psucobra96
Ultimate Member
- Jun 20, 2011
- 4,712
So I have seen many many questions being asked, lots of speculation, and few answers. Today I called MSP as an attorney to get their stance on the law. I am going to relay to you what I was told. In no way is this legal advice in any form and should never be taken as such. I am just going to forward to you what I was told. You can do with it what you want.
First and foremost the officer I talked to was very respectful, helpful, and seemed to give the impression that he was on our side. So take that for what its worth. These guys have a tough job, and I do not envy their position.
When asked about voluntary registration, you can register anything you want at any time before or after but there is a distinction. If you want to register an HBAR, then now is the time to do it because on October 1, 2013 you will not be able to change the barrel on the rifle if it is unregistered. You may be asking yourself, "why would I ever volunteer to register?"see below.
He specifically stated that changing the barrel to a low profile would make it a banned configuration weapon. Further, he stated that if that was done now, it would be converting the firearm into a regulated rifle and it would have to be registered. He did not say if it had to be registered before or after the conversion. He seemed unclear. I know this conflicts with what people have been told and been doing, but after Oct. 1 it will be impossible to tell when you made a barrel change, even if it was ok before SB281. There are likely many thousands of former HBARs that have been converted, so be aware, but i'm sure many of you never ever did that.
Second, I specifically asked for MSP's stance on HBAR's. I requested clarification as to if they only considered the "Colt Sporter HBAR" as the only exception. He took about a 5 minute break to go discuss this with another person. He came back and stated that an HBAR is an HBAR and that it in non-regulated and that they had a list of 4 or so other rifles that were HBARs. He could not name them/remember. He then went on to discuss the profile of the barrel as the determining factor. Further, he stated that the only banned rifle for sure was the "Bushmaster." He stated this more than once but could not seem to clarify if it was a Bushmaster AR or the other variant I tried to determine what that meant, but was unsuccessful.
He also mentioned that from what he has seen is that everyone is buying as many lowers as possible, and that once it was registered "I" could turn it into anything I wanted. So there seems to be no issue with assembly after the deadline. This was the impression I received. Assemble one at your own risk.
He also stated he was brought over and still trying to figure out all the laws himself. The fact that this officer had to discuss the law before I could get answers shows that the likely problem we have with MSP right now, is a communications and understanding of the laws issue. In my opinion I do not get the impression that they have changed their stance as of now. I think they have brought over many inexperienced officers who are likely going to stay on the safe side and suggest you file a 77R for most anything that looks like an AR. Just to be safe, I think this is more for your protection than anything. I think most of these guys share our sentiments. I do not know that for sure but it is a guess.
He went on to state that you can file right up to the deadline for a regulated rifle and still take possession of it post ban. He emphasized that anyone who has mags waiting should pick them up before the deadline and that if a handgun is picked up after, you will need and HQL no matter when you purchased it. He even stated that possession of more than 10 round mags or buying them out of state was legal, just we could not by more than ten rounders in state after the deadline.
That was my experience. I may have left out a few details, and if I remember other things I will add to it. Once again, the above is not legal advice, just a synopsis of what I was told.
First and foremost the officer I talked to was very respectful, helpful, and seemed to give the impression that he was on our side. So take that for what its worth. These guys have a tough job, and I do not envy their position.
When asked about voluntary registration, you can register anything you want at any time before or after but there is a distinction. If you want to register an HBAR, then now is the time to do it because on October 1, 2013 you will not be able to change the barrel on the rifle if it is unregistered. You may be asking yourself, "why would I ever volunteer to register?"see below.
He specifically stated that changing the barrel to a low profile would make it a banned configuration weapon. Further, he stated that if that was done now, it would be converting the firearm into a regulated rifle and it would have to be registered. He did not say if it had to be registered before or after the conversion. He seemed unclear. I know this conflicts with what people have been told and been doing, but after Oct. 1 it will be impossible to tell when you made a barrel change, even if it was ok before SB281. There are likely many thousands of former HBARs that have been converted, so be aware, but i'm sure many of you never ever did that.
Second, I specifically asked for MSP's stance on HBAR's. I requested clarification as to if they only considered the "Colt Sporter HBAR" as the only exception. He took about a 5 minute break to go discuss this with another person. He came back and stated that an HBAR is an HBAR and that it in non-regulated and that they had a list of 4 or so other rifles that were HBARs. He could not name them/remember. He then went on to discuss the profile of the barrel as the determining factor. Further, he stated that the only banned rifle for sure was the "Bushmaster." He stated this more than once but could not seem to clarify if it was a Bushmaster AR or the other variant I tried to determine what that meant, but was unsuccessful.
He also mentioned that from what he has seen is that everyone is buying as many lowers as possible, and that once it was registered "I" could turn it into anything I wanted. So there seems to be no issue with assembly after the deadline. This was the impression I received. Assemble one at your own risk.
He also stated he was brought over and still trying to figure out all the laws himself. The fact that this officer had to discuss the law before I could get answers shows that the likely problem we have with MSP right now, is a communications and understanding of the laws issue. In my opinion I do not get the impression that they have changed their stance as of now. I think they have brought over many inexperienced officers who are likely going to stay on the safe side and suggest you file a 77R for most anything that looks like an AR. Just to be safe, I think this is more for your protection than anything. I think most of these guys share our sentiments. I do not know that for sure but it is a guess.
He went on to state that you can file right up to the deadline for a regulated rifle and still take possession of it post ban. He emphasized that anyone who has mags waiting should pick them up before the deadline and that if a handgun is picked up after, you will need and HQL no matter when you purchased it. He even stated that possession of more than 10 round mags or buying them out of state was legal, just we could not by more than ten rounders in state after the deadline.
That was my experience. I may have left out a few details, and if I remember other things I will add to it. Once again, the above is not legal advice, just a synopsis of what I was told.
