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 Exactly when does an AR lower become a rifle or pistol? 
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Say I bought a stripped lower some time ago.
It now has all the parts installed on it, including the receiver extension (buffer tube) and a rifle stock.
But it has never been put together with any upper.

If someone in WA State wished to buy it fully assembled like that, is it still transferred as an other?

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Sat Jul 11, 2020 11:17 am
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Unless and until a barrel is installed for the first time, the reciever is still "virgin" - that is, it can be built as a rifle or a pistol. But once a barrel is installed, the length of the barrel combined with the device attached to the buffer tube will determine whether it is Title I or Title II (NFA). And that initial configuration technically determines what can legally be done with it later, and how. A receiver by itself with no barrel, whether stripper or assembled, with or without a stock or brace, should always be transferred as "other" on the 4473, regardless of initial configuration. That covers federal. State may be a different matter, but for now in WA, there aren't any other special considerations beyond federal.


Sat Jul 11, 2020 11:24 am
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Guns4Liberty wrote:
Unless and until a barrel is installed for the first time, the reciever is still "virgin" - that is, it can be built as a rifle or a pistol. But once a barrel is installed, the length of the barrel combined with the device attached to the buffer tube will determine whether it is Title I or Title II (NFA). And that initial configuration technically determines what can legally be done with it later, and how. A receiver by itself with no barrel, whether stripper or assembled, with or without a stock or brace, should always be transferred as "other" on the 4473, regardless of initial configuration. That covers federal. State may be a different matter, but for now in WA, there aren't any other special considerations beyond federal.
You can have a barreled receiver that's still a receiver.

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Sat Jul 11, 2020 11:41 am
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Isildur wrote:
Say I bought a stripped lower some time ago.
It now has all the parts installed on it, including the receiver extension (buffer tube) and a rifle stock.
But it has never been put together with any upper.

If someone in WA State wished to buy it fully assembled like that, is it still transferred as an other?


This question is easily answered by having the WA state and GCA (federal) definitions at hand.

Firearm:

WA:
Quote:
"Firearm" means a weapon or device from which a projectile or projectiles may be fired by an explosive such as gunpowder. "Firearm" does not include a flare gun or other pyrotechnic visual distress signaling device, or a powder-actuated tool or other device designed solely to be used for construction purposes.


Federal:
Quote:
The term “Firearm” means:

Any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; Image of a revolver firearm expelling a projectile and a starter gun converted to a firearm to expel a projectile

The frame or receiver of any such weapon;

Any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or

Any destructive device.


Note that the Federal definition of "firearm" explicitly includes receivers, while the WA definition does not. In WA, if it can't fire a round, it isn't a firearm, which is why receivers are not subject to the results of I-594, the universal background check law.

Pistol:

WA:
Quote:
"Pistol" means any firearm with a barrel less than sixteen inches in length, or is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.


Federal:
Quote:
The term “Pistol” means a weapon originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one hand, and having:

a chamber(s) as an integral part(s) of, or permanently aligned with, the bore(s);

and a short stock designed to be gripped by one hand at an angle to and extending below the line of the bore(s).



To be a pistol, you need a barrel. Period. Without a barrel, it's not a pistol, rifle, shotgun, etc. It's a "firearm" under federal law, and a nothing under state law. Furthermore, to be a pistol according to federal law, you need something to grip. A barreled action is still not a pistol.

Now, under Federal law, to be a pistol, it has to be a pistol FIRST, before it is anything else besides a "firearm." Rifles and shotguns can't be pistols. Only pistols can be pistols. Once it's a pistol, however, it can be configured to be anything else, and then reconfigured to be a pistol again, because it was "originally" a pistol.

Rifle:

WA:
Quote:
"Rifle" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.


Federal:
Quote:
The term “Rifle” means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.


Barrels are likewise necessary to be a rifle, as is something designed to put against your shoulder.

You could have an otherwise complete M16A2, 20" barrel and all, but until the original maker/manufacturer gets the grip and buttstock screwed on, it is neither a rifle nor a pistol according to the state/federal definitions above.

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Last edited by Pvanderzee on Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.



Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:08 pm
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scrid2000 wrote:
Guns4Liberty wrote:
Unless and until a barrel is installed for the first time, the reciever is still "virgin" - that is, it can be built as a rifle or a pistol. But once a barrel is installed, the length of the barrel combined with the device attached to the buffer tube will determine whether it is Title I or Title II (NFA). And that initial configuration technically determines what can legally be done with it later, and how. A receiver by itself with no barrel, whether stripper or assembled, with or without a stock or brace, should always be transferred as "other" on the 4473, regardless of initial configuration. That covers federal. State may be a different matter, but for now in WA, there aren't any other special considerations beyond federal.
You can have a barreled receiver that's still a receiver.

You're right, I left that out. Too damn many details!


Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:12 pm
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scrid2000 wrote:
You can have a barreled receiver that's still a receiver.


I am specifically asking about an AR configuration, which, by definition, does not have that capability, under current laws.

Between Pvanderzee & Guns4Liberty, I have my answer, and it tracks with what my interpretation of the WA & Federal laws are.

Thanks gentlemen!

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Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:13 pm
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