SBR upper legality

[orionz06]

Right now I own several AR's that are built as rifles and they have uppers on them. I also own a few lowers that are registered as a pistol, but have not been built into anything yet. I do not own a rifle lower without an upper. Is it legal to obtain an upper that would be NFA/pistol assuming I have a matching pistol registered lower to go with it?

[bac0nfat]

This question comes up a lot. There is nothing illegal about it. Having pistol lowers would help your case if anyone were to question you, but technically it's not illegal to own a short upper even without having a pistol or SBR lower. IANAL

[orionz06]

Ok, that is what I thought, as I would need to have constructive intent.

[bac0nfat]

Ok, that is what I thought, as I would need to have constructive intent.

Exactly. I wouldn't have the upper in the same case as a rifle lower, or bring them both to the range at the same time. No one should be searching your house thanks to the fourth amendment so you should be fine.

[orionz06]

Nope, just possible ownership prior to my tax stamp coming back. I have a few lowers that had the PSP form completed, so I could make them into a pistol, and on paper, that is all I can do at the moment.

[smitty56]

This question comes up a lot. There is nothing illegal about it. Having pistol lowers would help your case if anyone were to question you, but technically it's not illegal to own a short upper even without having a pistol or SBR lower. IANAL

I agree with Mr. bac0nfat,
I (for me personally) would not have a shorty AR upper sitting loose among a pile of full stocked ARs. Under the "Guilty Until Proven Innocent"
scenario, you would be accused of having options to mount it up and build an illegal short barreled rifle. If, on the other hand, you bought the "purchased as pistol" AR lower FIRST, then there is not much anyone can say. This ideal was endorsed by my local friendly Class III dealer who deals with BATF on a regular basis.

[orionz06]

The purchased as pistol lowers I have are a few years old now, from before I realized an AR pistol was not a wise idea. I purposely kept them and maintained an upper for each rifle lower for this reason as well.

[Pa. Patriot]

There is no registration in Pa. (18Pa.C.S.6111.4)
http://forum.pafoa.org/general-2/414...nsfers-pa.html


There is no Pa. law regarding assembling long guns, hand gun or NFA weapons in so far as receiver types are concerned.

Per Federal law, having executed a PSP form SP4-113 when you purchased a new/never built AR lower is 100% irrelevant to both owning a SB upper and/or building a pistol.

You can legally build a pistol from ANY new receiver that has not been previously assembled into a long gun. Likewise, you can legally assemble a long gun from a new stripped receiver your FFL errantly and pointlessly executed a form SP4-113 on.

[Kramer]

I agree with Mr. bac0nfat, I (for me personally) would not have a shorty AR upper sitting loose among a pile of full stocked ARs. Under the "Guilty Until Proven Innocent"

I feel the same way even though it would be a slim chance of someone checking your stuff to see what matches up.

[mojo]

I agree with Mr. bac0nfat,
I (for me personally) would not have a shorty AR upper sitting loose among a pile of full stocked ARs. Under the "Guilty Until Proven Innocent"
scenario, you would be accused of having options to mount it up and build an illegal short barreled rifle. If, on the other hand, you bought the "purchased as pistol" AR lower FIRST, then there is not much anyone can say. This ideal was endorsed by my local friendly Class III dealer who deals with BATF on a regular basis.

As long as you have at least a stripped lower, I wouldn't be worried about having a shorty upper laying around .. oh and all "rifled" lowers had uppers on them.