I'm still lost. I want the ability to sell it someday as far fetched as that sounds. So I'm guessing I don't want the Form 1. Plus, I dont want to engrave my name, city, occupation, blood type, social and height etc on the lower either.
What is being engraved on the lower when I send it to someone? And why does it need to be engraved? Where is this Magical Form One that everyone is talking about?
ScottsGT was mistaken, don't worry about that. You can register a new NFA weapon on a Form 1 and then sell it later no problem.
Basically, there are two forms dealing with Title II (NFA) firearms. A Form 1 creates a brand new title II firearm where there was none before. So if you have a normal AR lower and want a short barrel, you would file a Form 1, application to manufacture a title II weapon, and then when it's approved, install the short upper, thus "manufacturing" the NFA weapon.
A Form 4 is an application to transfer possession of an existing Title II.
Engraving is required for all Title II firearms. The receiver must be engraved with the name, city, and state of the manufacturer.
Here's my only title II piece.
The manufacturer has engraved:
SUPER-SHORTY (model name, not necessary)
SERBU FIREARMS (name of the corporation which manufactured the firearm, legally necessary)
TAMPA, FLORIDA (city and state of incorporation, legally necessary)
So if you want to manufacture your own SBR without ever having to deal with a Class III dealer, the gun will need to have the receiver engraved with your name, and your city and state of residence. Or, if you register it to a trust or corporation instead of to yourself as an individual (as Serbu Firearms does), it needs to be engraved with the trust/corp name, and city and state it was formed in.
Failure to have that stuff engraved is a big time crime.
The alternative is to buy a lower that was registered as an SBR by someone else, preferrably the original manufacturer. If it was legally manufactured, all the necessary engraving is already in place. Only the manufacturer's name and city and state need to be on there, not every owner's.
It's just that if you file a Form 1, you
are the manufacturer, even if all you do is slap a short upper on a lower.
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As far as selling your Form 1 "Do it yourself" thats news to me! I've been told many times if you are not a mfgr, you cannot resell.
It's basically the same rules as selling normal firearms. You need a Class II/III license to sell title II firearms
for livelihood, just as you need an FFL to sell title I stuff. You also need a manufacturer's license to manufacture guns
for the purpose of sale. No licenses are required to manufacture firearms (as many as you want) for personal use. I do not know the legality of manufacturing firearms to give them away as gifts (when legal to do so). Or for barter.
If you manufacture your own firearm for personal use, get many long years of service out of it, then some day sell it for a legitimate reason, like tight funds, the ATF probably won't care at all, as long as the gun is serial numbered. It's manufacturing without a license and then selling it off right away that raises the red flags.
Actually, it may be legal to manufacture a title II on a form 1 and then sell it right away, for livelihood. The reason why it's illegal to manufacture title Is for sale without a license, is because by doing so, you are evading exise/manufacturing taxes. You could run out right now and get some pieces of pipe and make a "slam-bang" shotgun totally legally and tax-free, as long as it's for personal use, and specifically designed to be fired from the shoulder, thus meeting the ATF's definition of a shotgun. However, when you file a Form 1, you pay a $200 manufacturing tax, so they can't hit you for evading that tax, at least. Maybe there are other taxes involved, but
if the $200 stamp is the only exise tax involved, you'd be free and clear to make and sell as many Title II firearms as you want on Form 1s.
