I am surprised I haven't seen this before.  Surely there is some mistake.





NY gun laws





In the "assault weapons" section of that document, one of the definitions of "Assault Weapon" is "Any of the weapons or functioning frames or receivers of such weapons, or copies or duplicates of such weapons, in any caliber, such as





blah blah blah





and the FAL is listed on there.





Surely there is more to the story?  I can't remember ever seeing a FAL on a range here in NY but obviously AR15s and AKs are way more popular.  I was planning to get a tricked out FAL for my next rifle.  Am I misunderstanding something about this law?

 

I know Accurate Arms in Ammo, formerly of Schenectady (Now of Amsterdam?) used to sell a bunch of them.

Legal in NY, but post-94 ban rifles can't have functional bayonet lugs, flash hiders, or exposed barrel threads.

I just bought one at a local gun shop... it is not the first one I have seen there, but they are definitely uncommon to come across.  It has a compensator not a flash hider and no bayonet lug or attachment.  What would be illegal in Ny is an FAL that is a FN brand.  You cannot own a Fabrique National BRAND FAL rifle. Just like we can't have an AR rifle made by colt with the word AR-15 on the receiver.  Makes no sense but it is the law. You can however buy a super nice FAL from DSA!

Well, I am pretty sure that the only FN manufactured FALs were all preban, so they would be fine in NY (although they will cost you).  I believe it was determined that, to be a "copy or duplicate" of a firearm, it must be an exact copy including the name, which is why you cannot have a post ban AR marked "AR-15".  Preban firearms are exempt from the list and there are no restrictions to owning a preban colt with an "AR-15" rollmark, I believe the CT AWB law does have a ban on preban AR-15 marked guns though.

I bought my DSA FAL carbine  from  an Arfcommer when I lived in NY ,  still got it
There's a few NY Fal groupies on board here.

I have a German G1 Varient for sale with optics and accessories right now.
Post Ban FALs ar GTG providing they either have a muzzlebreak or a sleeved FH like the one I used for the picture.



As for prebans you'll be paying out the nose for one.

OK everyone.  Thanks for the clarification.  I pretty much figured I was missing something, but I freaked when I saw the list on the NRA page.  I've been thinking about this rifle for a long time.

FAL's are good-to-go. The "ban" was aimed at named weapons, not the design itself:
"Colt AR-15" (post-ban) is a no-go, however the same rifle named Colt "Sporter" is a go.
o long as you comply with the 922(r) regulations which are basically six US made parts, seven if one is a muzzle device and no evil features like collapsable stocks, bayonet lugs, flash-hiders, et.al. they're as legal as any other semi-auto rifle.
If they were illegal, I'd be in a heap 'o trouble.  

The only FN FAL is the ones marked "FAL"  which is some sold to South Africa and the G Series.   If it ain't marked "FN FAL" it ain't an FN FAL.

All the non-FN made rifles are not "duplicates" nor "copies";  if I can tell the difference, then they are not replicas, any more than a fake GTO is not a GTO, nor a replica of a GTO- it's a fake GTO.    

There were NO FN made FALs marked "FAL"  after 1989...even before.   Ergo,  no such animal exists as far as NYS law is concerned.