I'll be getting my CCW permit in a few weeks and wonder if a homebuilt pistol is allowed to be carried? Here in TN you can carry any pistol, as many as you want, and whoevers you want. But the law doesn't state home built models.

Anybody?

Thanks
Rick

Good to Go!

Might not look good in court though. State financi.... I mean judical system is fuc... I mean sucks.

R35

"So let me understand this, sir.....In order to defend yourself, you obtained a permit to carry a concealed weapon.  Then you designed, fabricated and USED the most deadly weapon you could construct to assault my client, causing serious physical and mental damage, is that correct, sir?"

Both guns and ammo used in self-defense should be over-the-counter factory stuff, IMHO.

SRM

Quoted: "So let me understand this, sir.....In order to defend yourself, you obtained a permit to carry a concealed weapon.  Then you designed, fabricated and USED the most deadly weapon you could construct to assault my client, causing serious physical and mental damage, is that correct, sir?" Both guns and ammo used in self-defense should be over-the-counter factory stuff, IMHO. SRM

SRM,
Excellent commentary. I came to the same conclusions after devising some 12ga home security loads. It’s a no-no. The idea of having a ho-made pistol will open many doors for courtroom BS.
What kind of psycho-criminal builds a gun from nothing in his own home?  This person is obviously trying to dodge the proper legal registration of a handgun in the FBI database.
Therefore, they are (were) intent on committing a criminal homicide with hopes of evading our legal system.

About a year ago the local news led with a story about a man entering the county courthouse with a homemade pistol.  It was just a simple singleshot pen-shaped gun.  He TOLD the deputies he had it before he went through the detectors.  Anyways, the sheriff was on the news absolutely outraged that this gun existed and spoke of how his deputies saved everyones lives with their eagle eyes.  He also said it was made just to be able to sneak past security checkpoints.  

Ok, forget what I wrote.  I looked for the article - here it is -

www.charlotte.com/0502weapon.htm

Turned out he had a concealed carry permit and told the deputies at the metal detectors it was a firearm.  What a criminal.

I espically like these parts -

Pendergraph said Low pulled from his pocket a knife and a magazine clip loaded with .25-caliber bullets. Low then pulled out what appeared to be a pen and told deputies it was a gun, the sheriff said.

"I knew what it was, as soon as I saw it," Deputy Jim Wilson told reporters at a news conference.

Pendergraph praised Wilson and the other three deputies - Scott White, C.D. Owens and Robert Sherwin - for spotting the disguised handgun.

"I'm proud of them," the sheriff said. "They were on their toes. That's what they're trained to do - look for these things.

"Court security is serious business. These deputies are on the front line to protect the people who use our courts."

Just interested on what type of homemade gun you made and trust your life on?

I heard a story once, but don't know if it's really true. It went something like a guy was working at a bank and had a concealed "weapons" permit, a guy came in and robbed the bank and he calmly took out a grenade and handed it to him with the pin out of course, goes behind a wall and boom, no more bad guy. The police didn't know what to do cause he said he could never afford a gun and he just carried a grenade he brought back from Vietnam, since the permit didn't specify what a "weapon" was he figured it was ok. After this incident the permits became concealed "firearm" permits. I have a feeling this story was made up, but I like it anyways

If what you want is a custom pistol, that's fine. Just don't put it together yourself if you intend to use it for CCW.

You could buy all the parts and have a qualified professional build it, however, an over the counter mass produced pistol is the better choice.

It would look strange if a police officer involved in a shooting incident had a custom  pistol and the rest of the force didn't.

You could testify, if you had to defend yourself, as to the personal reasons why you felt you needed a custom pistol, but unless
you could prove that the fit or function of commercial pistols was lacking in your case it may be detrimental to your defense in the long run.

Alot depends on what you call home made... A zip gun will get you some time in the cooler, but if you are a qualified machinist/  paternmaker or such you may be able to get away with a little handy work. If yor home made weapon is a device not unusual or outragous it may help. If you plan on making a james bond kind of weapon forget it. If you were skilled enough to make ...say a copy of a sw mod 19 in 41 magnum ...I dont see how the bad guy could complain....pat

Quoted: Just interested on what type of homemade gun you made and trust your life on?

I finished a frame for a Desert Eagle Baby Eagle in 9mm. No laws on the books about making your own firmarm you just have to obey the current laws at the time of manufacture.
In the state of TN you don not have to register the firearm you will be using....hence the question that I had.

As most people know here I build my own AR receivers also.
www.geocities.com/ar4ever2
www.geocities.com/ar4ever2/night_vision.html

Man...I'm just trying to have fun.
Rick

How are the delrin AR15 lowers coming?

Quoted: How are the delrin AR15 lowers coming?

Slow as usually....I have them saw cut out and squared up and ready to begin the machine work.

This will be fun.
Rick

really i have to say that in a legal matter (which will be the first one to deal with) they dont look at your weapon, just whether you had a reason to use it.  in a civil matter you may be in trouble BUT if you got cleared in the legal matter then that will be a BIG POINT on your side.  carry what you want

Best advice I ever got was carry a weapon that's basically stock.  Modifying for reliability or handling would be OK, but you got to watch the gee whiz features.  For ammo, you need to use what local law enforcement uses.  City, County, or State doesn't matter, they can't fault you for using what they carry.  Save your reloads for the range.

It's probably not the DA you need to worry about, it's the potential civil suit that could bankrupt you.  I can see it now- "So you used Custom Ammunition in a Modified weapon to cause the most possible damage to My client."

if you have to shoot somebody with that gun, and they die, you can be damn sure the prosecuting attorney, if he is so inclined, will question the make/model of the gun as well as the type of ammunition that you used.

having a home grown gun won't in and of itself get you into any legal problems, assuming you follow all of the current laws in making it, but it will definitly make your life miserable in the court proceedings should you ever end up there because you had to use it in self-defense.