05-14-2012, 02:31 AM
BjornF16 Wrote:....... But there could be many reasons to de-register (none of which I am currently in or have ever been in). The most likely scenario I can see is if I passed away leaving my wife the SBR (as part of my gun trust) and she didn't want to deal with the "hassle" and reconfigured to rifle to sell quickly.
I know this thread has moved forward, but I wanted to get your opinion on this. Back in 2001 I contacted the BATF and they made it clear that if the rifle was not configured [stored] to be a SBR, then the NFA regulation was a non-issue on a registered SBR. So why de-register...EVER? Just put a >16" upper on it and be done with it - as it can be sold/transfered as a normal rifle with no paperwork. Now, for what ever reason, you can always revert back if you choose, but there is no reason to [ever] de-register an NFA SBR. If you move to a non-NFA state or "will" an NFA firearm in a trust, etc. - the simple task of converting it to a non-NFA configuration is an easy one and requires no paperwork. If you file paperwork to de-register and then choose to go back, you have to start the whole process all over again with the wait and an additional $200 stamp. 90% of my AR rifles are registered as SBR's; however, only about 20% are actually configured in an SBR configuration. My logic can be compared to early 1986. There will be a day when NFA firearms are no longer allowable and are only grandfathered in. I am slowly making every AR rifle I own a registered SBR even though it is not currently configured that way (I just will ammend my form 1 as I see fit). History will repeat itself, and we will most likely lose our ability to posess SBRs at some point in time. So, to the best of my knowledge, there is absoutly no reason to de-register an NFA rifle if all you have to do is change the configuration to >16". If you have a golden egg- why give it up? What are your thoughts/opinions?