newb trying to learn

[bignasty]

ok this is purely hypothetical but iv been wondering for awhile.

if a nfa gun is sold illegally can you go get a tax stamp and register it in your name and have it legal or after the illegal transaction is it illegal forever

because my thinking is at some point that gun was legal befor it was sold illegally. so is there anyway to make it legal again?

thanks in advance

[medalguy]

I'm not sure about your phrase "if it's sold illegally" because if it is registered in the National Firearms Registry it cannot be sold at all unless and until the paperwork is approved by ATF. If it were "sold" and transferred without making application for a transfer both parties are in a world of doo-doo.

If the firearm were never registered, as in a WW II bring-back found in crazy uncle Al's attic, it cannot be registered now or ever. It must be abandoned to BATF and they will in all likelihood destroy the gun. There are some provisions for donation to some museums or local PD but that's really not what you were asking.

Machine guns were somewhat a gray area prior to the 1968 amnesty really, but adter 1 December 1968 that all changed. And after 1986 and the ban on all new machine guns, it was written in stone. No new guns, no new registrations, no was to make any existing gun legal for individual possession. Period.

Not all guns were ever "legal". For example, some WW II guns were deactivated by welding a plug in the barrel, which was kosher at that time, but after the amnesty they were considered illegal. The amnesty required registration of ALL machine guns, whether in shooting condition or not, so no way anything could be considered "saleable" after that time.

[David Hineline]

Don't beat around the bush, or you will get an answer around the bush that will help not at all.

Explain the specific situation and we can give a valid answer.

Example, if you buddy made an illegal unregistered machine gun and sold it to you, not you can not form it and make it legal, but the police can confiscate it and make it legal for them.

If a gun is stolen and recovered, and the original owner is dead, then the law full heirs can take legal ownership of the item.

[rkba_net]

The only answer is to return the weapon to the OWNER that LEGALLY owns it and THEN transfer it. If not the weapon is contraband....

[bignasty]

ok so you buy the gun its not stolen but it has no papers with it how do you get the papers or find out if its ever had papers without getting locked up


this is just a question not a problem

[jmorris]

Call 304-616-4500 and give them the ser#. It would be unwise to possess a MG illegally if you don’t have the paper work you don’t need the gun.

[bignasty]

i said without getting locked up callin some random number a guy gave me off the internet doesnt sound like a good plan. if i where to be in that situation

[David Hineline]

Just talking about not reporting illegal guns on the internet has already caused you to be traced and put higher on the list than if you had just called the ATF and reported that you want to check the legal status of a gun you would like to buy.

If a gun is already in an illegal condition then only govment can register it for dept. use.

If you want to check a gun's legal status one only has to call the ATF and run the serial number if the gun is legally registered then you can contact the last legal owner and try to buy the gun, if the gun is illegal then be prepared to turn over a gun.

Finding an illegal gun and checking it out is one thing, buying a gun you know is illegal and trying to slip it into the registry would be a no no.

You would do less time for finding a bag of cocaine on the street and then getting caught selling it than you would trying to sneak an illegal gun in to the registry.

On the other hand a simple call to the police saying you found a bundle of drugs will get you in no trouble at all.

The number of dumb mouth breathers at gun shows that say they found a machinegun in the attic of a dead relative and took it right to the bridge and threw it off into the river, I then explain to them if uncle bob registered it, then they just threw $20,000 worth of gun in the river.

[mfvh]

My best advice if you're in the situation just contact the nearest ATF office, call them and ask for their help to verify the origin of the item. In the worst case loosing it is better than up to $250,000.00 fine and up to 10 years in jail. Don't you think ? By the way the gun owners community is proud to be composed by LAW ABIDING citizens (we respect even the most stupid laws, those only created to be respected by us and violated by criminals).

[bignasty]

well i didnt buy any illegal gun nor do i plan to. i had a simple question at the beginning

if someone where to buy a gun that was registerd but sold by that person to someone without the proper document transfers. and then go past around from year to year then sombody wanted to be a lawabiding citizen and get it legal again could they

[David Hineline]

Well if you ever actually run into that situation, rather than having some fantasy encounter in the future, at that time a simple call to the ATF will answer your question.

If you are afraid of the BATFE then you are not ready for NFA firearms ownership.

[demigod]

I could see how this COULD happen...

For example... I have a Short Bbl Shotgun in my safe. If I died and my family went to get rid of some of my guns, they wouldn't know that it was an NFA item.

It's possible that they could just sell it off to someone who didn't know better either.

[bignasty]

exactly so say they sold it to some random dude he finds outs its illegal so he sells it well the next guy gets it and wants to get it legal is there a way to do it.

[demigod]

As posted.... If it's already in the NFA registry, it would have to be transferred from the legal owner of record. In theory, it can't just be "re-registered"... I say "in theory" because I'd expect that the ATF would catch the fact the the original serial number is already in the registry, but with the gubment.... who knows?

If it were just, for example, some sawed off shotgun or SBR that had never been in the registry, it could be Form 1'd into a legal NFA weapon. If this were the case, I'd take the gun apart until I had an approved F1 in my hand.

[David Hineline]

What you are describing there are no legal ways to do it, period end of discussion. You are talking about up to 10yrs in prison and up to $250,000 fine per offense. Who would risk that for some stupid gun shotgun when you can register a legal shotgun for $200.

Are there people who cheat the law and do not get caught pretending they made the gun? yes there are, but the ones who are successful are not talking about ways to get around the law on the internet and at gun shows.

[krinkman47]

the time and money you spend getting out of this mess it would be cheaper to spend 4k to 20k on something you want with a form 4.thanks.