WHAT ARE NFA WEAPONS?
In 1968 Congress enacted the Gun Control Act. As part of this Act Congress also amended the National Firearms Act of 1934. Therefore there were two major divisions, or titles to the Gun Control Act. Title I, which was enacted as “State Firearms Control Assistance”, is what is commonly referred to as the Gun Control Act. Title II, which was enacted as “Machine Guns, Destructive Devices and Certain Other Firearms” is the revised National Firearms Act. There- fore firearms falling under the National Firearms Act are often referred to as Title II firearms. All firearms, of whatever kind, fall under the purview of Title 1, or the Gun Control Act. We are going refer to the two laws as the GCA and the NFA in the remainder of this article. In the GCA the term firearm is defined as: “(A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive; (B) the frame or receiver of any such weapon; (C) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or (D) any destructive device. Such term does not include an antique firearm.”
All NFA weapons are Title I firearms, as well as Title II firearms.
Under the National Firearms Act, the term firearm is defined as follows: “The term ‘firearm’ means (1) a shotgun having a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length; (2) a weapon made from a shotgun if such weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length; (3) a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length; (4) a weapon made from a rifle if such weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length; (5) any other weapon, as defined in subsection (e); (6) a machinegun; (7) any silencer (as defined in section 921 of title 18, United States Code); and (8) a destructive device. The term ‘firearm’ shall not include an antique firearm or any device (other than a machinegun or destructive device) which, although designed as a weapon, the Secretary finds by reason of the date of its manufacture, value, design, and other characteristics is primarily a collector’s item and is not likely to be used as a weapon.” Sometimes NFA firearms called Class 3 weapons. This term comes from an annual tax, called Special Occupational Tax (SOT) that importers, manufacturers and dealers of NFA. The class of SOT for importers is Class 1, for manufacturers it is Class 2 and for dealers it is Class 3. In the same way, dealers in NFA weapons are often referred to as Class 3 dealers.
Machine guns, silencers, and short-barreled shotguns and rifles are perfectly legal to own in most states so check if yours is.
The NFA established a registration requirement for all NFA firearms. Each transfer is registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). ATF maintains the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) as the central registry of all NFA firearms.
The NFA imposes a $200 transfer tax on all firearms transfers involving persons who have not paid SOT as an importer, manufacturer or dealer in NFA firearms. When you, buy a machine gun or silencer, all you are doing is affecting a “taxable transfer”. You fill out a simple form, attach a set of fingerprint cards and passport sized photo ID, and send this and a $200 check to the U.S. Treasury; also you will need a sign off by the CLEO (Chief Law Enforcement Officer). In about three to four months the transfer gets approved and then you can take possession of your gun. It is a one-time process that must be repeated for each individual transfer.
THE NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT OF 1934: As mentioned above all NFA firearms transfers must be registered with ATF. Private individuals can possess a functional machine gun, suppres- sor (silencer), short-barreled rifle or shotgun, smooth-bore pistol, cane gun, destructive device (certain shotguns, grenade launchers, hand grenades, bazookas, mortars, cannon, etc.) only after first paying a Federal Transfer Tax of either $5 or $200 per firearm / device. The $5 tax applies to pen guns, cane guns, smoothbore pistols, or any other such firearm that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms classifies as “ANY OTHER WEAPON “(AOW). All other functional guns or devices in the NFA registry require payment of a $200 federal tax for each private transfer. Note: ATF will not approve a transfer if the firearms proposed to be transferred may not be law- fully possessed in the transferee’s State of residence.
See inside back cover for additional NFA/Class III and transfer information.
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