a couple of SBR legal questions
I had someone ask about converting their AR to an SBR but without calling the BATF I wasn't sure of the answer. Maybe someone here could enlighten me.
If a person owns an AR but wants to purchase or build a short barreled upper, at what point does the NFA paperwork have to be accomplished/tax paid?
I assume their rifle's serial number would now be shown as an SBR in BATF's system, so if the person decides to sell that SBR upper and return the rifle to it's original configuration does anything have to be done to remove it's serial from SBR status?
If a person owns an AR but wants to purchase or build a short barreled upper, at what point does the NFA paperwork have to be accomplished/tax paid?
I assume their rifle's serial number would now be shown as an SBR in BATF's system, so if the person decides to sell that SBR upper and return the rifle to it's original configuration does anything have to be done to remove it's serial from SBR status?
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Anyone can own a short barrel. Anyone can own an AR-type upper with a short barrel. Before you assemble an AR-type upper with a short barrel to an AR-type lower, you must first submit a Form 1 to ATF & await its approval.
If you disassemble a short-barreled upper from the lower, you may then request ATF to remove that particular rifle from the SBR category.
Neal0 -
As usual Neal is spot-on. The only thing that I will add (for those reading who might not know): If you have the BATF remove your firearm from the NFA Registry they will NOT refund you $200 NFA Tax. 0 -
So you're saying that BATF regs allow for possession of both an AR short barreled assembly and a non-NFA registered AR lower, so long as they aren't actually mated up? 0 -
The "regs" don't have to "allow" anything.
The LAW says one thing and the "ATF considers" other stuff to be a violation of the Law.
ATF has "considered" the possession of a short upper and a lower with a buttstock to be "constructive possession".
But what if you have an AR pistol? (not that I would ever own one of those fruitwagons, but hey, it's a valid question.)
Oh Yeah, don't sell your formerly SBR'd lower, until you get a letter back from ATF/NFA informing you of it's removal (rendered inactive actually) of that SN from the NFRTR. If you don't have a letter in hand, you may be considered "unlawfully transferring an NFA weapon", which is bad. Currently, it takes about 9 MONTHS to get one of those letters back from ATF/NFA.0 -
quote:Originally posted by nmyers
Anyone can own a short barrel. Anyone can own an AR-type upper with a short barrel. Before you assemble an AR-type upper with a short barrel to an AR-type lower, you must first submit a Form 1 to ATF & await its approval.
If you disassemble a short-barreled upper from the lower, you may then request ATF to remove that particular rifle from the SBR category.
Neal
Just to clarify
You MUST be able to legally buy a handgun in your locale0 -
FWIW,
Anyone can legally purchase or own a short barreled upper. (Well. . .I know of no jurisdiction where this is illegal, since uppers are legally considered just "gun parts" and not guns).
But if you possess a short-barreled upper, AND a rifle-configuration lower receiver, but you do NOT possess a "matching" handgun lower (to go with the short barreled upper, or a papered short barrelled lower receiver (again to match the short barrelled upper), the BATFE might decide that you have "constructive possession" of an short-barreled rifle.
"Constructive possession" is just BATFE's way of preventing you from taking an illegal machine gun, short barreled rifle, or other prohibited weapon, and then partially disassembling it to skirt the law. If you have all the parts necessary to build an illegal gun (and they don't even have to all be in the same room at the same time), the BATFE may consider that you have the illegal gun, and bring criminal charges accordingly.
This "contructive possession" doctrine may not be explicitly written into the law, but I'm pretty sure it has been tested in court and the legal theory upheld. (EG people HAVE been convicted of "constructive possession").
Of course since uppers aren't papered, and you can have them just shipped to your home, who is to know what you have locked in your safe on your private property? But from a legal perspective, the safest and most "correct" thing to do is to do all the paperwork to register your lower as an SBR, pay the tax, and THEN get the short-barreled upper.
To answer another bit of the question, the registered bit is the receiver, not the upper. Once a gun is registered as an SBR, I'm pretty certainly you can still put a long-barrelled upper onto it, or switch back and forth, if you like, without "de-registering" the gun.
In other words, having the SBR registration gives you the ability to put a short barreled upper on your rifle, but you don't always have to keep it in that configuration.
The only reasons you'd want to "deregister" the gun with the BATFE are: a. if you're sure you NEVER want to put a short barrel on there (ie you're permanently making it a long barreled gun), b. if you want to sell it, or c. if you're moving to some jurisdiction where short-barreled guns are prohibited (ie see a).
If you just wanted to sell the current short-barreled upper I don't see why you'd want to de-register the gun, unless (again) you were sure you NEVER wanted to put a short barrel on it again.0
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