i want to purchase an 80% lower that is register prior to 7/20 and build it as an AR that is MA complaint. It would be transferred to me on an EFA-10. Is this legal? When it is made into an operable weapon can I just register it as such?
-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
-
Be sure to enter the NES/MFS May Giveaway ***Canik METE SFX***
Building an AR
- Thread starter Braids138
- Start date
CrackPot
NES Member
This makes no sense. an 80% lower is a chunk of aluminum. It is not registered, cannot be registered, does not require a FA10 to transfer...
If your goal is to follow the law as written then buy any lower and build a AW compliant rifle.
If your goal is to follow the guidance as written by our fine AG, then you need to buy something pre 7/20/16 to build your rifle also compliant to the AW. Good luck on this path.
Said chunk of aluminum has a serial number and is registered with that. Kind of new with this so bare with me. I plan on using this lower that is ban and buy the parts that are necessary to complete it. Just trying not to get harassed by government and follow the rules as written
greencobra
NES Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 27,242
- Likes
- 26,732
who's selling 80% lowers with sn's and "registering" them?
CrackPot
NES Member
No. Said chunk of metal is a chunk of metal. an 80% lower has no serial number. Lowers are not regsitered (sure, some shops did it, but that was not correct. What caliber? what barrel length?)
100% lower has a serial number and is federally a firearm. It is still a chunk of metal in MA.
CrackPot
NES Member
That is what happens in Maura-land no doubt.
CrackPot
NES Member
Exchange funds and purchase your lower. No EFA10 since it is not a firearm. no nothing under MA law because it is nothing but a chunk of metal. Only purchase from someone in MA as federal law does not allow you to buy a stripped lower outside your state of residence.
greencobra
NES Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 27,242
- Likes
- 26,732
is this correct info? stripped lowers move with paperwork as far as i know. 80%, different animal altogether.
eta: at least mine did.
Last edited:
An easy way to remember, or to explain to others is, 80% lower needs milling - stripped lower needs parts.
CrackPot
NES Member
Stripped lower is a chunk of metal in MA. No MA paperwork required. It’s a firearm federally.
Bill of sale. Nothing more.
CrackPot
NES Member
No. Just because it was done wrong before does not mean you have to do it wrong also. Barrel length? Caliber? No fa10.
snax
NES Member
I guess I agree, because the efa10 req't falls on the seller, correct?
CrackPot
NES Member
Correct
Blackmore
NES Member
Somewhere, at some time, that stripped lower with a S/N on it was transferred from a dealer to an individual on a 4473. Depending on when, the buyer either specified whether it was going to be a rifle or a pistol, or more recently when the form changed, transfers as an "Other" which requires the buyer to be 21 or older since it could be built as a pistol.
In any event, there is a paper trail from manufacturer->distributor->FFL->retail buyer.
80% lower is a chunk of aluminum alloy.
In any event, there is a paper trail from manufacturer->distributor->FFL->retail buyer.
80% lower is a chunk of aluminum alloy.
allen-1
NES Member
Part of that statement is not correct.
You said "federal law does not allow you to buy a stripped lower outside your state of residence"
The stripped lower is considered by federal law to be the firearm itself, and as such has to go through an FFL when coming into your state from another.
What complicates things is state law, and for Massachusetts it's Maura's interpretations of laws.
If the stripped lower isn't marked "pistol" (or similar) or wasn't originally built as part of a pistol, then it's a rifle receiver and federal laws for rifles apply.
(Yes - I'm simplifying because you could have a SBR or Other; but the vast majority of cases are pistols or rifles, and the real majority are rifles).
Federal law for rifles is simple. You can buy a rifle in another state if that rifle is legal in your state.
Yeah - you could go to NH, VT or any other state and buy a stripped lower - if you can find someone who will sell it to you.
I bought a rifle a month or two ago in South Carolina on a whim because I was in Palmetto State Armory and I saw something I liked.
I showed them my Georgia Driver's License and they ran a NICS check. They had no interest in any of my firearms permits.
The rifle they sold me was legal for me to own in Georgia and I'm a non-prohibited person - that's all that mattered.
You can have a rifle (or a lower) shipped to an FFL in your state and take possession from that FFL.
The requirement for a local FFL if the firearm is shipped in is to prevent people from simply shipping weapons to anyone.
The problem as a Mass resident after 7/20 is finding an FFL who agrees that Maura's FAQ isn't law.
CrackPot
NES Member
I am unclear what you found to be a problem in my statement. Yes, you can buy any firearm of any sort including a receiver out of state if you have it shipped to an FFL in your state of residence. I was not saying otherwise. What I was saying was only get the receiver from someone in your state since unlike MA, federally the receiver is a firearm. That could be purchased out of state, but you have to pick up from an in state FFL. It could be face to face with a resident of your state. I was simply making my statement shorter with "only buy from someone in your state" which translates to private face to face or FFL who could have gotten it from anywhere.
allen-1
NES Member
What I'm saying is that "Federal law DOES allow you to buy a stripped lower outside your state of residence" - as long as in doing so you're not violating state law.
Because - the stripped lower is a firearm, and unless the stripped lower has been previously used/declared as a pistol lower, (or other), it's a rifle lower, and thus the laws that apply to rifles apply to it. Therefore, you can purchase the stripped lower while in another state just as you can purchase a rifle in another state.
Federal law says that you can only purchase hand guns in your own state. That doesn't apply to long arms. You can purchase long arms in any state, so long as those long arms are legal in your state. Many FFLs will refuse to sell you firearms that they could legally sell you because they're not sure if they're violating your state laws and they don't want to be party to the legal consequences.
That's the situation that Maura has set up. Prior to her announcement, you could buy an AR in VT, NH, anywhere that would sell it to you because it was legal for you to purchase it in MA. Now those dealers are scared to sell them to you because Maura has said that it's illegal for you to buy them. Without any new law being passed.
CrackPot
NES Member
I understand what you are saying. You unfortunately are incorrect. You can purchase a rifle or shotgun out of state from an out of state FFL but you cannot purchase an other firearm or pistol. Other firearm includes receiver/frame, shockwave (firearm but no sub designation), SBS, SBR, etc
The “not used or marked as a pistol” on the receiver does not matter. As a receiver it is not a rifle or shotgun so not transferable from an out of state FFL.
The law does not say “not pistol”, the law says long gun (“rifle or shotgun”), to paraphrase. A receiver is not a “rifle or shotgun” it is an other.
If an FFL tried to transfer the receiver the background check would bounce. They would have a different state of residence than the FFLs place of business and they will have checked the box “other firearm” for question 16. This is not a lawful combination.
The “not used or marked as a pistol” on the receiver does not matter. As a receiver it is not a rifle or shotgun so not transferable from an out of state FFL.
The law does not say “not pistol”, the law says long gun (“rifle or shotgun”), to paraphrase. A receiver is not a “rifle or shotgun” it is an other.
If an FFL tried to transfer the receiver the background check would bounce. They would have a different state of residence than the FFLs place of business and they will have checked the box “other firearm” for question 16. This is not a lawful combination.
allen-1
NES Member
damn. looking at it like that - I think you're right. which means I'm wrong. I hate that.
BATFE a few years ago changed their regs. After that all frames/lowers became "other" and requires home state transfer only and 21 yo minimum age.
amb
NES Member
Similar threads
