that I need to look at? |
First off, this is not my opinion -- it is what BATF tells NFA owners who ask, and what BATF will testify to against you in court. BATF uses a strict, absolute interpretation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 922, the law restricting possession of NFA items to the registered owner. While it is not mentioned in the law itself, BATF believes that there is no "spousal privilege" when it comes to individually registered NFA items: No one except the registered owner may have access to the registered item -- not your kids, not your buddy, not your car mechanic, not your wife. I'm not going to get into the odds of discovery that you give your wife access to NFA items not registered to her, or the odds of a conviction in court. If BATF says it considers something illegal, and is prepared to testify in court, that's enough to make me reccomend you comply. The easiest way to do so is to have a safe to which your wife does not have the combination or key. If neccessary, buy a second safe just to store the NFA items -- that's still way cheaper than a defense attorney's retainer fee. Another alternative would be to lock the NFA item inside a hard case, keep the key yourself, and then lock the case inside the safe. This is fine if all you have is one suppressor, but cases take up a lot of room inside a safe. Yet another approach would be to store the item in a bank safety deposit box to which only you have access. This is only worth doing if you don't use it much and/or your bank has convenient hours for access. The best approach IMHO, and the one I took, was to move all my NFA items to a corporation (or, if you prefer, an LLC or trust) and make my wife and (adult) kids officers of the corporation. That way, they can have access to the safe, they can take the NFA toys to the range if they want, and of course there will be no estate or inheritance issues when I'm gone. Not that I plan on going anywhere, any time soon. 
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