There was a gun show in Lebanon, PA today, not too far from where my dad lives, so we decided to go. I was looking for .22LR, small rifle primers, and if the hunting was good, an AR-15 lower receiver. I like a show where I can find everything I’m looking for. Picked up two bricks of 22, which should keep us shooting for a few months. Same vendor had small rifle primers. I also picked up this:
It will eventually become the lower to fit the 6.8 SPC upper I have which has never had its own lower. I had to fill out the Pennsylvania State Police form that is normally reserved for pistols. A few months ago the PSP made a determination that because a lower can be made into a pistol, it’s a pistol, and is subject to the record of sale requirements, meaning it’s in the State Police registry. Even if I make it into a rifle, does this mean that I can’t transfer it without going through an FFL? Does it mean I need an LTC to carry it? Personally, I don’t think the State Police have any statutory authority to make this requirement at all, if you look at the UFA definition of a “firearm”:
“Firearm.” Any pistol or revolver with a barrel length less than 15 inches, any shotgun with a barrel length less than 18 inches or any rifle with a barrel length less than 16 inches, or any pistol, revolver, rifle or shotgun with an overall length of less than 26 inches. The barrel length of a firearm shall be determined by measuring from the muzzle of the barrel to the face of the closed action, bolt or cylinder, whichever is applicable.
Except in its form, it’s not a pistol, rifle, revolver or shotgun, because it has no barrel. My assertion is that it is a “firearm” under the actual definition, which subjects it to the PICS check, but is not a “firearm” under the UFA definition, which subjects it to the reporting requirement, and requires an LTC to carry. For some reason, the PSP changed their mind. Probably because we have an anti-gun PSP commissioner, appointed by our anti-gun governor.
What’s the latest on the PSP registry anyway? Does it still illegally archive every handgun transfer indefinitely or what?
As an employee of DPMS, thank you for supporting our customers. Just don’t ask me how to fix things, I am in the parts department, very low in the parts department, lol.
I thought that when you filled out the AFT form you had to declare the receiver as a rifle or a pistol receiver, since placing a pistol upper on a rifle lower is a big No no…. would not the federal regs define the status of the lower……
Might I ask what you had to pay for the small pistol primers? They are scarce … darned scarce.
He bought small rifle primers at the only table that had them. Unfortunately, I don’t remember what he paid for them. But, I did see at least one other table with small pistol primers, as well as the table where we bought the small rifle primers. I was really impressed with this show for anyone in PA. I’ve been to their Allentown show and thought it was okay, but the Lebanon show was great.
They were 30 dollars for 1000.
“I had to fill out the Pennsylvania State Police form that is normally reserved for pistols.”
You have too many laws in PA. You need to work on that ;)
“I thought that when you filled out the AFT form you had to declare the receiver as a rifle or a pistol receiver, since placing a pistol upper on a rifle lower is a big No no…. would not the federal regs define the status of the lower”
The new 4473 forms list “other” as a form of purchase too. Stripped receivers go into that category. Here in NC, that means that you no longer need a purchase permit for lowers that will be made into pistols. the downside is that now, lowers can only be purchased by persons 21 or older (nationwide) because only “long guns” and “shotguns” can be bought by person aged 18 to 21, not “other”
The fun is finding a holster that will allow you to draw an AR pistol.
Heh.
Hold on…stripped lowers can be “other?” If so, isn’t assembling a full AR manufacturing a rifle? Not that I’m under the impression our firearms laws make sense, but this seems awfully odd, especially as it being classified as “other” would seem to allow it to become either a “pistol” or “rifle” depending on what kind of buffer tube container you attach to its back.
Assembling it with a buttstock and rifle length barrel would be making a rifle, yes. “Manufacturing” is something else in the gun law context. Making it a pistol would require the receiver to never have had a stock attached to it.
Nothing to it, really, once you become acquainted with our lovely byzantine firearms laws…
3 (Bronx) cheers for NFA’34! 3 more for the Miller decision!
And a round of clean diapers for the PSP
Wisconsin did the same thing with AR recievers a while ago… I got a lower last winter (a DPMS just like that) at a show and had to do the same paperwork as you do for a pistol. BUT I didn’t have to sit through the waiting period required for handguns to take it home. Still trying to figure that one out.