922r

[BWE Firearms]

Does 922r aply to NFA items?

I have been told by Tech Branch that it does not apply to NFA items but I know some people have been told 922r does apply to NFA. Which is it.

[ExecDirector]

It absolutely does, unless the only thing you are doing is shortening the barrel. The common misconception is, for example, you can make up your own SBR via Form 1 and use all imported parts. This is not true. You still have the burden, as the manufacturer/assembler, of complying with 922(r), even for an NFA item. The so-called "NFA exception" addresses the specific instance of shortening the barrel on a lawfully imported weapon. The weapon would not be importable as an SBR. And ATF would then be in the awkward position of giving "permission" via an approved Form 1, to create a violation. So you can do a barrel chop on your HK94 that was brought in before all this gibberish commenced and be good. But you cannot "roll your own" using more than 10 imported parts. Confusing, ridiculous, and I have absolutely no clue what public safety issue is being served by keeping it.

I can say that 922(r) does have *many* convictions... It just never has been the lead charge. And 922(r) is *only* a making offense, not a possession offense.

[ExecDirector]

Exactly who at Tech Branch told you that 922(r) did not apply to NFA items?

[BWE Firearms]

I have asked 4 or 5 different times and been told 922r doesn't apply to any NFA items. I have asked because I build MP5 parts kits into SBRs and Uzi parts kits into SBRs as well as post samples. I can not tell you a name it is the duty agent. The one who's week it is to return phone messages. I will call again this week and see what they say and get a name.

Now were does this leave me when I started doing SBR builds I called and was told I didn't need to use any US parts except the receiver of course. So I have been building them without worrying about the US part count. In fact I just had a complience inspection and we talked about builds and nothing was said. I thought I would be called in about something because that seems to be the norm aroung this area and never heard from them after they left.

Come to think about it I finished an MP5K built as a pistol in December for a customer in Illinois. He went in to a Gander Mountain and told them he needed to have a machine gun transfered to him. Gander Mountain imediately called the state police and ATF who both started criminal investigations thinking I was building illegal machine guns. They came and looked at all the emails about the build inspected the gun itself. I told them if the customer wanted an SBR I would be more then happy to put on the stock and forend and register it. ATF just called me last week to get the customers phone number and tell him I could ship it to a dealer as a pistol or I could register it as an SBR and transfer it to a Class 3 dealer. They told me I was good to go the case was closed no wrong doing on my part all my builds were just fine. I told them exactly how I do all my builds we took pictures and they said keep doing what I was doing. I would think if I was in violation of 922r they would have told me to stop. Even their legal council said I was fine.

[ExecDirector]

Building a MP5K in semi is not an issue with 922(r) because pistols are not affected by 922(r).
Building a post-sample is also not an issue because of the restricted access.
Building an SBR is an issue. Shorten the barrel of an existing gun is fine, building it from the ground up is not.

The problem with this law is that, by ATF's own admission, it is nearly unenforceable, difficult to prove and even more poorly understood by those in the field or not having a proper understanding of how it works. I previously stated that 922(r) has many convictions. It does. The thing about it never being the lead charge is telling. It's always an add on. When somebody is caught doing lots of other nasty things, 922(r) is part of the whole host of additional charges added on (if there is probable cause). The idea being that a guilty plea will be worked out.

How is a a local LEO supposed to know the nuances of a law that even ATF has trouble understanding? How is an IOI supposed to actually be able to know the country of origin of non stamped parts inside a weapon? Is it reasonable, prudent, efficient or even financially warranted to send in every suspect weapon to FTB for "special testing" (assuming that this is possible) to determine origin? Of course not.

The practical answer is that IOI's aren't on the lookout for 922(r) violations when they do inspections. Their training is such that they have difficulty recognizing which serial number to use on an integrally suppressed pistol, that they think a Braverman pen pistol is an AOW, that they can take the bound book off premise for review. They make mistakes, but there is no amount of training and funding available that will put a mobile metallurgy and gas chromatography lab in their Ford Fusion Hybrids to test and determine the country of origin of the hammer on your MP5 clone build. So 922(r) isn't going to be the point of the spear.

HOWEVER, lets say that you've made a habit of building guns without paying attention to the requirements of reporting to the ATF mothership. That's pretty serious. And if you've also managed to sell a few of these unreported weapons you are going to be in fairly deep kimchee. At that point, it's VERY likely that you are going to have raised suspicions about what other illegal shenanigans are going on. 922(r) is very likely going to be added to your list of transgressions so that Uncle Sam can extract the maximum penalty out of you.

It's disturbing, but not surprising, that there are folks at ATF who are giving you, frankly, bad direction. If you would like to privately share with me exactly who from Counsel's Office gave you a green light on the SBR builds, I'm happy to follow up.

[adina728]

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