California Arrests Two Women 3D Printing an AR-15 Lowe Receiver

[Wolfie]

I was talking about an unserialized gun. You can't manufacture one without a serial and then sell it or even give it away. You can manufacture unserialized guns for your own use, perfectly legal.

I know of no loophole in the laws that would permit you to stick some random number on a gun and call it a serial number and make it legal to transfer a home built firearm. To issue a serial on a gun, I am pretty darn certain you must be licensed to manufacture firearms. If anyone could issue a legal serial, people would be tattooing home made guns with random numbers and make them legal to transfer. Not happening.

With a manufacturing license, yes an individual could make a firearm and serialize it. In fact you would be required to serialize it for any use other than your own or you would loose your license and probably spend quite a time in prison. By serilizing a firearm, it would require the firearm to be registered with the ATF which would begin the paper trail for it. After that the initial purchaser(recipient) can simply give or sell it without doing any paperwork or registering the sale/gift. At least in most states. This area gets fuzzy at the state level though. And the laws differ between long guns and pistols. And even within long guns there are variants where laws differ (SBR for example).

I have not verified but I believe that the restriction on transferring unserialized firearms also includes inheritance. That means when I die, any non-serialized firearms I have made are technically not part of my estate that would be transferred to my inheritors. They would have to be turned over to ATF for disposal. I am also pretty sure they can't be placed into a trust either in an attempt to circumvent those restrictions. Again, I have not verified these assumptions with a lawyer.

[Have Blue]

I know of no loophole in the laws that would permit you to stick some random number on a gun and call it a serial number and make it legal to transfer a home built firearm. To issue a serial on a gun, I am pretty darn certain you must be licensed to manufacture firearms. If anyone could issue a legal serial, people would be tattooing home made guns with random numbers and make them legal to transfer. Not happening.

By the ATF's own website (https://www.atf.gov/firearms/faq/fir...echnology.html), you can add a random serial number to a gun you built yourself:

Individuals manufacturing sporting-type firearms for their own use need not hold Federal Firearms Licenses (FFLs). However, we suggest that the manufacturer at least identify the firearm with a serial number as a safeguard in the event that the firearm is lost or stolen. Also, the firearm should be identified as required in 27 CFR 478.92 if it is sold or otherwise lawfully transferred in the future.

As to whether or not a firearm must have a serial to transfer it, *I think the key in the above quote is the use of 'should' rather than 'must'.

*Edit to above statement - I found this FTB letter which does say 'must'. In the case of inheritance, I would think marking the firearm with the maker's info (even post-mortem) would be sufficient, but I suppose that specific case would require another FTB determination letter.

[Wolfie]

You are mixing apples and oranges.

From the page you quoted from, the title of that section is..:
Q: Is it legal to assemble a firearm from commercially available parts kits that can be purchased via internet or shotgun news?

That section pertains to ASSEMBLING a firearm from pre-manufactured parts. 3D printing is actually manufacturing the parts by any definition I can think of. Different scenario than what the article refers to.

And, by chance did you read the VERY FIRST sentence in the article you quoted from? Here it is:

For your information, per provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44, an unlicensed individual may make a “firearm” as defined in the GCA for his own personal use, but not for sale or distribution.

By the way, the ATF bolded those words. Not me.

That statement verifies what I have said all along. You can make a gun. You can't then sell or give it away unless its properly marked and serialized.

[Have Blue]

That section refers to assembling parts from a parts kit, where the user has to supply their own receiver (which they have to 'manufacture').

And yes, I did read the very first sentence - you may not make a firearm _for_ sale or distribution - you can only make one _for_ yourself. That is the 'intent'. However, you can then later on (a rule of thumb I've heard is at least a year) sell it if you wanted - the original 'intent' to make it solely for yourself has not changed.

Note the second paragraph of that FTB letter I linked to:

Also, for your information, a nonlicensee may manufacture a semiautomatic rifle for his or her own personal use. As long as the firearm remains in the custody of the person who manufactured it, the firearm need not be marked with a serial number or name and location of the manufacturer. However, if the firearm is transferred to another party at some point in the future, the firearm must be marked in accordance with the provisions set forth in 27 CFR 478.92 (formerly 178.92).