Question on a rifle

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  • SigShooter3

    New Member
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    0   0   0
    Jul 24, 2020
    3
    1
    Metairie, LA
    First of all, this rifle is not in my possession.

    A little background, I know a guy that I met through work that has in his possession of a rifle from Katrina. The story goes that his son (a police officer at the time) was given one/two right after Katrina hit. The rifle is engraved "Prop. of US Government" and has the third hole for the full auto sear. He did not know what he had in his possession until recently when he spoke about this rifle given to him from his son. Now that he knows what it is, he is afraid of getting "caught" with it. Since he has no paperwork or tax stamp for this rifle, he wants to get rid of it, but he is a gun guy and does not want to destroy it.

    I have asked several LE people if they would run the serial number just for background purposes (to make sure the gun isn't flagged "stolen" or otherwise), but no one would run it.

    My question - How does one approach this in a legal way? Should he get a trust/apply for NFA rifle? Does he just leave it in a safe and let someone else deal with it once he is gone?
     

    bowhtr1

    Well-Known Member
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    Nov 1, 2016
    211
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    US
    He could always call the atf. I'm sure if he explained it like you just did he would not have a problem. Just don't get caught trying to sell it or something. Federal offence.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
     

    jcomar1

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    6   0   0
    May 19, 2009
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    You cannot register any new post 1986 machine guns. There is no way for him to be legal with that IF it was at one time a registered machine gun OR if it was a post sample owned by a department. Those cannot be transferred to civilians. The only way to own a machine gun by a non FFL-SOT or Gov Dept is to purchase one that's already in the registry. Registry M16's go for 20k+ because the demand is high and the supply does not change. Now all that being said... just having the third hole in and of itself, is only a grey area. If he installs an AR15 trigger group that's not capable of using an auto sear, and a 2 position safety, technically he's not in violation. But if for some reason an ATF agent sees the gun and notices the third pin they would probably question him and possibly run the serial, give him a hard time, etc etc. It is very very unlikely that he would get arrested for this, especially if he doesn't act a fool or have a rap sheet etc etc. Also if he doesn't show anyone or tell anyone then well... no one will know. :)
     

    troy_mclure

    Well-Known Member
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    30   0   0
    Mar 13, 2010
    2,762
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    Central
    what jcomar said if it is an ar/m16 pattern rifle.

    its like having the ar lower receivers with 3 positions for the safety(no pew, pew, pew pew pew) that do nothing other than look funny.
     

    cajun 22

    Shooter
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    40   0   0
    May 22, 2008
    1,497
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    Houma, LA
    He is clearly in possession of an illegal machine gun. If it has the third hole, there is no gray area, it's contraband. Nobody is just going to give you a registered MG and walk away. If, and this is a big if, the gun is somehow legally registered he should contact an attorney and have them contact the ATF to see if it's in the registry. They won't give this information out freely. And if it's not he will have to destroy it.

    Good luck
     

    DAVE_M

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    Apr 17, 2009
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    Assuming he acquired it from a private sale, there is no way of knowing if it was a stolen rifle unless the serial is run and the original owner reported it stolen. If it’s just a lower with a third pin hole, the ATF has in the past deemed that to be machine gun parts.

    One could make use of the other parts and assemble a rifle with a new stripped lower, but I’m not a legal expert.
     

    SigShooter3

    New Member
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    Jul 24, 2020
    3
    1
    Metairie, LA
    Assuming he acquired it from a private sale, there is no way of knowing if it was a stolen rifle unless the serial is run and the original owner reported it stolen. If it’s just a lower with a third pin hole, the ATF has in the past deemed that to be machine gun parts.

    One could make use of the other parts and assemble a rifle with a new stripped lower, but I’m not a legal expert.

    AFAIK, this is a complete rifle. According to his story, these were given out during the aftermath of Katrina from the NG to the local LEO. Again, this is a story I heard and was curious as to what could happen legally if anything.
     

    DAVE_M

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    Apr 17, 2009
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    AFAIK, this is a complete rifle. According to his story, these were given out during the aftermath of Katrina from the NG to the local LEO. Again, this is a story I heard and was curious as to what could happen legally if anything.

    From what information you have provided, a former LEO was given a rifle from the National Guard during the aftermath of Katrina. That tells me that the rifle is most likely government property and should have been returned to the National Guard or at a minimum returned to someone within his agency. If it is indeed government property, him keeping it is illegal. Transferring it to his father would also be illegal. Either way, being in possession of a possible machine gun is a bad thing.

    I would advise them to contact an attorney that specializes in firearms.
     
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