So When Does a Firearm Become a Firearm?

This is a topic I see often in forums. People will ask “how do I know the date my new gun as made” or “is the date on the envelope that hold the test fire casing for my new gun it’s born on date” or something along those lines. It is an interesting question with not really a clear cut answer.

Logic would say that the date a firearm is “born” is the date all finished components are assembled. This makes the most sense. A gun is not a gun until its put together for the first time. Otherwise it’s just a bunch of pieces, right?

So that concept rules out the date the gun was test fired. They final assembly and test firing may not happened during the same timeframe. An assembled firearm can sit on a shelf in inventory for an undetermined amount of time before it is test fired.

Personally, the date it was test fired is close enough for me. The way I see it; that was the moment that the firearm “breathed its first breathe” so to speak. It cycled through its action and functioned the way it was designed and manufactured to function. And since I never seen a log of when an individual consumer purchased firearm was assembled, but usually get a spent casing in a sealed dated envelope, it’s at least some sort of documentation I can readily have on almost any firearm I purchased. Unlike when the firearm was legally considered by the BATFE as becoming a firearm.

Working for a Defense Contractor who makes weapon systems for the Department of Defense, tier one contractors, and foreign governments, I have experience dealing with the rules of the BATFE (ATF). And man, do they have some rules, such as when a firearm legally becomes a firearm.

The ATF’s definition of when a firearm becomes a firearm is a little earlier than many people think. It is when the receiver or frame is finished. Once the receiver is completed its manufacturing process, it is given a serial number and logged with the company who manufactured it and the ATF. From that point on it is consider a firearm by the ATF and must be treated as one.

Receivers locked in a caged assembly room

This means the manufacturer most store the receivers in such a manner that their access is restricted to approved personal. At our company we have a series of caged rooms. Only certain people have access to the keys and they must be present when any work is done inside the controlled area, or if the receiver is taken out of it.

When the receiver is transferred to one of our customers or partner companies, that transfer must be logged with the ATF; just like when a consumer buys a firearm from a retailer. As a company we can pretty much ship a complete weapons system to almost anyone, minus the receiver. But we cannot ship the receiver by itself to anyone without the proper transfer paperwork.

A commercial AR-15 sold to the public is a perfect example of this. You can order every single component from the barrel and bolt assembly down to the last spring and have it shipped to your front door no questions asked, except the lower receiver. If you buy a lower receiver, you must go through the proper paperwork. That is unless you buy one of those 80% complete receivers. Since they are not complete and functional, they are not considered by the ATF as a firearm.