Buying a pistol under 21?

[Yachera]

Can the owner of the pistol add a 16" barrel and stock(in that order) make it a rifle and then sell it to(or FFL transfer) someone under 21? And then once the rifle is in the possession of the 18-20 year old can he/she change it back to a pistol? I'm assuming since an 18-20 year old can own a pistol in the commonwealth but not buy one that if you have a rifle and turn it back into a pistol it'd be ok. Could this be a loophole (abet an expensive one) in the under 21 Handgun transfer law? I know the handgun transfer laws I just wanted to know how they would apply to this situation, or if they even do.

Does this go for all since it's the only(that I could find) case
Thompson/Center Arms Co. went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to establish the lawfulness of the Contender pistol and Carbine (including the carbine kit), and won. The Supreme Court opinion also establishes the legality of the Encore system, which has similar interchangeable parts.

With these systems, a receiver may be assembled either with a pistol grip and pistol barrel, or with a shoulder stock and rifle barrrel (minimum length 16 inches). A barrel under 16 inches in length must never be assembled onto the reciever when the shoulder stock is attached. Within that parameter, the consumer may use the parts to make a pistol or carbine, and may change the configuration at will.

[Pete D.]

Can the owner of the pistol add a 16" barrel and stock(in that order) make it a rifle and then sell it to(or FFL transfer) someone under

No. Adding a barrel to a T/C pistol frame does not make it a rifle. The court case addressed whether or not the "carbine kit" made the pistol a short barreled rifle. It does not. The gun remains a pistol. So you would not be able to do the transfer as you propose.

A barrel under 16 inches in length must never be assembled onto the reciever when the shoulder stock is attached. Within that parameter, the consumer may use the parts to make a pistol or carbine, and may change the configuration at will.

That is not accurate.
Interestingly - but does not affect your plan - taking a T/C carbine and putting a pistol barrel on it makes the carbine a SBR and is illegal. You cannot legally put a pistol barrel on a receiver registered as a rifle at all, shoulder stock or not.
Pete

[FCRPhila]

I would just wait till the person is 21. From what I read, it sounds really shady and I doubt its' legality. And as you said it is expensive.

[knight0334]

A person can legally transfer a handgun to someone less than 21yo, but older than 18yo, through a sheriff. However not many sheriffs will do this.

[Yachera]

No. Adding a barrel to a T/C pistol frame does not make it a rifle. The court case addressed whether or not the "carbine kit" made the pistol a short barreled rifle. It does not. The gun remains a pistol. So you would not be able to do the transfer as you propose.


That is not accurate.
Interestingly - but does not affect your plan - taking a T/C carbine and putting a pistol barrel on it makes the carbine a SBR and is illegal. You cannot legally put a pistol barrel on a receiver registered as a rifle at all, shoulder stock or not.
Pete

Even something like this http://www.mechtechsys.com/1911.html The stock and barrel look like they are one piece.

[anonymouse]

A person can legally transfer a handgun to someone less than 21yo, but older than 18yo, through a sheriff. However not many sheriffs will do this.

Has anyone on PAFOA ever actually had a Sheriff do a transfer to someone over 18 but under 21?

[Pete D.]

Yachera: You can put a rifle barrel onto a pistol. That is what the Mechsystem is doing with the 1911. It is what Thompson/Center did with the "carbine kit"

You cannot legally do the reverse and put a pistol barrel on to a receiver registered as a rifle.
The legality hinges on how the receiver was registered at the time of manufacture. Rifles must have barrels at least 16 inches long and the entire firearm must be at least 26 inches long.
You an put as long or short a barrel as you want on a pistol receiver....but.....you cannot put a shoulder stock on it unless the barrel is at least 16".
Pete

[Yachera]

Has anyone on PAFOA ever actually had a Sheriff do a transfer to someone over 18 but under 21?

Lackawanna county doesn't already asked.

[G23neverjams]

NOTICE: IANAL

Correct me if I am wrong, but the OP said that he wanted to have someone turn a pistol into an SBR. An SBR is a class III weapon and can only be purchaced (I believe) by a 21 year old person, only after filling out a 5 dollar tax stamp... again, IANAL and please don't take this as such. Do your research on it. *I did, but was too tired when I read it, and now, am too tired to think back to it *

If you really want to do the pistol thing, have your parents buy it for you. The transfer *I believe* would be able to be done in that fashion (meaning father/ mother to son or daughter) and so far as I could tell, the sherif's generally allow it because it is a family transfer. *such as a gift*

Do some research into this. I had started to, but then turned 21 a few weeks later, and so, stopped worrying about it and just waited till I was actually 21.

Good luck on getting your first pistol

[39flathead]

To the OP, abandon this idea.

While I am not a fortune teller, I see nothing but trouble in your future if you try to skirt the system in this manner.

Put your time and energy into complaining to your elected officials about firearm ownership age limits and the refusal of the local Sheriff to comply with state statutes instead of posting these types of questionable and hopefully purely hypothetical ideas on a public forum.