Articles Posted in FAQ’s

Owning a pistol and a shoulder stock that can be attached where the barrel is less than 16 inches and the length of the firearm is less than 26 inches is a violation of the NFA without an approved Form 1.

There are certain exceptions for some items which have been removed from the NFA under C&R such as an original and unmodified Mauser “Broomhandle” and some Lugers. Remember that the NFA use to permit modification to C&R but no longer does. If you have a gun that was C&R and then modified, it most likely does not maintain the C&R status of the firearm.

This was common in California and if you are in possession of these items, it is our belief that you are no longer permitted to be in possession and you should check with the lawyers we work with in California understand your rights and obligations.

No. The NFA permits only manufacturers, makers, and importers to register firearms. Mere possessors may not register firearms. An unregistered NFA firearm is a contraband firearm,

and it is unlawful to possess, purchase, sell, or use the weapon. There are certain exceptions for items that were brought back from a war and where there is documentation showing that there was permission to bring the items back to the United States. While the ATF is under no obligation to do so, we have seen several cased where these items were presumed to have been registered and were put into the NFA registry. Otherwise, the possessor should contact the nearest ATF office to arrange for its disposition.

Violators may be fined not more than $250,000, and imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. In addition, any vessel, vehicle or aircraft used to transport, conceal or possess an unregistered NFA firearm is subject to seizure and forfeiture, as is the weapon itself.

If you own the firearms as an individual, the NFA firearms may be left in a safe deposit box in your former State of residence. The firearm can also be left or stored in the former State of residence at the house of a friend or relative in a locked room or container to which only the individual owner has a key. The friend or relative should be given a copy of the registration forms and a letter from you authorizing storage of the firearm at that location.

If you use a NFA Gun Trust, you can do the same as with an individual, but you may also leave them with another trustee or add someone as a trustee to leave the items with. You should be cautious whom has access to the firearms as they could create some additional liability on your behalf and those who are involved with the trust.

As with regular firearms, some Type II firearms (those sold by class 3 dealers) can only be sold to residents of their state, others can be sold to residents of neighboring states. If an item is not legal in your state but is in another state where you would like to purchase it, a Gun Trust may help with this issue. With a Gun trust, you can solve this problem by including someone who is a resident of the other state as a Trustee of your Gun Trust. Any Trustee on your Gun Trust with the power to make purchases, can purchases the items as long as the person who is picking them up is complying with that state’s laws. Once the Gun Trust owns the items, any Trustee, with the power to use the items can manage them and store them where they want, as long as it the items are legal to possess in the state. A trust also has the benefit of being able to be modified in the future so you can add or remove a trustee (authorized purchaser or user).