Questions regarding NFA rifles (SBR' in particular)

[Kimio]

As I understand it, the last AWB had provisions in it that grandfathered previously registered NFA firearms out of the regulations and so on.

I was thinking of purchasing several lowers and and a few receivers for AK' and AR15' and registering them as SBR' but not assembling them might be a good idea.

Not to say that there will be another AWB (Though of course that is a concern for many) I was wondering if that's legally acceptable to just have a registered receiver that was slated to become an SBR but would remain bare until a later time. I was considering doing something like this since there are a number of projects I would eventually like to do down the line but don't have the time to do it (nor quite the funds).

Was thinking this would be a little insurance just in case something does happen that makes getting an SBR much more difficult or illegal all together.

[Frank Ettin]

Originally Posted by Kimio

...Not to say that there will be another AWB (Though of course that is a concern for many) I was wondering if that's legally acceptable to just have a registered receiver that was slated to become an SBR but would remain bare until a later time....

There's no way to guess.

Whether or not doing what you are considering would be permissible or helpful in the [currently unlikely] event of a new AWB would depend on the exact terms of the law. Since nothing is even on the table at this point, we have no way of know what those terms might be.

[Tom Servo]

I was wondering if that's legally acceptable to just have a registered receiver that was slated to become an SBR but would remain bare until a later time.

If they're registered and engraved, I don't see an issue under current law.

[Dr Big Bird PhD]

I was thinking of something similar... Would the selling of all parts of an AR or AK be illegal in a AWB, since it is only the receiver that is a gun? Since I was just a child during the original AWB, were uppers still legal to buy during the late 90s?

[Lark]

The AWB was a ban in name only. Everything in private hands prior to the ban went into effect could be kept or sold, no problems. The AWB banned new sale and importation of 19 models by name and anything with two of six features (if I remember correctly) such as a bayonet lug, threaded barrel, pistol grip, detachable magazine and so on. The AR-15 and M-1as were still readily available after the ban because the manufacturers sold them without the "evil" features.

Everything was grandfathered in NFA registered or not. If you register an SBR, it does not matter if it is assembled or not, it is still a short barreled rifle.

Between 1994 and 2004 you could see kits or guns labeled as pre-ban and post-ban. The only difference on the AR-15 parts was whether or not it had a threaded barrel or a flash suppressor.

Lark

[hogdogs]

During the "AWB" a "pre-ban" AR held a value far north of a "post-ban" AR...

Many folks made a pretty penny selling pre-ban weapons they had previously acquired.

Brent