Banned AR-15 stripped lower -> legally transferable HBAR?

[bobthefisher]

As the title suggests, I have a few stripped AR-15 lower receivers and want to convert one of them to an HBAR, so it can be potentially transferred to another MD resident. Since it was registered as a regulated and now banned AR-15 receiver before Oct. 1st, can it now be converted to an unregulated/non-banned configuration? I understand defining the exact dimensions for an HBAR is still ambiguous, but I'm more concerned with the actual legal concept, all physical criteria aside. Sorry if this has been posted before. Link me in the right direction if possible. Thanks!

 

[yellowsled]

Im am pretty sure, once regulated.. Always regulated. So the answer in my non-lawyerish opinion is Nope.

 

[Kharn]

If you transferred it as an HBAR, the new owner could not build a restricted configuration from it.

 

[teratos]

Im am pretty sure, once regulated.. Always regulated. So the answer in my non-lawyerish opinion is Nope.

This.

 

[aquaman]

As the title suggests, I have a few stripped AR-15 lower receivers and want to convert one of them to an HBAR, so it can be potentially transferred to another MD resident. Since it was registered as a regulated and now banned AR-15 receiver before Oct. 1st, can it now be converted to an unregulated/non-banned configuration? I understand defining the exact dimensions for an HBAR is still ambiguous, but I'm more concerned with the actual legal concept, all physical criteria aside. Sorry if this has been posted before. Link me in the right direction if possible. Thanks!

Scrap this idea. The answer is 80%

 

[abean4187]

Scrap this idea. The answer is 80%

We still do not know if that is legal or not.

 

[NateIU10]

There is no such thing as once regulated always regulated. Certain firearms are regulated or banned, the HBAR is not one of them.

 

[erwos]

Scrap this idea. The answer is 80%

This is an awful idea because you'd potentially be manufacturing a (supposedly) banned item after 10/1. The OP is proposing to take a banned item he's legally allowed to own and unbanning it, which is a much different proposition.

There is no such thing as once regulated always regulated. Certain firearms are regulated or banned, the HBAR is not one of them.

Bingo. This once regulated always regulated thing is completely nonsensical and does not exist in the law.

 

[shaddydan]

IANAL but OP, I think the once regulated/always regulated term is correct. 80% is still a gray area for HBARs and I doubt you wish to be a test case.

 

[Robert1955]

There is no such thing as once regulated always regulated. Certain firearms are regulated or banned, the HBAR is not one of them.

BUT, his lower is regulated and has been since the day it was bought. The legal question I don't think anyone has a clear answer to is if you assemble a lower you owned prior to the BAN, into a currently allowed H-Bar rifle can it be transfered/sold to a Marylandstan.

 

[cantstop]

Im am pretty sure, once regulated.. Always regulated. So the answer in my non-lawyerish opinion is Nope.

There is no such thing as once regulated always regulated. Certain firearms are regulated or banned, the HBAR is not one of them.

I must side with sled here. Bobthefisher says he has a bunch of lowers that are legal, hence previously "regulated" through the MD purchase system. Those lowers are now banned by SB281 from transfer.

Of course, IANAL.

 

[aquaman]

We still do not know if that is legal or not.

might have finished a few 80% receivers before 10/1 and just forgot about them

 

[eruby]

BUT, his lower is regulated and has been since the day it was bought. The legal question I don't think anyone has a clear answer to is if you assemble a lower you owned prior to the BAN, into a currently allowed H-Bar rifle can it be transfered/sold to a Marylandstan.

Agree. And IMHO, the answer is no, you can't transfer an HBAR built on a lower that you owned before 10/1/13. IANAL.

 

[Jack Wagon]

As the title suggests, I have a few stripped AR-15 lower receivers and want to convert one of them to an HBAR, so it can be potentially transferred to another MD resident. Since it was registered as a regulated and now banned AR-15 receiver before Oct. 1st, can it now be converted to an unregulated/non-banned configuration? I understand defining the exact dimensions for an HBAR is still ambiguous, but I'm more concerned with the actual legal concept, all physical criteria aside. Sorry if this has been posted before. Link me in the right direction if possible. Thanks!

Personally, if it were me I would have no problem taking my lower, building an HBAR and transferring it to another MD resident. I think that is perfectly legal.

I think the issue you will run into is finding an FFL willing to do the transfer for you.

 

[NateIU10]

BUT, his lower is regulated and has been since the day it was bought. The legal question I don't think anyone has a clear answer to is if you assemble a lower you owned prior to the BAN, into a currently allowed H-Bar rifle can it be transfered/sold to a Marylandstan.

I think this is actually a pretty clear one. If someone did a voluntary registration on a 77r, is that now a regulated rifle that may no longer be tranferred because it is banned? (no such thing as a regulated rifle anymore). Is a GSG5 bought before the AG letter a banned firearm because it was transferred as such? What about Saiga12s that dealers put on 77rs?

Personally, if it were me I would have no problem taking my lower, building an HBAR and transferring it to another MD resident. I think that is perfectly legal.

I think the issue you will run into is finding an FFL willing to do the transfer for you.

You wouldn't need an FFL if it isn't banned.

 

[trickg]

This whole AR/HBAR thing makes absolutely no sense. We can't buy a stripped lower because it is now considered banned, yet we can go out and cash & carry and HBAR, which has the exact same lower, and functions in the exact same way, minus the cosmetic features.

The Maryland State government is absolutely loaded with crooks and fools.

 

[Pinecone]

You don't need an FFL at all if it is MD resident to MD resident.

If it is banned, it can't be transferred, so no FFL needed.

If it is not banned, it can be transferred face to face, not FFL needed.

There is no once regulated, always regulated in the law at all.

 

[trickg]

There is no once regulated, always regulated in the law at all.

Except for that pesky paperwork and entry in the database that says that a regulated firearm has been transferred to a particular person. The assumption is going to be that unless that firearm is stolen or destroyed, and the authorities notified, that it remains in the ownership/possession of that person. You can't turn it into an HBAR and have be magically unregulated, and therefore available person-to-person through a private sale.

While the law may not explicitly state it, I'm not going be to the guy - either a buyer or seller - who tests the theory, regardless of the fact that as a (otherwise) law-abiding gun owner, there would never be a reason for the authority agencies knowing what I have or bought or sold, and from whom. The issue at stake is whether or not we want to conform to the law, and in the state of Maryland, when in doubt, the law seems to break on the side of the state, not the private citizen.

 

[erwos]

They can assume whatever they want. That assumption will fail miserably in court.

 

[Fishguy]

might have finished a few 80% receivers before 10/1 and just forgot about them

Not really suitable public info there.