H.r. 2910

Aaron Spuler is a firearms enthusiast and recreational shooter. Follow more or his work at The Weapon Blog

There is a new proposed federal gun bill in the House.

H.R 2910 says that it seeks to ban the sale and possession of 80% lower receivers for semi-auto rifles. An 80% receiver is not considered a firearm and still requires some basic machine work before it is ready to be used in the build of a gun.

The benefit of such receivers is that if you buy one and complete the work yourself, there is no need for the gun to have a serial number as long as it remains in your possession for personal use. It’s sort of a loophole in the current serial number requirement laws.

It’s not surprising that such a process would become the target of anti-gun legislation. What is surprising is the scope of the bill that has been proposed.

Here is the text of the sections we’re talking about from H.R. 2910. Emphasis mine.

SEC. 101. DO-IT-YOURSELF ASSAULT WEAPON BAN.
(b) Prohibited Acts- It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale, manufacture for sale, or import into the United States for sale, to a consumer–

(1) an assault weapon parts kit; or

SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS.
(a) Terms- For purposes of this title–

(1) the term ‘assault weapon parts kit’ means any part or combination of parts not designed and intended for repair or replacement but designed and intended to enable a consumer who possesses all such necessary parts to assemble a semiautomatic assault weapon;

Under the definition listed above, virtually any rifle part that would be used to assemble a rifle would become illegal. The bill essentially bans assembly of firearms outside of gun manufacturers, even if you’re using a completely legal lower receiver instead of an 80% lower, it doesn’t matter.

Right now this bill is sitting in committee and only has 6 Democratic sponsors. However, misguided bills such as this one will likely be creeping up more and more, especially if Democrats can gain control of Congress in 2014.

The bill was written by Rep. Henry Waxman, a Democrat (surprise) from California (double surprise).

Source: http://gunssavelives.net/blog/gun-laws/proposed-federal-gun-bill-would-ban-ar-15-lower-parts-kits-barrels-and-receivers/