For the past several weeks, President Trump has been very busy naming his cabinet appointments. One that is still uncertain is his choice to become the new BATFE Director. The current director, Steven Dettelbach, is a clueless anti-gun buffoon who can’t give congressmen a straight answer. Many American gun owners are hopeful that DJT will appoint 07/02 FFL holder, gun designer, and pro-gun pundit Brandon Herrera as the new Director. If that happens, it will surely inspire some boisterous celebration. In addition to his vows to slash the ATF’s budget and operations, Herrera has also promised to begin a series of National Firearms Act (NFA) registration amnesty periods. There was a provision for tax-free amnesty periods written into the Gun Control Act of 1968. But thusfar, just one 30-day amnesty was held, back in 1968. That amnesty was very poorly publicized, and not many gun owners took advantage of it.
Today, there are probably hundreds of thousands of unregistered full autos in the country. And there are parts in civilian hands to quickly make a million or more. What can I say, but: Americans just love to tinker.
Under the Hughes Amendment to the Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986, the number of Federally transferable machineguns was arbitrarily frozen. As of November 2006, the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) held registrations for 1,906,786 weapons. These included 1,186,138 destructive devices, 391,532 machine guns, 150,364 silencers, 95,699 short-barreled shotguns (SBSes), 33,518 short-barreled rifles (SBRs), and 48,443 weapons categorized as “any other weapons,” (AOWs.) Since then, the number of SBRs, SBSes, and suppressors has risen sharply, but the number of registered transferable machineguns has hardly changed at all.
Not only did the Hughes Amendment freeze cause the prices of full auto guns to inflate radically, it also left Americans with no opportunity to legally build and register any new $200 tax stamp machineguns. Many did so in defiance of the law, risking Federal felony prosecution. Most of those guns are kept very well hidden, mostly underground.
I am hopeful that Brandon Herrera will indeed become the new ATF Director. And I am fully confident that he will keep his promise and consult with the new Attorney General to open at least one six-month-long amnesty period, with tax-free registration of machineguns, partly or fully-finished machinegun receivers, autosears, and other NFA-restricted items. Once that amnesty window opens, the clock will begin ticking. So owners of semi-auto firearms who wish to become legal registered full-auto owners will have to get busy. They will need to either drill existing receivers or bring any unfinished receiver blanks or tubes up to a recognizable level of completion and apply serial numbers, so that they can be registered before the amnesty period expires.
Thankfully, the ATF recently created an “E-File” website, to streamline the submission of ATF forms, such as the Form 1 (for making NFA items) and Form 4 (for NFA transfers.) Because electronic versions of those forms are now available, a gun owner could submit dozens or even hundreds of NFA tax forms in less than a day. Your computer’s “Copy and Paste” feature can be a beautiful thing.
Prices Will Crash, But Then Rise
Presently, the prices of transferable $200 tax stamp machineguns have risen to absurd levels. An HK-9x series sear pack can cost $49,000. A steel AR-15 drop-in autosear (DIAS) costs at least $24,000. And even a “cheap” Sten gun now costs at least $9,500. If a well-publicized NFA Amnesty goes into effect, the prices of most machineguns will surely crash, even if a $200 tax is charged on each item. But, inevitably, once the amnesty ends and a new machinegun freeze is in place, the prices will gradually rise again. I anticipate that even a brief amnesty will create a great investment opportunity. As I’ve written many times: The law of supply and demand is inescapable.
Decisions, Decisions…
If you hear an announcement that Brandon Herrera has been nominated, then it will be time to spring into action, buying some tooling, parts, and raw materials. But do not begin any work on or with these items until the amnesty is actually in full effect, along with a moratorium on Federal NFA tax prosecutions.
There are several semi-auto gun designs that are fairly easy to convert to selective fire. These include:
- AR-15/M4 rifles. To be easily convertible, the lower receiver should have a “low shelf” beneath the rear pivot pin, allowing clearance for a drop-in autosear (DIAS). Without a low shelf, you would need experience as a machinist and a milling machine to make the requisite clearance cut.
- M1 Carbines. To be easily convertible to “M2” selective fire configuration, they should be any of the later models with a “pot belly” stock with a selector switch slot.
- HK91/93/94 rifles. The earliest imports were the most easily convertible.
- AK-47 and AKM rifles.
- Early “Model A” Uzi pistols and carbines.
- Most “open-bolt” semi-autos. These include early KG9 pistols, early RPB M10 (commonly called “MAC-10”) pistols, early Demro and Foxco TC-1 and XF-7 carbines, Volunteer Arms carbines, Gevarm 1E .22 rifles, BSA Ralock .22 rifles, Voere Model 2005 .22 rifles, and a few others.
Some “Pre-Announcement” Research and Planning
I suggest that SurvivalBlog readers who have an interest in obtaining registered NFA items first do some research.
First: Study the types of guns that would be appropriate for two categories: For retreat defense and for investment. Make a “dream list” of what NFA guns and suppressors you’d like to leave to your heirs.
Second: Identify engravers in your state that are “gun friendly.” Ideally, you should find both a traditional mechanical engraver and a laser engraver that can do work on very small steel and aluminum items.
Third: Identify NFA gun parts and raw materials suppliers. If an amnesty is announced, those sources will dry up overnight. So be ready to pounce on what you’ll need just as soon as you hear that an amnesty period is likely.
Fourth: Identify gunsmiths in your state who have both machining and precision welding experience. You can have one of those “Hypothetically, if there was an NFA amnesty, could you…?” conversations. Assure them that you are only trying to line up qualifed gunsmiths in advance of an amnesty period.
Some Key “Pre-Announcement” Purchases
Even before the announcement of an amnesty, I recommend purchasing:
- An AR-15 to M16 Lower Receiver Drilling Fixture. These are designed to precisely locate the position of a military autosear pin hole, directly above the selector switch on an AR-15. There are several brands of these fixtures on the market. Just be sure to get one with a hardened drilling insert, so that it can be used dozens of times without developing excessing slop. Possession of a drilling fixture BY ITSELF is not considered “constructive possession”, even today. Make sure that a drilling fixture is not in your possession or under your control at the same time that you own any M16 military (“drill and pin”) autosears, or AR-15 rifles, or AR-15 lower receivers.
- M2 Carbine hammers. Back before 1986, ATF approved the registration of hundreds of M2 Carbine hammers by themselves as “machineguns.” But, oddly, possession of an unregistered M2 Carbine hammer BY ITSELF is not considered “constructive possession”, even today. Make sure that an M2 hammer is not in your possession or under your control at the same time that you own an M1 Carbine or receivers.
- HK G3 Friction Sears. These are presently quite inexpensive, so you should probably buy a pile of them. Note that possession of an unregistered HK friction sear BY ITSELF is not considered “constructive possession”, even today. Make sure that an HK friction sear is not in your possession or under your control at the same time that you own any HK 9x-series rifle or pistol!
- A Semi-Auto AK/AKM to AK-47 Autosear Drilling Fixture. It is best to get one of these with both stamped-receiver and milled-receiver clamp sets. Possession of a drilling fixture BY ITSELF is not considered “constructive possession”, even today. Make sure that a drilling fixture is not in your possession or under your control at the same time that you own any AK/AKM rifles, receivers, or 80% receiver blanks.
- Tubular steel stock for making Sten gun or Sterling submachinegun receivers. Chromoly 4130 steel 1.5-inch outside diameter (O.D.) blank tubing with a wall thickness of 0.058″ to 0.104″. This tubular steel blank stock can be bought in six-foot lengths at surprisingly low cost. To be apropos for later making Sten gun or Sterling submachinegun receiver tubes, this steel tubing stock would need to have an inside diameter (I.D.) of about 1.334″ to 1.396″. Be certain of the dimensions, before you buy any tubular steel stock. And of course, make sure that a Sten or Sterling parts set is not in your possession or under your control at the same time that you own any 1.5-inch blank tubing. And, needless to say, DO NOT cut any tubing to receiver length, or glue on any templates, or drill any holes or cut any slots before the amnesty is actually in full effect.
- AR-15 rifles with “low shelf” lower receivers, and/or “low shelf” stripped lower receivers. The measurement from the top of the lower receiver to the bottom of the shelf below the rear pivot pin should be at least .625 inches (15.88 millimeters.) Several brands of lowers come that way from the factory. At last report, these “low shelf” brands include: Ameetec, Anvil Arms, Bushmaster, Colt (SP-1 and Sporter II), CMMG, Double Star, DPMS, DTI (Del-Ton), Essential Arms, Fulton Armory, LAR, Mega, Sendra, and Sun Devil.
- Open-bolt magazine-fed semi-autos.
- Demilled full auto or selective fire SMG/LMG parts sets. Traditionally, these parts sets had everything except a receiver. But they can no longer be imported into the U.S. with intact barrels. Barrels for most models are still available separately. (Check before you buy a parts set.) There are a wide variety of parts kits available. Most of these parts kits would require considerable machining and/or welding experience to assemble. I should also mention that even if there is no amnesty, most of these parts kits can legally be assembled as semi-autos, if enough modifications are made.
More complicated builds
For folks with proper machine tools and plenty of machining experience, the possibilities are endless. Turning “closed-bolt” guns into full-auto “open-bolt” guns is well within the grasp of most experienced machinists. And many closed-bolt designs can be converted to selective fire if you are willing to invest dozens of hours of experimental machining and the expense of military parts substitution. Technical drawings are widely available online. Here is just one example: You could buy .30-caliber or .50-caliber Browning semi-auto belt-fed “rifles”. Once the amnesty is actually in full effect, you could disassemble them, mill the side plates for mil-spec parts clearance and then reassemble them with new receiver rivets and full auto internal parts.
Some Strange Quirks
An announced NFA amnesty period might bring some strange quirks with it. First, consider that several states including California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin have their own machinegun bans or restrictions. So, if you live in one of those states then you might end up a state felon, even if you get everything right in getting an NFA tax stamp at the Federal level.
In addition to full-autos, an amnesty might include registration of suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, AOW “gadget” guns, mortars (and their projectiles), artillery pieces (and their shells) grenades, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and various military explosive devices. Discussing all of those goes beyond the scope of this article. Do your own research.
An NFA amnesty might also allow someone with a “gray area” gun to go ahead and register it. That could include any short-barreled semi-auto ARs with arm braces, any semi-autos with binary triggers or forced reset triggers, or anyone in possession of suppressor parts or “solvent traps”. If the NFA amnesty includes a waiver of the $200 tax, then many folks might want to register anything that is “gray area”, just in case.
The amnesty might also allow the registration of guns that are currently perfectly legal, if you have the intent of conversion at a later date to full auto, or a shorter barrel length, or the attachment of a forward pistol grip to a pistol.
Keep in mind that once any item is NFA registered, you cannot take it across state lines without first notifying the ATF.
Will An Amnesty Happen?
For an NFA registration amnesty to take place, several things must first fall into place. For the sake of a meaningful Second Amendment, we should pray that they all do. Certainly, a formal amnesty period is long overdue. I won’t attempt to place odds on any of the foregoing. But Trump’s second term and Republican control of the House and Senate make it more likely than ever. Even a slim chance is still a captivating chance!
Most importantly, we should contact the Trump Transition Team and encourage them to recruit Brandon Herrera as the new ATF Director! – JWR