Can you un-NFA an NFA item, so far as _State_ law is concerned?

[MatthewVanitas]

I'll clarify first off that I understand that the feds consider a federally registered NFA item to be an NFA item even when not in an NFA configuration. That is, if you put a 20" upper on an SBR lower, it's still an SBR lower to the ATF, right?

My question, however, is about state law: if I have an NFA item, move to a state where said NFA type isn't legal, and then modify the firearm to no longer be "NFA-like", am I kosher? Would this really depend on the state?

In my particular case, I'm wondering what to do with my integrally-suppressed Ruger MkII if I move to a state that doesn't like suppressors. Can I just take all the baffles out, store them separately (or out of state) and just say "hey, I don't hear it silencing anything, so it's not a silencer, now is it?"

I suppose an SBR might be an easier case, in that nobody would even notice it with a 20" barrel unless they stared at the receiver markings. An intergral-can Ruger looks pretty much like a bull barrel, but it's conceivably possible that someone might wonder about the configuration, and I'd hate to get arrested for having an unsilenced gun with a hollowed-out barrel.

 

[PTK]

If it's registered, it's NFA. The only way to declassify it is to PERMANANTLY remove it from the registry - by destroying the item.

If you move to a state that doesn't allow NFA items, leave them in a safe deposit box at a bank in the state you lived in that DID allow them.

An empty silencer tube is still a silencer, btw - it reduces sound just by itself.

 

[ServiceSoon]

BATF rules are once an NFA item always an NFA item.

 

[Prince Yamato]

A silencer is always a silencer and a machinegun is always a machinegun, but I think there is a way to get an SBR off the NFA list. I was reading about this recently on another forum. I think the procedure is probably complicated and a pain, but I believe there is a way to do it with SBRs.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Another issue is that ATF has to pre-approve the movement of SBRs, SBSs, DDs, and Machineguns. One step in that approval is that the NFA item is legal in the state you are moving to - so even if you could get around the state prohibition by adding a 20" barrel - the need to keep the NFA registry updated and the Federal view on SBRs would still be a roadblock.

Suppressors on the other hand don't seem to require this approval - so all you would have to do is comply with the state law.

 

[ctdonath]

State law is state law, and federal law is federal law.
What is of great concern to one may be completely ignored by the other. Yes, it really does depend on the state.

That said, it's probably best to not screw around with tweaking NFA stuff to skirt laws. I've thought about it in detail, and there's enough agencies out to get you for any slip-up that it's not worth it. In your case, considering the cost of a silenced MkII vs. a plain model, just store the NFA one out-of-state and buy an in-state replacement.

Of course, breaking laws with NFA items is bad mojo. Much easier than getting caught is to just not do something that could be "caught".

 

[jlbraun]

This thread is reason #4,534,325 that the NFA needs to go away.