legal: hobbyist manufacture of firearms stuff

[beerslurpy]

On the drive home today I had a bunch of odd thoughts:

[NFA]
-unless I am completely off, manufacturing guns for your personal use in your home is a completely unregulated activity. You only need to inform the ATF if you plan to have the gun participate in interstate commerce or be transferred to another person

-this is not the case for NFA items

-normal firearms and NFA firearms are regulated by the same section of 18USC and presumably rely on interstate commerce for their reach

-why do NFA items and regular firearms differ in approach if they observe identical loci of interstate commerce?

[Definition of a silencer]
-silencer is defined as something that muffles the report of a firearm, right?

-silencers operate by allowing the gasses that form the report of the firearm to expand in an enclosed chamber instead of the air in front of the barrel

-any gas operated firearm is bleeding off a significant portion of its gasses into the gas cylinder, resulting in reduced muzzle velocity and reduced sound

-any gas operated gun would thus be louder if it was not gas operated, but do these count as silencers, no matter how much gas is bled off?

-how do integral silencers differ from gas bleed-off chambers except by position and the main function they perform?

-if you designed a gas cylinder as too large (like an AK, but with even more volume) so it completely muffled the report, would this count as being an integral silencer or not?

 

[PMDW]

-unless I am completely off, manufacturing guns for your personal use in your home is a completely unregulated activity. You only need to inform the ATF if you plan to have the gun participate in interstate commerce or be transferred to another person

You can't sell or transfer any firearms you build youself, unless you apply for the FFL that makes you a manufacturer.

-if you designed a gas cylinder as too large (like an AK, but with even more volume) so it completely muffled the report, would this count as being an integral silencer or not?

That would depend on what the ATF decided to classify it as. You'd have to ask them.

 

[PromptCritical]

It all comes down to what the device is designed to do. For example, compensators are designed to reduce recoil, but as a side effect, also reduce flash. Flash suppressors are designed to reduce flash. A suppressor is designed to reduce sound signature. They also reduce recoil and flash. Reducing sound is a side effect of the gas operation. Making a large gas expansion chamber may also not operate the action, as the pressure will drop too fast.

 

[Destructo6]

-why do NFA items and regular firearms differ in approach if they observe identical loci of interstate commerce?

I believe the Stewart case involves this very question.

 

[beerslurpy]

Yes, which is why I am putting off all my firearm purchases this year until it is done with. On the off chance that 922(o) goes away, anyone who bought a semi-auto P90 will look pretty stupid.

Hey wait, that would also mean I could send my AK off to get a happy switch installed! Joygasm!

 

[Third_Rail]

beerslurpy, wouldn't that be interstate commerce?

 

[beerslurpy]

If 922(o) goes away, interstate commerce wont matter since I can register MGs again. 922(o) is the only real thing standing between me and machine gun collecting as a full time hobby.

If the supreme court instead says that intrastate NFA is legal- then I will either perform the gunsmithing myself or ship the work out to any one of numerous local machine shops or gunsmiths. Not the best possible situation, but definitely not too bad.

Obviously my course of action will be determined by what the supreme court changes in terms of legality. I'm hoping for no more 86 ban, but I'll settle for "home manufacture is legal." Better a sten for weekends than nothing at all. Of course if the supreme court screws us, then I will be getting nothing at all, MG-wise, obviously.

 

[Third_Rail]

Ah, gotcha. That would be the registration ban provision.... I hate that.


If it goes away, there will be a lot more money put into MGs... like BARs, Thompsons, etc.

 

[PromptCritical]

Happy switch for my AR!

BURP BURP BRRRRRAAAAAAAAAP!

Full Auto FAL would be fun too.

 

[TheOtherOne]

You can't sell or transfer any firearms you build youself, unless you apply for the FFL that makes you a manufacturer.

Yes you can. You just can't build one with the intention of selling it, but you can sell it after you build it if you decide you don't want it anymore. Just like you can't go to a gun store with the intention of buying a gun to resell it, but you can still decide to sell it someday down the road.

...
Also, for your information, a nonlicensee may manufacture a semiautomatic rifle for his or her own personal use. As long as the firearm remains in the custody of the person who manufactured it, the firearm need not be marked with a serial number or name and location of the manufacturer. However, if the firearm is transferred to another party at some point in the future, the firearm must be marked in accordance with the provisions set forth in 27 CFR § 478.92 (formerly 178.92).
...

Copy of ATF Letter here:
http://www.weaponeer.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1159&PN=1

 

[Dave Markowitz]

-normal firearms and NFA firearms are regulated by the same section of 18USC and presumably rely on interstate commerce for their reach

No. The National Firearms Act is part of the Internal Revenue Code, not the Federal Criminal Code, like GCA 1968 is.

 

[Northslope Nimrod]

I have had the same idea.

In prosecutions for firearms violations, the US Attorney's office must prove the "interstate commerce" nexus. They don't have to prove that the "GUN" entered "interstate commerce", only that any PARTS of the gun entered interstate commerce. The commerce clause is one of the most elastic areas of the law....they just keep stretching it and stretching it........How else can the federal government regulate areas that were intended to be governed by the states?
If one did decide to build his/her own guns, then they would be wise to use materials native to their state.

 

[Too Many Choices!?]

Why would the NFA discuss firearms that are not under its control?.....

It doesn't.... ! If there is no iterstate commerce involved how is a weapon subject to regulation?