Ar-15 lower (with stock attached)... handgun?

[Shwaisey]

Title says it all,
Today I attempted to purchase an AR-15 lower with stock and the vendor refused to sell it to me because I am not yet 21, the age required to purchase a handgun.

I was not aware there was any IC or federal law that classifies an AR-15 lower with stock attached as a pistol
Is there any IC gurus out here that are aware of such?

 

[ryknoll3]

Because it is not a complete gun, it is STILL not classified as a rifle, but simply a receiver. Since a receiver can be built into either a rifle or a pistol, you have to be 21 to buy it from a dealer. Your best bet would be to buy/build an upper and then contact the dealer with the lower and see if he would be willing to attach your upper, at which point the firearm IS a rifle and could then be transferred to you. Or, find a private party in Indiana who is selling a lower, either stripped or complete. You CAN buy from a private party.

Despite the common misconception, a lower with a stock is NOT a rifle until it is a complete firearm.

 

[Marc]

^^^^^what he said^^^^^

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I wonder; if a stock has ever been attached to it, it can't be defined as a pistol. Put an upper with to short a barrel on it, and you can still get in trouble, but I'm thinkin once you've put an actual stock on, it's a rifle lower from then on. The buffer tube is an integral part of the action. I got past all that by turning 21 some time back. Saves a lot of trouble.

 

[CPT Nervous]

Had that same problem today. I went to pick up my CMMG 9mm lower that I've been waiting ever so patiently for. They told me I cannot take it home. It's already paid for. They said they'd hold it for me until September, when I turn 21. It's interesting. I carry a Sig P226 and a Kel Tec PF9, but I can't buy them or ammo for them. I could have walked out of Midwest with a Barret M82A2 .50BMG, and a Colt .45-70 Gov't Gatling gun, but I will have to wait to get my lower. Gun people don't make the laws. They might actually make sense if we did.

 

[ryknoll3]

I wonder; if a stock has ever been attached to it, it can't be defined as a pistol. Put an upper with to short a barrel on it, and you can still get in trouble, but I'm thinkin once you've put an actual stock on, it's a rifle lower from then on. The buffer tube is an integral part of the action. I got past all that by turning 21 some time back. Saves a lot of trouble.

If the lower has never been completely assembled, it doesn't matter. You're correct that once a lower is assembled into a complete rifle, it can never become a pistol.

 

[figley]

If it was a complete lower, then yes, you have something over which to be disgruntled.

However, put yourself in the dealer's shoes. You use the term, "vendor", so I'm going to assume this was at the 1500. Dealers at the 1500 have to be doing some extra CYA duty, for fear of some Bloomberg plant setting them up, let alone an ATF agent who has his own interpretation of the law, but can enforce it anyway.

So, the dealer was being overly-cautious. Sucks right now, but consider the fact that if dealers were to operate fast & loose, you may not have gunshows to go to, or dealers to buy from, when you are 21.

 

[ryknoll3]

If it was a complete lower, then yes, you have something over which to be disgruntled.

However, put yourself in the dealer's shoes. You use the term, "vendor", so I'm going to assume this was at the 1500. Dealers at the 1500 have to be doing some extra CYA duty, for fear of some Bloomberg plant setting them up, let alone an ATF agent who has his own interpretation of the law, but can enforce it anyway.

So, the dealer was being overly-cautious. Sucks right now, but consider the fact that if dealers were to operate fast & loose, you may not have gunshows to go to, or dealers to buy from, when you are 21.

No he doesnt have anything to be disgruntled over. A complete lower is NOT a rifle as has been stated countless times. They may not be transferred as a rifle on a 4473,consequently you must be 21.