I'm sorry if this is common knowledge, but I've been searching far and wide for information regarding the sale of an AR-15 SBR barrel/upper assembly.  I would like to list the items here in the "Equipment Exchange", but I would like to know about any important issues before I do anything.  I guess I'm asking for, in my case, what does the obligatory "All NFA Rules Apply" actually mean?

Thanks in Advance!

It means that if you make a short barreled rifle without registering it under NFA rules then you will win a free 10 year vacation in Club Fed.  Also make shure to stock up on anal lube as well.

"All NFA Rules Apply"

That would mean that it is up to the buyer to know and follow all Federal, State and local laws that would apply to the possession of an SBR.


Also means it is your ass, not mine.

Thanks for the insulting comments.  I said nothing of making an SBR, I simply have a legal question regarding the SALE of an SBR upper.

Quoted: what does the obligatory "All NFA Rules Apply" actually mean?

It means that it is the buyer's responsibility to comply with 26 USC 5861, the "Prohibited Acts" section of the Nation Firearms Act (NFA), namely not to "make" a Firearm without first registering it with the ATF.

The definitions of the terms are found in 26 USC 5845, namely that using your short-barreled upper (which, as an upper only, is a collection of parts and not an NFA Firearm) could be combined by the buyer with more parts to create an SBR.

"All NFA rules apply" is a polite warning to the buyer that the buyer has a responsibility not to inadvertantly break federal law and to know what they are doing in buying the parts.  Such a warning is obviously useless for those buyers who intend to violate federal law, but again, neither situation is the sellers' responsibility or control.

Listing SBR parts are just parts; listing DIAS's is a separate matter -- one you did not ask about, so one I will not discuss.

There shouldn't be any problems if you list your items, describe them accurately, add the warning if you choose, or even list them for use as "AR handgun" parts.  Just don't ship an unregistered receiver to the same buyer at the same time -- that seems to be a way a seller could get in trouble for SBR selling parts, for you could arguably be "transfering a Firearm" in that case.

Another no-no: don't ship them to anyone that you have knowledge or reasonable suspicion that they will use them to make unregistered NFA Firearms with them and then you'll avoid the whole "conspiracy" ball of wax too.

[As always, advice is worth what you pay for it.]

Cheers, Otto


ETA: What Oslo said...

BTW, I had a seller back-out of a deal for an SBR upper I bought (after holding my money for a month and not answering my "what's going on?" questions) because some dealer convinced him that selling the upper directly was illegal -- I wish he'd asked your question here before taking bad advice as gospel.

Otto,

Thank you so much for that intelligent response!  That's exactly what I need to know.  The only other question I would have is are there certain states that I should not, under any circumstances, ship the SBR barrel to because of state laws?

TIA!