cptsplashdown
New member
There is an old saying in LE- "You can beat the rap, but you can't beat the ride." Exactly what my friend told me as we left the range Bill. Excellent points gents, and well taken. Of course in the future I will be carrying copies of these docs with me. I'm glad to see and hope that all understood my interest in the finer points of the law in terms of what the law actually requires vs. what you may run into out in the real world. I can certainly understand any LEOs concern with illegal weapons on the field of play. I suppose we could all forget to bring our paperwork with us at one time or another and I think it worth exploring the potential consequences as well as understanding what your actual obligations are under the law. My question about "how can an officer arrest you..." should probably have read "why would an officer arrest you...", assuming he understood that you were not in fact in violation of any law. Certainly any officer CAN arrest you, I more specifically was thinking of whether or not you SHOULD be arrested given this particular set of circumstances (having a legally registered weapon at the range, but having the paperwork at home.) I would liken this to the fact that some states that allow CCWs require that you have the license on your person, and some do not, and not having your CCW is not always a violation. It is my belief from reading AK's link and other info (http://www.titleii.com/BardwellOLD/nfa_faq.txt) that in fact simply not having the paperwork on you does not put you in violation of any federal or state law (in FL anyway.) I have not seen or read anything that would contradict my conclusion. Does that mean that I would get into a protracted argument with a LEO or RSO over this issue without any supporting documentation. Certainly not. I would however be happy to carry both my NFA paperwork, as well as a copy of several of these references, and perhaps be able to clarify the issue amidst a situation that might otherwise escalate to a confiscation and/or arrest. Great discussion and cheers again to all.