"You shouldn't be able to order an AR-15 through the mail!" "You can order guns online, straight to your door!" These are simply a few of the claims flying around right now in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting. While we completely understand the emotions involved in this horrific tragedy, people are simply spouting talking points which simply are not grounded in facts. To be morally correct, you have to be factually correct. Conveniently, one of your hosts recently purchased firearm components online. There are a bevy of gun manufacturers and third party sites where you can order all of the pieces and parts to construct your own AR-15. That is indisputable. But you can't get them all delivered straight to your door. Anyone who says so is being disingenuous. Below is the process, some of the laws currently in place, and the steps it takes to actually get a firearm purchased online in your hands. Note: This is specifically to ARs. Pistols are the same, but I am talking about ARs here.
I've been wanting to pick up a new AR-15 and given recent events and the new push for a ban on "assault" weapons (whatever those are), I decided now was a prudent time. So I went online and started looking. Now, as with anything these days, the choices are immense. Endless. You can buy fully assembled ARs, fully assembled "uppers" and "lowers" and stripped down variants of each. Quick note: Most ARs break down to two major pieces, uppers and lowers. The upper contains the barrel, bolt carrier group, gas tubes, etc. The lower is the trigger housing, grip, magazine well, buttstock, and buffer spring. From here on out I will simply use the terms lower and upper. Even within each of these pieces you can customize each component. It's really a buffet of how much you want to customize them or if you simply want it full functional when you get it. The lower, or in legalese, the "frame" or "receiver" is the piece you want to pay attention to as this is the piece you can't get shipped directly to you.
Quick history lesson. Federal law delegates the authority on firearms regulations/enforcement to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). The ATF defines a "frame" or "receiver" as the part which houses, or will house the trigger mechanism (if purchasing a stripped lower).
Stripped lowers like this are relatively cheap. As with anything these days however, you can spend as much as you want, or (almost) as little as you want. Let's look at the fine print.
Wait. That's weird. You mean I can't have this lower receiver shipped straight to my house? Damn federal laws. At this point, you have to do one of two things:
1) Provide the name, contact information, and Federal Firearms License (FFL) # of the FFL you are utilizing for the transfer
or
2) Some online stores have a feature where you put in your zip code and they provide a list of FFLs in your area they already have on file.
Given where I live and my communities love for guns, I had multiple FFLs to choose from. I order my lower receiver and wait. After about a week I get an email telling me it's been delivered to my chosen FFL.
I roll into Jim's and take a few minutes to browse the various items you find in pawn shops. It's an eclectic mix. Eventually, once the crowd around the gun counter dissipates I head over and let them know I have two lower receivers. After retrieving them from the back they guy slaps the ATF Form 4473 "Firearms Transaction Record down for me to fill out. I hand him my ID and my Concealed handgun Permit (I'll explain why further down). The "4473" as it is often referred to is the form everyone purchasing a firearm from a FFL must fill out. It basically asks you if you are a criminal, don't beat your wife, etc.
Once the form is filled out now it's time for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS for short check. The employee asks if I have a Concealed Handgun Permit. I do. In my state if you have a CHP (some states call them CCW/CWP/etc) you do not have to have a NICS check at the time of purchase. When you apply you automatically go into a continuous monitoring status and any crime you commit which would prohibit you from purchasing a firearm goes into the NICS, your County Sheriff (or the issuing agency for your permit) is notified, it's revoked, and that is that. If I did not have my CHP, the shop would conduct the background check and I would not be able to take possession until it came back that I was an upstanding citizen of the highest moral virtue.
Once all of my information is recorded, all the boxes checked, and I pay my $35 FFL transfer fee (different price at most places, but $25-$40 is typical), I walk out with my new lower receiver ready to build my AR.
So, the next time someone says you can buy ARs online and have them mailed to you, ask them if they've ever gone through the process to do so.
Until next time, Canteeners.
