BATFE: New Proposal: Permission to Construct a Weapon?

Federal Register ^ | May 28,2004 | Brenda E. Dyer, Dept. Clearance Officer, USDOJ

[Drammach]

[Federal Register: June 15, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 114)]
[Notices]
[Page 33404]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15jn04-67]

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection;
Comments Requested

ACTION: 30-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review:
Letter Application To Obtain Authorization for the Assembly of a Nonsporting Rifle or Nonsporting Shotgun for the Purpose of Testing.

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The Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has submitted the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.
The proposed information collection is published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies.
This proposed information collection was previously published in the Federal Register Volume 69, Number 42, on page 10063, on March 3, 2004, allowing for a 60-day comment period.
The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days for public comment until July 15, 2004.
This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10.

Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice, especially the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be directed to The Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention Department of Justice Desk Officer, Washington, DC 20503.

Additionally, comments may be submitted to OMB via facsimile to (202) 395-5806.

Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of information are encouraged.
Your comments should address one or more of the following four points:

--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;
--Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
--Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

(1) Type of Information Collection: Extension of a currently approved collection.

(2) Title of the Form/Collection: Letter Application to Obtain Authorization for the Assembly of a Nonsporting Rifle or a Nonsporting Shotgun for the Purpose of Testing.

(3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the Department of Justice sponsoring the collection: Form Number: None. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

(4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as well as a brief abstract: Primary: Business or other for-profit. Other: none. Abstract: The information is required by ATF to provide a means to obtain authorization for the assembly of a nonsporting rifle or nonsporting shotgun for the purpose of testing or evaluation.

(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: There will be an estimated 5 respondents, who will complete a written letter within approximately 30 minutes.

(6) An estimate of the total burden (in hours) associated with the collection: There are an estimated 3 total burden hours associated with this collection.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brenda E. Dyer, Department Clearance Officer,
United States Department of Justice, Policy and Planning Staff,
Justice Management Division, Suite 1600, Patrick Henry Building, 601 D Street NW., Washington, DC 20530.

Dated: May 28, 2004.
Brenda E. Dyer,
Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 04-13421 Filed 6-14-04; 8:45 am]

[Drammach]

Seems to me, this says that BATF wants to legislate the requirement that all personal or private gun assembly that they do not consider "sporting" purpose, falls under their jurisdiction, and permission must be given by BATF if you wish to build or assemble a private firearm.

[Drammach]

ping to list please..

[dasboot]

Wait till y' see the forms and red tape they have in mind for hand-loaders.

[flashbunny]

bump

[Drammach]

Used to be you could buy and assemble your own black powder pistol..
Sounds like this would outlaw such activities.. and more..

[dasboot]

Unnecessary bureaucrats inventing unnecessary regulations mired in incomprehensible language . Forget paperwork reduction: reduce the B'crats.

These Fed agencies are full of twisted persons. Their approach to regulatin' is comparable to an engraver's exactitude in crosshatching plates for printing currency. We need hard-to-forge currency...we sure don't need this:

5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: There will be an estimated 5 respondents, who will complete a written letter within approximately 30 minutes.

[risk]

History is over, so it's for the children.

[Joe Brower]

[Constitution Day]

FMCDH

[G-Bear]

I take this to mean they are talking about asking permission
to assemble a Class III device, a machinegun or sawed-off
shotgun. I would think this is a step up, as right now, you
can't build a prototype Class III firearm unless it is being
made specifically for the government. This would allow
experimenters to build new types of guns.

This would NOT apply to people building muzzleloaders or
modern guns, as they are already considered as having a
"sporting" purpose.

[ExSoldier]

A few years ago, my neighbor saw an ad in Shotgun News on how to assemble a .50 cal BMG rifle. All that was "required" was an old M2HB barrel and the plans for $400. Well, my very enterprising neighbor did some checking and found the average price for a completed 50 rifle was in the thousands of dollars! "So why don't WE form a company and DO this? Make some nice moolah? Hmmmmm?" I told him to look into those plans in a more indepth manner. That was before I started quoting the ATF regs. Those plans called for the internal parts of the weapon to be individually machined right down to the trigger. I wonder how many folks bought those plans for $400 a pop? Easier to publish the plans than to build the rifle!

[Mulder]

Thanks for the ping.

So where do I get my "permit" to go to church or read a book?

[BCR #226]

This is bad, very bad. We must stop this in it's tracks. The definition of sporting purpose or sporting arm has never been defined in law and the ATF has abused the term greatly.

This is a BS attempt to get an end around on the sunset of the AW ban. All the ATF needs to do is deny any requests to build a gun with a flash suppressor or other "evil" feature.

I suggest the following courses of action...

1. write letters to the head of the BATFE in complaint.
2. write your congressmen and senators.
3. get a congressman or senator to introduce a bill to eliminate the sporting purpose clause from the 1968 GCA and get a bill introduced to bar the ATF from blindly dictating vague policies that have no basis in law.

We have to jump on this right now. Unless you guys really don't mind being told that you can't put a flash hider on your post 94 gun when the ban sunsets...

Mike

[Manic_Episode]

A right does not require permission.

Is this the beginning of the end for spud guns too?

[gieriscm]

So... do we know what this means, exactly? Would we have to get "permission" from the BATFE to "assemble" an AR-10 or AR-15 from a stripped lower and a parts kit? What about to swap around uppers?

[Sender]

We ought to be able to build an NFA firearm right now, especially if we pass all the background checks. If we can legally buy a full auto for $5000 and up, then why can't we legally build one for $500?

[Dead Corpse]

Considering that the BATFE is a FEDERAL agency and the FEDERAL Constitution say quite clearly "shall not be infringed", you'd think the BATFE could just go F*CK OFF!!! And take their unConstitutional '34 NFA, '68 GCA, and the POS Brady Bill with them....

[GingisK]

This is bad, very bad.

Actually, it is "paperwork reduction". They are asking for requiring just a letter from the people who wish to assemble a weapon rather than the currently existing paperwork.

[BCR #226]

Um... one problem with that. There is no paperwork required presently unless the firearm falls under NFA restrictions. Heck, there is no requirement to notify the ATF at all if you want to build a title 1 firearm.

Mike

[BCR #226]

This does not relate to the NFA act (class 3) at all... This is ALL non-sporting purpose firearms as the ATF defines them... which can change at any time. Basically, if you can't import it, you won't be able to assemble one without their permission.

I hope that I'm wrong on this but I somehow doubt it.

Mike