SB 941 and Interstate Antiques?

[CountryGent]

As most know, one could (generally) buy and ship pre-1899 antique firearms directly, as far as the federal authorities are concerned. I'm less clear on the state-level law. If I am reading SB 941 correctly:

• Antique firearms are exempt from the requirements.
• The law uses the Federal definition for "antique" found in 18 U.S.C. 921.

At first blush, that would seem to be this case, but this analysis from Senator Alan Olsen states otherwise:

2. Does ORS 166.435 (section 2 of Senate Bill 941 (2015)) require a criminal background check prior to the private transfer of an antique firearm?

We think a court would find that, pursuant to ORS 166.435, a private party is required to request a criminal background check before the party may lawfully transfer an antique firearm. As noted above, ORS 166.460 exempts antique firearms from many Oregon laws regulating the transfer and possession of firearms. However, the Legislative Assembly did not add ORS 166.435 (section 2 of SB 941 (chapter 50, Oregon Laws 2015)) to the enumerated statutes in ORS 166.460 (1) that do not apply to antique firearms. Therefore, private parties who transfer antique firearms are not statutorily excluded from the obligation to initiate a criminal background check before transferring a firearm.

Based upon that, I suppose an antique would have to go through an FFL. I know an FFL can log an antique with the notation "ANT". However, I don't know how a background check would work on a non-firearm item and the interstate aspect of such a transaction.

Anyone know the official word on this and/or case law? Thanks much.

P.S. In case it is germane to the discussion, the items I have been researching are blackpowder, cartridge revolvers from the 1870s—1880s. They are "antiques" as far as GCA68 is concerned, but how Oregon views this may be different.

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[raftman]

I'm kinda wondering about this myself and surprised no one has weighed in yet. I'm not sure if in some cases it would even be possible to document a transfer. For instance these guns may not have it spelled out as to who manufactured the gun and where, or may lack a serial number entirely since these were not always required. Or suppose it's a foreign antique with only foreign markings/letters that don't exist in our alphabet (e.g Russian)?