short barreled rifles: legal and how much

[Doug.38PR]

http://www.tommygun.com/ao_t1bsb.html


If I wanted to buy this gun, how much would end up coming out of my pocket besides the $200 to the ATF and the listed price of hte gun $2000+? is it like getting a full automatic weapon where you have to pay an arm and a leg and have some kind of stamped paperwork registered with the government? (that's not exactly what it all is, but it's the same sort of red tape and mess where you end up getting the feds and sheriff's permission to own and wind up putting out enough money to buy a new car)

How do you know if short barreled rifles are legal in your state? I live in Texas and Lousiana.

BTW, on the side, why are short barreled rifles so regulated? What's the big deal behind them?

 

[Hkmp5sd]

The cost is the price of the gun and the tax to the government. It is the exact same process and tax stamps for machineguns, only the gun is far cheaper than what a machinegun currently costs. You will need the CLEO signature on the transfer form, along with photos and fingerprints.

SBRs are legal in TX and LA.

They were included in the NFA because back when the government wanted to ban machineguns and such, gangsters like Clyde Barrow were using sawed off BARs to rob banks, so the government included short barreled rifles and shotguns in the NFA in their attempt to tax these guns out of existance. For some reason, they never figured out that criminals ignore the tax laws just as much as they ignore the criminal laws.

 

[Al Norris]

For some reason, they never figured out that criminals ignore the tax laws just as much as they ignore the criminal laws.

Oh, to be sure, they knew. The idea was that it would be another criminal charge that could be brought against the BG.

Remember, Al Capone wasn't convicted for his criminal activities. It was Tax Evasion that was his undoing.

 

[buzz_knox]

They were included in the NFA because back when the government wanted to ban machineguns and such, gangsters like Clyde Barrow were using sawed off BARs to rob banks, so the government included short barreled rifles and shotguns in the NFA in their attempt to tax these guns out of existance. For some reason, they never figured out that criminals ignore the tax laws just as much as they ignore the criminal laws.

The first sentence is correct but the second is not. Congress knew that criminals ignored the laws but Congress wasn't concerned with criminals. It wanted to eliminate civilian ownership of those firearms and the most effective way of doing so was making them outrageously expensive to own. Remember that the $200 tax was the original amount. That's more than the weapon cost back then.

As for banning items criminals used, while there was a lot of media attention to the abuses, I'd say the need to keep federal agents employed during the Depression after the end of prohibition and a general desire to effectively eliminate an entire class of weapons available to citizens played more of a role than criminal activity.

 

[Doug.38PR]

You will need the CLEO signature on the transfer form, along with photos and fingerprints.

So this means I have to get the Harris County Sheriff (Texas) or the Houston Chief of Police signature in order to have it transfered to me? (not likely to happen)
If, by some miracle, I were to get it what happens if I move to Louisiana and take that gun with my collection?

The idea was that it would be another criminal charge that could be brought against the BG

yeah, and meanwhile liberty for the rest of us suffers so they can catch a criminal (that's always the excuse).....Anyway, preaching to the choir.

 

[shaggy]

So this means I have to get the Harris County Sheriff (Texas) or the Houston Chief of Police signature in order to have it transfered to me? (not likely to happen)

If you live in Houston/Harris County, then yes. But there are other people who are qualified as a CLEO for purposes of signing a form 4. Get a copy of the form 4 instructions from www.titleii.com and it will give a few others who are qualified. If all else fails, you can form a corporation and buy the NFA weapon as a coroprate asset. There's no CLEO signoff for a corporate purchase, but you have the added expenses of forming the corporation and maintaining it for as long as it is the registered owner of the NFA weapon. Best course of action is to start with the CLEO and ask; don't automatically assume they won't sign off.

To take your NFA weapon to another state (temporarily or permanently) you need to file a form 5320.20 with BATFE. Unless your possession of the weapon would be illegal at the destination, the form will be approved and there is no tax/fee.

 

[10 MickeyMouse]

is it like getting a full automatic weapon where you have to pay an arm and a leg and have some kind of stamped paperwork registered with the government?

Other than the tax stamp, do not pay more than you would for a 16"+ version of the rifle. Unlike MG's, SBR's/SBS's can still be manufactured and transferred to civilians by any title II dealer. There is not a fixed supply as is the case with MG's, so any dealer that thinks he can get more for it is banking on a naìve buyer.