Rifle ownership/purchasing laws?

[mythaeus]

Sorry I can't find the information on the board. If you could, please point me to threads on the board or links to resources regarding laws on purchasing rifles in PA.

I understand that you need a Class III license to own full autos and that you need to pay $200 stamp tax for SBRs. What makes something an SBR and not a handgun? Are there other laws that I need to be aware of when I am buying rifles / long guns? Thanks for your help.

Al

[knight0334]

Sorry I can't find the information on the board. If you could, please point me to threads on the board or links to resources regarding laws on purchasing rifles in PA.

I understand that you need a Class III license to own full autos and that you need to pay $200 stamp tax for SBRs. What makes something an SBR and not a handgun? Are there other laws that I need to be aware of when I am buying rifles / long guns? Thanks for your help.

Al

(If anything is incorrect - I'm sure someone will point out the error)

You dont need a license to own full autos - you can still own a full auto that was made and registered prior to 1986 - they are transferable to nonLEO/military persons. The same $200 tax stamp is required. Full auto's made after 1986 are not transferable to us common people - no way, no how.

"Class III" is dealers of the NFA type Title II weapons(MG, SBS, SBR, AOW, DD, suppressor). If I remember correctly, they are just FFL dealers with a SOT (Special Occupational Tax). Class III dealers can keep in stock post-86 MG's so long as they have some sort of paperwork(cant remember details).

An SBR is something that was once a rifle or a firearm that will be assembled with a shoulder stock but has a barrel less than 16" and/or an overall length less than 26". Its a shoulder stock that makes the difference between a rifle and a handgun.

To buy any NFA device(Title II) from a Class III dealer you must be 21. To buy a Title I handgun from a dealer you must be 21, to buy a Title I shotgun or rifle from a dealer you must be 18.

You can apply for a tax stamp to make your own rifle or shotgun into a SBR or SBS if you want.

[Sebastian]

Sorry I can't find the information on the board. If you could, please point me to threads on the board or links to resources regarding laws on purchasing rifles in PA.

I understand that you need a Class III license to own full autos and that you need to pay $200 stamp tax for SBRs. What makes something an SBR and not a handgun? Are there other laws that I need to be aware of when I am buying rifles / long guns? Thanks for your help.

Al

I'll try to take this one part at a time. The politicians have made this all very complicated, and one could go on at length about this stuff, but I'll do my best to condense:

There are three types of title II firearms:

1. Pre-86 fully transferrable.
2. Post-86 dealer sample.
3. Pre-86 dealer sample.

To get #1, you just have to pay the NRA transfer tax ($200) and fork over an arm and a leg to actually buy the gun. They are expensive, because the market has been frozen by Congress to what it was in 1986.

To get #2 you have to have be a Class III Special Occupational Taxpayer (SOT) and have an FFL. You need to have a letter from a police agency requesting said machine gun. If you lose your FFL or SOT status, you have to surrender the firearm. These are all firearms manufactured or imported after 1986.

To get #3, the requirements are the same as #2, except that if you give up your license, you may still keep #3. Firearms under the #3 category were basically imported into the US after 1968, when it became illegal to import any more firearms to be place in the #1 category.

----

Now, SBRs....

What makes something an SBR is the fact that it has a stock. The National Firearms Act defines a handgun as anything designed to be fired by a single hand. A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder. Rifles are to have a barrel length of greater than 16 inches (it was originally 18 inches, until the feds realized they had sold a whole bunch of surplus M1 carbines with 16" barrels to civilians, so they had to change it, shotguns are still 18"). Any rifle with a barrel until 16" or an overall length of less than 26" is considered a short barreled rifle. Any shotgun with a barrel length of less than 18" or an overall length of less than 28" inches is considered a short barreled shotgun (sawed off, in the vernacular). Both short barreled rifles and short barreled shotguns require payment of a $200 tax to either create one or transfer one. Unline machine guns, you can still register new SBRs and SBSs.

Both are subject to the National Firearms Act, and require payment of a tax, after which such payment you will receive a stamp (not unlike the one that cause the colonist to revolt against the crown) that proves you paid the tax and are in lawful possession.

If all this is confusing, don't worry yourself. No one really understands all the intricate details, not even the people charged with enforcing it.

[mythaeus]

Knight, Setastian

Thank you VERY much for the detailed replies. They really reinforced each other and clarified the various things for me.

Regards,
Al