The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Is my foreign semi-auto rifle/shotgun legal?

expeditionx · February 27, 2006, 02:36 AM

I have seen various ATF letters over the past 5 years that have implied that preban status does not mean imunity to new reconfiguration. A myth has circulated since the early 1990s that imported weapons made before 1990 are immune to the import law and therefore you can do anything you want to them. One recent ATF letter I posted about a MAK90 easily disproved the myth in its content.

I just ran across another post that totally disproves the myth again.

Quote from Survivors sks boards:

It is not legal to add a particular feature to a pre-ban SKS Carbine. One could have added it before the ban. If the rifle did not have the feature on the date the ban became effective, adding it afterwards would be illegally assembly of a banned firearm. A banned feature may be repaired, but cannot be added to a firearm.

The May, 1994 American Rifleman magazine featured an article on the subject which quoted Edward M. Owen, Jr., chief of the BATF Firearms Technology Branch, as writing:

"On Nov. 29, 1990, the Congress enacted Title 18 (of the United States Code), Chapter 44, Section 922(r) which states 'it shall be unlawful for any person to assemble from imported parts any semi-automatic rifle or any shotgun which is identical to any rifle or shotgun prohibited from importation under Section 925(d)(3)...'"

"As indicated the section became effective on Nov. 29, 1990. Therefore, any assembly, performed after the effective date of the section, which creates a semi-automatic rifle that is prohibited from importation would be a violation of Section 922(r), irrespective of the date that the firearm was imported."

This contradicts the common belief that rifles imported prior to November 29th, 1990 are immune from this legislation.

February 27, 2006, 02:36 AM	#13
expeditionx Senior Member Join Date: July 10, 2004 Posts: 330	I have seen various ATF letters over the past 5 years that have implied that preban status does not mean imunity to new reconfiguration. A myth has circulated since the early 1990s that imported weapons made before 1990 are immune to the import law and therefore you can do anything you want to them. One recent ATF letter I posted about a MAK90 easily disproved the myth in its content. I just ran across another post that totally disproves the myth again. Quote from Survivors sks boards: It is not legal to add a particular feature to a pre-ban SKS Carbine. One could have added it before the ban. If the rifle did not have the feature on the date the ban became effective, adding it afterwards would be illegally assembly of a banned firearm. A banned feature may be repaired, but cannot be added to a firearm. The May, 1994 American Rifleman magazine featured an article on the subject which quoted Edward M. Owen, Jr., chief of the BATF Firearms Technology Branch, as writing: "On Nov. 29, 1990, the Congress enacted Title 18 (of the United States Code), Chapter 44, Section 922(r) which states 'it shall be unlawful for any person to assemble from imported parts any semi-automatic rifle or any shotgun which is identical to any rifle or shotgun prohibited from importation under Section 925(d)(3)...'" "As indicated the section became effective on Nov. 29, 1990. Therefore, any assembly, performed after the effective date of the section, which creates a semi-automatic rifle that is prohibited from importation would be a violation of Section 922(r), irrespective of the date that the firearm was imported." This contradicts the common belief that rifles imported prior to November 29th, 1990 are immune from this legislation.