NFA Item Interstate Movement

[Madcap_Magician]

I was idly thinking about a Sig MPX in the trunk on road trips, and I was then wondering if anyone knew if ATF would still want notification if an AR lower registered as an SBR is moved interstate if the upper receiver at the time of movement has a 16" barrel?

 

[Arizona_Mike]

No. It is not in an NFA configuration. Is not the registration that makes it an SBR, its the features.

Mike

 

[Theohazard]

Arizona_Mike hit the nail on the head. The ATF is very clear on this subject: An SBR is only considered an SBR if it's currently in an SBR configuration.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

Thanks guys!

 

[Sarge]

News to me!
I thought the old "once an MG, always an MG" rule applied since the lower is registered as an SBR.
Would you please quote the section of the NFA rules that change this?
Sarge

 

[Theohazard]

News to me!
I thought the old "once an MG, always an MG" rule applied since the lower is registered as an SBR.
Would you please quote the section of the NFA rules that change this?
Sarge

As far as I know, nothing ever changed on this. An SBR isn’t a MG and is defined differently in federal law.

The federal definition of an SBR since 1934 has always required a barrel and an action, so that means a registered SBR lower by itself cannot fit the definition of an SBR. And as far as I’m aware, the ATF hasn’t previously taken a different stance on this. But if I’m wrong and the ATF saw things differently in the past, someone please provide a reference to their previous stance.

As far as quoting the relevant NFA rules proving Arizona_Mike correct, here’s an excerpt from section 2.5 of the ATF’s NFA Handbook:

Firearms, except machineguns and silencers, that are subject to the NFA fall within the various definitions due to specific features. If the particular feature that causes a firearm to be regulated by the NFA is eliminated or modified, the resulting weapon is no longer an NFA weapon.

For example, a shotgun with a barrel length of 15 inches is an NFA weapon. If the 15- inch barrel is removed and disposed of, the remaining firearm is not subject to the NFA because it has no barrel. Likewise, if the 15 inch barrel is modified by permanently attaching an extension such that the barrel length is at least 18 inches and the overall length of the weapon is at least 26 inches, the modified firearm is not subject to the NFA.

 

[GarrettJ]

I thought the old "once an MG, always an MG" rule applied since the lower is registered as an SBR.
Would you please quote the section of the NFA rules that change this?

As noted, an SBR is not a MG.

And the legal reference you seek is in the definition. Prior to '68, people could have a collection of parts, and as long as they weren't assembled into a working firearm, they were just a collection of parts.

GCA '68 closed that loophole defining a bare MG receiver or conversion device as a MG all by its self.

There is no definition of an "SBR receiver". An SBR (or SBS, DD, or AOW for that matter) are defined by their features. Remove those defining features, and it no longer meets that classification.