Sights Reclassified by BATF!

squaregrouper said:

Just kidding; I knew he would chime in very early in the thread.
Sadly, I have never done anything to stand up for our rights. (A dozen trips to Analpolis and multiple testimonies in front of the state senate don't count. I never did any REAL things to protect our rights.)

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You might as well put on a red shirt and stand with the moms

lazarus said:

I am curious if this is a real reclassification, or if this is just that they weren’t reporting it correctly. They mention customs and best guess is they were importing them from whomever they have making them for them (at a guess China) and they got caught up in customs.

Or even if it wasn’t a reclassification and it’s just customs being D-bags. My limited experience here is it is just as likely the company doesn’t actually know what’s going on when it involves customs + other government agencies.

Anyway, my understanding is iron sights were generally considered firearms parts as it applied to import and export restrictions as they are generally integral to the firearm. I’ve certainly seen several sites state such for export controls. Maybe they are just pulling that out of their butt.

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I wonder if it's an ITAR (sp?) thing?

It would also be interesting to hear from other vendors, I would think.

Those Lyman 48 s's with the peep thingy that goes up, pose particularly elemental dangers than most people even begin to realize.

What's next, ratcheting chamber brush's and Holbrook devices?

Doco Overboard said:

Those Lyman 48 s's with the peep thingy that goes up, pose particularly elemental dangers than most people even begin to realize.

What's next, ratcheting chamber brush's and Holbrook devices?

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At least from what I can tell, iron sights might not always have been considered controlled.

Scopes are considered accessories always and for sure (with the exception of certainly military use scopes that are controlled under ITAR. Such as a purpose built machine gun scope). Of course all imports are taxed and taxed at different rates depending on what they are (probably the mention of shipping them scopes that had cleared customs before). So it could be a import tax issue with the scopes, or it is possible Customs is now looking at them with a jaundiced eye and wants to make sure they weren't importing "non-sporting scopes" which would have required a license.

Iron sights look like they MIGHT have not been controlled until last year. They were NOT controlled under ITAR, but it looks like when a bunch of ITAR stuff got moved to EAR and commerce, rather than the state department, some firearms parts that were originally not ITAR controlled, ARE now EAR controlled and require an import license. It looks like most stuff considered part of the function of a firearm are EAR controlled. And on the Commerce Control List 0A501 y.3 is "Iron sights".

So it sure looks like it requires an import license...

PS BTW if anyone really wants to get mad about it, thank Trump. He ordered State to move most firearms and parts from ITAR to EAR. Law of unintended side effects I guess.

PPS BTW what Ozark is saying about ATF requiring licensure for shipping a large number. That's because Commerce requires licensure to import or export more than $500 of product under 0A501 (that's most firearm parts). And to be clear, none of those is the ATF. It is Commerce requirements. So not sure why they mention ATF several times, other than they are the boogieman. Honestly, no, I don't know how Ozark would have necessarily known about the change. Other than maybe that they import a fair amount of stuff and import and export laws and regulations change occasionally. BIS and other Commerce and State departments post bulletins on changes to such regulations and laws. I can still see a tiny company getting in trouble with changes, but seems like the sort of thing if you are in the regular import or export business you either need to work with a dedicated import/export business who will handle everything (transportation, surety bonds, law/regulation changes, etc.) or you need to dedicate a little time every month to see if there are any incoming changes (which is probably an hour on some state and commerce department websites over morning coffee).

Death by a thousand cuts , our government is chicken shit at best . They will backdoor us in everyway and take one item at a time .