How can I verify an M2 full auto rifle is legal?

Question

If someone put together an M2 fully automatic rifle from all original military parts over 30-38 years ago, how could the person verify that the rifle is legal? With AR15 rifles etc it looks like there is a "registered sear" or some specific piece(s) on the rifle that make it automatic and that must pre-date the 1986 ban and be registered in order to be transferred.

I don't know the parts of an M2 rifle and whether or not they are similar to an AR15 and I believe the person did not register the rifle or any parts of it. I also wondered if the parts were not registered if it is possible to register them now.

So how can you tell if the rifle is legal or not, and if it is illegal is there any way to make it legal by registering the rifle or a component of the rifle?

Answer 1

Call the Alcohol,Tobacco and Firearms bureau.

Answer 2

This is illegal in most US jurisdictions. You'd have to modify the weapon to be semi-auto in most places. Ask your local police department.

Answer 3

Best choice:  Hire an attorney [probably a criminal defense attorney] to look into it for you.  They will find your request to be a little bizarre, but will probably help you since $ is $. Expect to pay about $500-1000.  This will be 100% anonymous and you will be protected by the attorney-client privilege.  The advantage of this is that they can contact the state agencies involved wtihout revealing your identity.

Medium Choice:  Inquire DISCRETELY with a knowledgable individual at a local gun shop.  The risk here is that they give you the wrong answer.  There's also a small risk that if you give them a bad feeling, they'll rat you out to the police if it turns out the thing is illegal.  Similar option is to DISCRETELY contact the local NRA, without telling them that you own one, obviously.  The thing to say is that you are "thinking about buying one from a friend, but want to make sure it is legal."

TERRIBLE CHOICE:  Asking the cops.  This is a good way to end up in jail if it turns out it is illegal, which it probably is.  At a minimum, you will be drawing unwanted attention to yourself.  Besides, police officers, while typically very good at their jobs in law enforcement, are not lawyers.  Their legal training is minimal, and is geared towards functional aspects of day-to-day criminal law and criminal procedure - not towards the nuances of state firearms regulations, which can be arcane.  Last, it isn't their job to field legal inquiries from the public.

Answer 4

A full auto rifle "must" be registered with ATF, regardless of when it was manufactured.  In order to be in legal possession of the full auto weapon, you must apply for a special permit from ATF and renew the permit yearly.  If the person does not have the proper ATF permit, then the rifle is not registered, and therefore illegal.

Answer 5

The internal mechanism must have been manufactured before 1986 (some replacement parts are allowed depending on what they are). Your best bet is to have a licensed gunsmith that deals with auto weapons take a look at it, they should be able to help you. Those of you who are saying that full auto firearms are illegal need to check out the National Firearms Act of 1934 & the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986.

NFA- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Fi...

FOPA- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Own...

You do NOT need a Federal Firearms License or a "Class III NFA license", only the signature of the Senior Law Enfforcement Officer for your area on the correct ATF form along with the ONE TIME $200 tax, then you're all set when the ATF sends you your card with the tax stamp on it. There is no special license, nor does the permit need to be renewed. The only people dealing in auto weapons that need any form of fedaral licensing are dealers, manufacturers, or others who do it commercialy, not private individuals.

Ornery- While the specific model AR-15 is a semi-auto, the auto version is the M-16, and is legal also. Your statement of is incorrect-

"You would need a federal firearms license to keep the full auto rifle. Very hard to get and extremely expensive. There is no way you can legally own a firearm with a "selector switch" (semi/burst/full auto) without one in the USA."

There are ~240,000 registered full auto weapons in the U.S.

- David

Answer 6

Unless you have a Class III NFA license issued by the ATF to possess a fully automatic rifle, you legally can't own a fully automatic weapon in the U.S.

PERIOD.

The rifle isn't legal or illegal, per se, it's just that the rifle isn't "legal" for anyone to own without that Class III license. Even to sell the thing, you have to have a $200 transfer stamp issued by the ATF.

Listen, if I were you, I would wait until a local police agency had a "no-questions asked" gun surrender program. In that case, no matter how illegal a given weapon is, the police do not attempt to arrest participants who surrender their guns for destruction. I have a friend who turned in a sawed-off 12 gauge at such a program, with no negative consequences.

If you get caught with an unregistered, illegally-possessed fully-automatic weapon, you're looking at a LOT of prison time. I do believe that possession of a full-auto is either 36 months or 60 months (3-5 YEARS) mandatory sentence in federal prison.

This guy got 94 months (almost 8 YEARS) for unlawful possession of a fully-automatic firearm.

http://www.topix.com/city/steele-mo/2007...

Do you want to end up like him???

Answer 7

The legal AR-15 is not full auto!  They are semi-auto.  The difference being that full auto will fire multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger ... semi auto will only fire one round for each pull of the trigger.  

You would need a federal firearms license to keep the full auto rifle.  Very hard to get and extremely expensive.  There is no way you can legally own a firearm with a "selector switch" (semi/burst/full auto) without one in the USA.

Answer 8

Call the local sheriff, or any criminal attorney in the area.  Should be right in the state penal code, but you also have to be aware of local laws.  Any city, village, or town can have ordinances against certain weapons, even if the state doesn't.

Of course I am assuming you are not dumb enough to give them your name, address, or call the cops without call id block on.  :)

Answer 9

Assuming the builder is not a FFL holder.

I dont even need to read further, its not legal, Federally speaking. State laws may vary. Its the fed laws that will get you.

To modify a M-1 to M-2 one would need a Class 3 FFL in the first place. One could not just machine the parts to make a Class 3 weapon, then reg it.

Persons who had a auto sear and the like couldnt just drop it in a weapon, unless you were licened to make/use/possess said weaons in the first place.

You needed the license before you had any Class 3 parts, period.

No new machine guns can be reg after 1986.

Your best bet is to get the M-1 parts and take a hammer, torch, and various other distructive devices to the M-2 parts, then throw them into the bay.