NFA weapons for 18 year olds.

[MartinL]

I was lurking an another forum and there was a discussion about whether or not an 18 year old could make a silencer on an ATF form 1 and if they could receive one from a dealer. The below link says that a dealer can not deliver anything but a long gun to someone less than 21 years of age.

http://trac.syr.edu/laws/18/18USC00922.html

(b) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed
manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or
deliver -
(1) any firearm or ammunition to any individual who the
licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than
eighteen years of age, and, if the firearm, or ammunition is
other than a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or
rifle, to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable
cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age;

But there are no laws prohibiting an 18yo from possessing any firearm except a hand gun or making any firearm except a handgun or machine gun. So theoretically an 18yo can submit an ATF form 1 to make any NFA weapon except a machine gun. They could also buy an NFA weapon from a person in their state as long as they do not go through a dealer.


Why was the thread on owning title 2 weapons in the USA closed?

[Alpo]

>But there are no laws prohibiting an 18yo from possessing any firearm except a hand gun or making any firearm except a handgun or machine gun. So theoretically an 18yo can submit an ATF form 1 to make any NFA weapon except a machine gun. They could also buy an NFA weapon from a person in their state as long as they do not go through a dealer.<

There's no law prohibiting an 18 year old from making or possessing a pistol. The "gotta be 21" thing is buying one from a FFL, not owning one.

[Alpo]

I should have said "no Federal law". States make their own laws, too, so depending on where you live, you might have to be 21 to own a pistol. I think New York requires that.

[wpage]

Its a good issue. The variants between Federal and State laws are lawyers dreams come true.

[InfiniteArms]

At a federal level you need to be 21 to buy a NFA item from a FFL. If state law allows it you can purchase from a private party in state without going thru a FFL.

[Alpo]

Could you cite the law that says that? I haven't been able to find an age requirement in the NFA. GCA68 says 21 to buy a pistol, but a machine gun is not a pistol. Neither is a silencer.

[InfiniteArms]

From a FAQ on another site:

NFA and age requirements
What about an age requirement for buying or making NFA weapons? For many years, it was incorrectly assumed that you had to be 21 in order to possess an NFA weapons. While you are required to be 21 in order to purchase an NFA weapon from a licensed dealer, you don’t have to be 21 to make or own one. Those of you between 18 to 21 years of age can thank an intelligent young man in Florida for that. He did some reading of the NFA 34 and the GCA 68, and noticed a few things. The GCA outlines age requirements for buying firearms from an FFL. For instance, you must be 18 to buy a rifle or shotgun, but must be 21 to buy a handgun from an FFL. The young man then got to thinking, and wrote BATFE a letter.

At first, he asked about the legality of building his own short-barrel rifle, or SBR. His premise was that he could buy a Title I AR-15 from an FFL at age 18, and there was no age requirement in NFA 34 regarding making an SBR. So, could an 18-year old buy an AR-15 and then file the Form 1 necessary to build an SBR? Surprisingly, BATFE wrote back saying that he was correct, he could do exactly that. So, he filled out the Form 1, using a trust, to avoid any difficulties with the CLEO, and included a copy of his letter to BATFE, and a copy of their reply. The Form 1 was approved, and he built the SBR.

His next step was to inquire about the legality of a person 18-20 years of age buying an NFA weapon from an unlicensed resident of his State. Again, GCA states the requirements for buying from an FFL. If the weapon were bought from a non-FFL resident of the same State, there is no requirement to go through an FFL / SOT. A little less surprising this time, BATFE again agreed – he could legally buy an NFA weapon from a non-licensed resident of his State, even though he was less than 21 years old. So, he found someone willing to sell him a suppressor, and he bought it. Again, the Form 4 was approved, and he took possession of his suppressor.

One important thing to note about BATFE Forms and those less than 21-years of age: the forms contain a question which asks if the transferee (the buyer) is 21 years old, or older. You must answer the question truthfully. However, that answer is not going to deny you your weapon, as long as you are not buying from an FFL / SOT.

[Alpo]

>NFA and age requirements
What about an age requirement for buying or making NFA weapons? For many years, it was incorrectly assumed that you had to be 21 in order to possess an NFA weapons. While you are required to be 21 in order to purchase an NFA weapon from a licensed dealer, you don’t have to be 21 to make or own one. Those of you between 18 to 21 years of age can thank an intelligent young man in Florida for that. He did some reading of the NFA 34 and the GCA 68, and noticed a few things. The GCA outlines age requirements for buying firearms from an FFL. For instance, you must be 18 to buy a rifle or shotgun, but must be 21 to buy a handgun from an FFL. The young man then got to thinking, and wrote BATFE a letter.<

That's what I was looking for. The FAQ you quoted just, casually, said, "while you have to be 21 to buy from a dealer". I want to know where it says that in the law. I can't find that, anywhere.

If the only knowledge you have of that law is this FAQ, what site were you quoting from, so I can go there and ask them where it says that in the law.