Why do sbr's need to be registered?

[DinhRose]

I was chatting with another member on here when we met up for a trade and the topic of SBR came up.* Why are SBR, for example an AR15, classified as a NFA item that needs to be registered?* I am not venting but I just don't understand how I can legally own an ar15 pistol, granted it's under the 26", and i can legally own an ar15 rifle?* Neither one of these are required to be registered w/ the ATF as an NFA item. But if i were to take the upper off of the pistol and attach it to a (non pistol designated) lower it's now required to be registered and the taxed?

I understand full auto weapons and surpressors needing to be registered and regulated. However a combination of 2 non nfa weapons is then regulated by the ATF? I am really curious about the logic behind this example. I imagined it cannot be because of concealment issues since the pistol ar15 is much easier to conceal. Any explanations?

Read More

 

[slimmer13]

Its all about $$$$ my friend.

 

[motoman98]

Comes from the "Gangster" days, when under an overcoat coud be a sawed off rifle or shotgun. The Police with their .38 special revolvers were in deep stuff.

 

[BillM]

It doesn't have to make sense---I've never figured out why suppressors are regulated. In a lot of the world they are not. People whine about the noise, then put a law in place that makes it a royal pain in the tuckus to get the hardware to make less noise?

If the truth were known, I would bet that one of the main reasons that the NFA
of 1934 even exists was to keep the Revenue agents on the payroll after the
repeal of prohibition in 1933. A government "make work" project writ large.

 

[DinhRose]

Comes from the "Gangster" days, when under an overcoat coud be a sawed off rifle or shotgun. The Police with their .38 special revolvers were in deep stuff.

I thought of this too but wouldn't this mean that pistol ar's should be an NFA item as well? Rifle/SBR/Pisol can all shoot the .223/5.56 or any of the other calibers such as 9mm and .45. It's not like the SBR is capable of more destruction.

 

[Dieselfuel12v]

Common sense isn't part of the ATF's vocabulary.

 

[Nwcid]

National Firearms Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This happened in 1934 and the world was a very different place (not saying better or worse). Read the things that were going on then and the thought process then, not now. Does not mean those thoughts were right though.

 

[DinhRose]

National Firearms Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This happened in 1934 and the world was a very different place (not saying better or worse). Read the things that were going on then and the thought process then, not now. Does not mean those thoughts were right though.

See I read this earlier today and it mainly revolved around gangster weapons and concealment. Based on that reasoning the ar15 pistol or those Draco ak pistol are far easier to conceal than an sbr?!? Ironically the tax was $200 in 1934 and it's still $200 today. If we tax it then people won't have it but criminals will ignore it either way so in actuality they're taxing those who will abide by the law

 

[Dnaltrop]

Bonnie and Clyde were known for their Sawed off Shotgun use.

More so for their use of Sawed-BAR's stolen from LEO armories.

I'd say at the time, short, easily concealable weapons were very much at the fore of the .38 special wielding officer's thoughts, , and the laws reflect this.

Last day for them.... May 23, 1934.

NFA June 26, 1934.

 

[BillM]

Ironically the tax was $200 in 1934 and it's still $200 today.

In 1934 they set the tax at the current price of a new Thompson. ($200 was a LOT OF MONEY in 1934) I have no problem with it remaining at $200---I sure don't want it to go up to the current cost of a Thompson!!!!!

 

[Dieselfuel12v]

See I read this earlier today and it mainly revolved around gangster weapons and concealment. Based on that reasoning the ar15 pistol or those Draco ak pistol are far easier to conceal than an sbr?!? Ironically the tax was $200 in 1934 and it's still $200 today. If we tax it then people won't have it but criminals will ignore it either way so in actuality they're taxing those who will abide by the law

Please take a moment to watch this vid from a fellow gun enthusiast. To focus on the criminal is absurd, they have to punish all law abiding citizens, it only makes sense? lol

No More Gun Vids - YouTube

 

[Mark W.]

Bonnie and Clyde were known for their Sawed off Shotgun use.

More so for their use of Sawed-BAR's stolen from LEO armories.

I'd say at the time, short, easily concealable weapons were very much at the fore of the .38 special wielding officer's thoughts, , and the laws reflect this.

Last day for them.... May 23, 1934.

NFA June 26, 1934.

Actually Bonnies favorite weapon was the Browning BAR in 30-06

 

[DinhRose]

I get that some laws don't make sense and especially laws regarding guns and the ATF. I understand the spirit of the law too. I am just curious as to why the ar15 sbr platform has to be registered and this far there has been lots of description as to what is an sbr but not so much why? To be fair this act was enacted long before the existence of the ar15 and subsequent modifications

 

[drew]

I'm sure Bonnie and Clyde would have obeyed the NFA. Just like they obeyed every other law.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

The way I understand it is when the NFA was originally written it included handguns. They figured it wouldn't take long for folks to just start shortening rifles & shotguns to make them more concealable like handguns. They decided to remove handguns from the act because they were a popular self defense tool, especially for women and would face strong opposition and the NFA might not have passed. They "forgot" (probably intentionally) to remove the short barreled rifles and shotguns and passed the act.
Gotta remember prohibition just ended in 1933 and the gov't employed a lot of agents (beginning of the BATFE, going after bootleggers) who now had nothing to enforce with alcohol legal, so they had to make up a boogeyman to keep the cushy gov't jobs.
I believe sound suppressors, like Maxim's "silencer" were included because of concerns over poaching (great depression, gotta eat), and machine guns...well, they were horribly effective in trench warfare during WWI, don't want to face those.

 

[Garg]

Yes. The SBR rule is really stupid. The time it would take to make my AR pistol into an SBR is less than a minute.

 

[Dnaltrop]

Actually Bonnies favorite weapon was the Browning BAR in 30-06

Um... Second line there neighbor.

The NFA list probably started with a search of their car.

 

[Abiqua]

In 1934 they set the tax at the current price of a new Thompson. ($200 was a LOT OF MONEY in 1934) I have no problem with it remaining at $200---I sure don't want it to go up to the current cost of a Thompson!!!!!

$200 in 1934 dollars is $3221 in 2010 dollars.

 

[DinhRose]

The only tax on baseball bats are a steady diet on kneecaps. Lol

 

[DinhRose]

$200 in 1934 dollars is $3221 in 2010 dollars.

Well that's 2010. Based on how crappy our economy and currency are doing...$3221 is approximately .48 cents