Quoted: Another question I have, which bwiese can think about, has to do with those who registered their PWA receivers under the Kasler law, which requires specific Make/Model. Someone could not have registered a non-listed receiver on this list and it should have been kicked out. Anyone who registered a PWA receiver should have had their registration removed, and now it's too late to register under SB-23.
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Actually, the Kasler decision really didn't directly require registration. It just said (amongst many other things) that copies & duplicates could be series members. But from that, the DOJ was then able to say all AR/AK 'clones' must be registered and have a separate registration - even though SB23 reg period was coincident at the end of 2000.
The period 8/16/00 (Kasler) - 6/28/01 (Harrott) was the period when "an AR is an AR is an AR...": basic look plus equivalent fitment & functionality was all that was required. While the Kasler list was really a 'guide' at the time, there was zero guarantee of its exclusivity (in fact, a guarantee almost the opposite!) and there was in fact complete risk that if you had an AR or AK receiver that was not on the Kasler list, it would still be regarded as an AW: that is, AR and AK "series" included all "copies and duplicates", whether listed or not. And there was no concern at that time for who determined series membership besides AG office - which might include trial courts, DAs, cops, etc. This was all up in the air.
I myself have a a couple of 'off-list' ASA receivers I'd gotten in 1999 that never made the Kasler list or DOJ "AW Guide" in 2000, and I registered them as AWs in December of 2000 as SB23 'by feature' guns.
If an AR built with a PWA receiver - or any other receiver not on the Kasler list, like my ASA off-list receiver - was registered by 12/31/00 as a generic 'by features' AW it was OK.
And remember, due to a filing/printing goof the DOJ blames on the Sec'y of State's office, the registration period deadline for AR/AK 'series' guns was moved up to 1/23/00 - thus the period 1/1/01-1/23/01 is what I and others call the "Kasler gap". (There is really a question as to whether the DOJ actually had statutory authority to register these via extending the reg period for those extra 23 days merely due to printing error - instead, they maybe should have issued AW
permits instead, as reg periods for 12276.5 additions are mandated at 90 days and registration is not DOJ discretionary. Or, they perhaps should've voided the 'defective' AR/AK registration period by removing, then reinstantiating the declaration and starting a new 90-day reg period.
I believe some number of ARs and AKs were registered during this Kasler gap. (Most people probably did think the AW registration window ended at 12/31/00 and weren't aware of this separate Kasler gap 'extension', so most AR/AK series rifles that were registered were likely actually registered before end of 2000.)
Thus, the DOJ likely had reg'd quite a few brands registered as AWs during the Kasler gap even though these makes/models were not on the Kasler list. This is, I feel, the initial reason the Kasler list was not updated further - they felt (or at least felt they could hold the position) that anything that "looked like a duck, was a duck." So there was no need at that point of further list tweaks.
Harrott reshaped Kasler in that it said (totally aside from SB23 by-features issues) that something was not an AW until it was formally declared and officially listed, and that owners & trial courts did not have to worry themselves about determining 'series' membership - that was a job solely for DOJ/AG, and it must be publicized in Kasler list in CCR before it was considered an AW by name.
At this point, the DOJ should've updated the Kasler list regularly & periodically to keep off-list lowers out of circulation; instead they preferred to work off uncertainty for the next five years until a few barnstormers managed to confirm, in writing in mid to late 2005, that DOJ wouldn't bite in acquiring off-list lowers - and that further detailed reading of Harrott decision revealed complete protection.
As I see it, anyone with a registered PWA receiver and has a built up AW is breaking multiple felonies. I could imagine the court would be lenient, but they should be blind and prosecute to the fullest intent of the law.
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No, again, if it was not a listed AR receiver but was reg'd in 2000 or even up thru 1/23/01, the reg was accepted by DOJ - the Kasler list really didn't apply, except as general guidance, since at that time "an AR is an AR is an AR...". Not until Harrott hit in Jun 2001 was there specific guidance for exact make/model listing.
In fact, I believe there have been several cases where folks were prosecuted for unreg'd AW possession but it didn't stick... such people had filled out the paperwork at an inappropriate
early time - seems some folks thought they needed to register Colt Sporters and Colt Targets and Bushmaster clones in early 90s. These folks later missed out on the SB23 and Kasler registration periods, and were popped for AW possession charges for various reasons (house fire, etc.) They were able to somehow dredge up that they had filed w/DOJ early and somehow that made the charge go away at the local DA level, the AW reg was updated (?) and the people in question got their AWs back. I don't have all the details, may well be missing something, and I think the one person that posted this in the forums a year or so ago didn't even understand the situation properly enough to report it accurately, but that's what seemed to have happened when reading between the lines.
Bwiese, how about using this as an argument for updating the list?
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That's no argument for doing that. The only real arguments are "consistency" and "public safety" ;)
Bill Wiese
San Jose