10-09-2022, 03:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-09-2022, 04:09 PM by lazyengineer.)
TBH, if one is doing this often and heavy enough to justify asking the question, that's probably too much. The few time I've helped a friend with a build, I have them go buy the stripped lower themselves, and point to them where to go. I suggest your friend switch policy to doing the same.
If he is doing this heavily, he's probably buying stripped lowers in multi-packs. When you do that, the dealer is required to notify the ATF of a multiple sales of scary guns - and here is the guys name and address, just FYI. ATF can and does follow-up to see if someone is buying and transporting firearms for resale. FWIW, this is how they catch gun runners who are buying lots of guns, who is then driving to an NYC/whatever inner city location and selling guns out of the back of the car to people illegally and often for criminal inner city usage. That actually does sometimes happen, and my enmity to ATF when they catch someone doing that, is not particularly high when so.
Your friend could well fall under their "follow up with this guy and investigate" flag to investigate someone maybe doing that - and the investigation, once started, may result in overzeroulous easy-conviction follow-through. Obviously in your friends case few actually support that type of enforcement, but it can happen.
Frankly, I get it - it's a fun hobby to build AR's, and it's cool to help people out with one's honed skill. And if you do it just once or twice with a previously purchased receiver, nobody cares. But don't do this by being the one bulk buying the receivers. An easy: "here's Primary Arms that has stripped lowers for <$50, and here's the local gun dealer who has a $20 transfer fee"; is not an unreasonable start. Heck, if they live in Houston, just have them drive to Primary Arms (or PSA if in the Carolina's) and skip all the fee's.
As to calling the ATF, that's mostly fine - as I'm not aware of them using such contacts as a route to identify and harass people later (that I know of, not saying for sure it can't happen). The bigger issue is the answers don't generally mean much. In the higher power authority of the Judicial branch, I once saw it stated: "It is not the purview of the Executive branch agencies to interpret the law, that is the purview of the Judiciary." That struck a note and explains a lot actually. We've seen plenty of times ATF saying something is or isn't OK, and it not actually playing out the way they stated. This topic of what is or is not engaging in the practice of gun-dealing without a license is ill-defined. The ATF can and has nailed random guys for buying and selling guns "too much".
If he is doing this heavily, he's probably buying stripped lowers in multi-packs. When you do that, the dealer is required to notify the ATF of a multiple sales of scary guns - and here is the guys name and address, just FYI. ATF can and does follow-up to see if someone is buying and transporting firearms for resale. FWIW, this is how they catch gun runners who are buying lots of guns, who is then driving to an NYC/whatever inner city location and selling guns out of the back of the car to people illegally and often for criminal inner city usage. That actually does sometimes happen, and my enmity to ATF when they catch someone doing that, is not particularly high when so.
Your friend could well fall under their "follow up with this guy and investigate" flag to investigate someone maybe doing that - and the investigation, once started, may result in overzeroulous easy-conviction follow-through. Obviously in your friends case few actually support that type of enforcement, but it can happen.
Frankly, I get it - it's a fun hobby to build AR's, and it's cool to help people out with one's honed skill. And if you do it just once or twice with a previously purchased receiver, nobody cares. But don't do this by being the one bulk buying the receivers. An easy: "here's Primary Arms that has stripped lowers for <$50, and here's the local gun dealer who has a $20 transfer fee"; is not an unreasonable start. Heck, if they live in Houston, just have them drive to Primary Arms (or PSA if in the Carolina's) and skip all the fee's.
As to calling the ATF, that's mostly fine - as I'm not aware of them using such contacts as a route to identify and harass people later (that I know of, not saying for sure it can't happen). The bigger issue is the answers don't generally mean much. In the higher power authority of the Judicial branch, I once saw it stated: "It is not the purview of the Executive branch agencies to interpret the law, that is the purview of the Judiciary." That struck a note and explains a lot actually. We've seen plenty of times ATF saying something is or isn't OK, and it not actually playing out the way they stated. This topic of what is or is not engaging in the practice of gun-dealing without a license is ill-defined. The ATF can and has nailed random guys for buying and selling guns "too much".
4x P100