Producing ARs and Parts in Banned States

[44caliberkid]

I was wondering how companies like Rock River and Springfield Armory can produce products that are banned in Illinois. And the email ads I get from Rainier in Washington are saying, buy your weapons and parts now before the Washington state ban goes into effect. They can’t even sell a BCG after the ban goes into full effect. A few years ago when Illinois was discussing a ban, Les Baer moved across the river to Iowa. I know our department of economic development has the welcome mat out for Springfield and other Illinois gun manufacturers. Other manufacturers that used to be based in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York have moved production south to Georgia and Alabama or other more gun friendly states. How do you keep making and selling an illegal product?

[44 AMP]

How do you keep making and selling an illegal product?

You do it, when you can do it, by complying with the letter of the law.

State laws only apply in the state, and depending on the exact wording of the law, its not impossible that a law prohibiting something to you and me can be legally made in that state provided its not sold in the state where its not legal.

You can't do what the law expressly prohibits but you can do what it does not, until a court rules otherwise, IF they do.

So. today they make X if the law doesn't specifically say they can't make X, its legal. Tomorrow, the law may change and they can't make X anymore, but until that happens, they can.

Its a mess, but then all gun control laws are....

[Aguila Blanca]

Interstate commerce is controlled by federal law, not state law. A state may be able to prohibit selling a certain widget within the borders of that state, but it's unlikely that a state law attempting to prohibit the manufacture of widgets for sale across state lines into states where widgets are perfectly legal could withstand even ten seconds of judicial scrutiny.