Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

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Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby jdege on Mon Feb 10, 2020 4:50 pm

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/07/us/ex-atf-agent-ar-15/index.html
Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15
He's at the center of a brewing legal dispute that federal prosecutors say has the potential to upend the 1968 Gun Control Act and "seriously undermine the ATF's ability to trace and regulate firearms nationwide."

As O'Kelly sees it, the ATF has been deliberately misinterpreting a key gun control regulation for decades because officials fear that following the letter of the law would allow criminals to build AR-15s and other firearms piece by piece with unregulated parts.

He said he voiced his concerns to an ATF official two decades ago, but was rebuffed.
Now, however, his view is gaining traction in courtrooms around the country.

[...]

This key part, according to the Gun Control Act, was referred to as "the frame or receiver," which is, generally speaking, the body of a firearm in the area surrounding the trigger.

An accompanying federal regulation provided a precise, highly technical definition:

"That part of a firearm which provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel."

The problem -- and this is where O'Kelly comes in -- is that he says roughly 60% of the guns in America do not have a single part that falls under that definition. The AR-15, for example, has a split receiver -- one upper and one lower. Neither meets the requirement on its own.

"For 50 years, ATF has been making this square peg fit in the round hole," O'Kelly told CNN, "when, in fact, it doesn't."


So, if this sticks, and ATF goes through a new rules-making process to properly define what, exactly, is a "receiver", what are the odds that we'll end up with something acceptable?
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby yukonjasper on Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:55 pm

You can bet the new definition will tighten the noose not make it more lax.
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby Bearcatrp on Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:59 pm

More like hang most of us out to dry!
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby Holland&Holland on Mon Feb 10, 2020 9:50 pm

Not sure that really helps us much. Makes building an AR the same as building one from an 80% lower.
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby jdege on Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:01 pm

Holland&Holland wrote:Not sure that really helps us much. Makes building an AR the same as building one from an 80% lower.


Most European countries regulate the pressure-bearing parts.
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby Holland&Holland on Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:44 pm

jdege wrote:
Holland&Holland wrote:Not sure that really helps us much. Makes building an AR the same as building one from an 80% lower.


Most European countries regulate the pressure-bearing parts.

Most European countries don't allow ARs
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby jdege on Mon Feb 10, 2020 10:56 pm

Right.

But if the controlled parts were barrel and bolt, converting an AR to a second or third cartridge would be much more of a hassle.

Destroying much of the versatility that makes the AR such an attractive design.
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby Holland&Holland on Tue Feb 11, 2020 2:16 pm

jdege wrote:Right.

But if the controlled parts were barrel and bolt, converting an AR to a second or third cartridge would be much more of a hassle.

Destroying much of the versatility that makes the AR such an attractive design.


Got it. Sorry, I miss understood. I thought you were saying this was a good thing somehow.
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby Ghost on Tue Feb 11, 2020 2:22 pm

Nothing will probably be better than something with this one.
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby jdege on Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:33 pm

Our current laws and regulations are an absurd mess.

But I have no faith whatsoever that any attempt to improve or rationalize them won't result in something worse.
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby Holland&Holland on Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:47 pm

jdege wrote:Our current laws and regulations are an absurd mess.

But I have no faith whatsoever that any attempt to improve or rationalize them won't result in something worse.


Agreed.
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Re: Former ATF agent at center of legal dispute over AR-15

Postby Rip Van Winkle on Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:50 pm

Holland&Holland wrote:
jdege wrote:Our current laws and regulations are an absurd mess.

But I have no faith whatsoever that any attempt to improve or rationalize them won't result in something worse.


Agreed.

:iagree: Sigh.
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