What does "LEO Only" mean for me (non-LE) when buying a used gun?

[SaltH2OHokie]

Local gun shop often has guns marked "LE Only" on the receiver. The guns are not full auto or otherwise illegal from what I can tell, just stamped LEO on the receiver...what's that mean if the gun is otherwise identical to a civilian version of the same gun?

 

[ericyp]

It means nothing. Sometimes they even do it as a marketing ploy.

 

[Hoppy590]

in 94 the Assault Weapon Ban went into effect and lasted till 04. it restricted the sale of some firearms to civilians. it has expired on the fed level. though some states have versions.

the arms in no way vary from civilian versions.

 

[catfish101]

Is it possible that these pieces were made during the first AWB and they were illegal then because of ammo capacity?

 

[SaltH2OHokie]

Gotcha. I know the last time I was in there and they had a Colt AR-15 stamped "Military/Law Enforcement Use," specifically why I was wondering...curious what made one AR mil/LE and another one not need that marking. Apparently my answer is currently nothing. I can live with that.

 

[Kind of Blued]

My understanding is that some handguns can only be sold to LEOs due to special dealings between the manufacturer, the distributer, and the dealer. They are able to sell them without tacking on the Federal Excise Tax since they are to be sold to governmental employees.

Does anybody know more about this?

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

Marketing mostly. My EO Tech says military/LE use even though there have never been bans on optics. Some of the magazines have it when made during the clinton ban, some guns too i'm sure. Some ammo has it due to internal policy (or marketing ploy) of only selling to dealers that may or may not sell to LE.
Some people may be horrified at the thought that "ordinary civilians" can be armed with the same equpment as law enforcement. Most people (who realize the only person who will be there to save them in a time of real need is themselves) think it's stupid to restrict more effective tools, although for the most part nothing marked LE is "better" than anything else.