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Brown vetos SB 808 in California

Joined
Aug 10, 2007
Location
West Coast
This bill was vetoed by Governor Brown on Sept. 30th.

This bill was bad in the regard that it would have effected all manufacture of firearms for personal use, which is a provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968.

In addition, one of the dem-tards that goes by the name of Mike Honda submitted a similar bill (EDIT: H.R. 5606) to the house a couple weeks ago which would require similar at the Federal level, for all States.

In effect Brown has left Honda holding the bag on the issue, and hopefully it would not pass at the Federal level, as Honda was riding on the coattails of SB 808.

This was a win for the home state, and hopefully for the country! (my home state for the time being! ;) )

sb-808-veto.png


Cheers,
Alan
 
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If you get a serial number from DOJ you would be able to sell the home made gun.

Does this mean if you are building home made guns and ask the DOJ for a serial number even though the law did not pass you could still sell the gun.
 
I could be wrong, but I think the Gun Control Act of 1968 was the piece of paper that requires a serial number. Before that, manufactures serial numbered their product for their own needs (repair parts, engineering changes, a record of when it was manufactured and such). Many "boys rifles" weren't serial numbered. They were expected to have the 'dog crap' used out of them and never be returned or repaired. Still, other early makers just didn't bother with serial numbers on their firearms.
 
I have a couple old .22's that had no serial number on them from the factory. Pre-war Winchesters and such. Apparently wasn't required on a paltry .22 at the time.

Many old .22's had no serial number until it was required by GCA68. The added expense drove many inexpensive models off the market.
 
If you get a serial number from DOJ you would be able to sell the home made gun.

Yes and NO... But mostly NO! As the laws are written it is illegal to manufacture with the intent to transfer without the proper license. This has no baring on who provided the serial #. Also note that the law prohibits the "TRANSFER", not specifically the sale. BATFE has long held that the term "transfer" means NOT ONLY sale but also gift or barter. What this means is if you manufacture a firearm for your personal use and 5 years later get board with it you CAN sell it IF it is "properly marked". HOWEVER, if you manufacture 3 of a firearm and 5 years later decide to sell them all and BATFE gets wind of the transfers you are in for a very long very difficult period in your life!

My OPINION and ADVICE is that if you manufacture a firearm under the "personal use" exemption from licensing and later get board of it... Shove it to the back of the safe, take a hammer to it, cut it in three pieces, melt it down, but DON'T transfer it. The few $s you may get is NOT worth the misery BATFE can bring upon your life!

So the short answer is yes you could sell A "home made" firearm providing you had no intent to transfer when it was made... However, IMHO it is not worth it and even IF DOJ supplied the S/N it is still NOT a license to manufacture for sale.

The last issue is that there is nothing in the current law that would compel DOJ to issue a S/N for any firearm. Given the current administration, why would they? A state law requiring that you obtain a S/N from DOJ would NOT require DOJ to do so. Effectively such a law would make manufacture for personal use illegal in that State.

Does this mean if you are building home made guns and ask the DOJ for a serial number even though the law did not pass you could still sell the gun.

See above
 
My OPINION and ADVICE is that if you manufacture a firearm under the "personal use" exemption from licensing and later get board of it... Shove it to the back of the safe, take a hammer to it, cut it in three pieces, melt it down, but DON'T transfer it. The few $s you may get is NOT worth the misery BATFE can bring upon your life!

That's not the way I understand it.

If you build a firearm for personal use, there is no requirement to have a serial number.

There is a requirement if you transfer the firearm, at a later date though an FFL, that it does have a serial number with specific requirement such as the depth of the serial number itself. You can only transfer a firearm at a later date through an FFL This is if you decide you want to sell it after manufacturing it for personal use.

There is at least one exception as I understand also. Firearms that get willed to a family (I believe it is only immediate family, but could be all family) do not need to be transferred through an FFL, and that might be different for a given state. This is what I plan to do with any firearms I manufacture for personal use, will them to my son. AFAIK, no states can transfer firearms without going through an FFL, as that requirement is at the Federal level, with some exceptions (LEO have special exceptions also).

Your advice is safe advice, but I don't believe it is law. Even safer would be to not manufacture firearms for personal use to begin with, but what fun would that be? ;)
 








 
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