Do I Need To Register My 22 Cal Autamatic Pistol

Do I Have To Register My Gun?

Firearms | September ii, 2020

I get this question a lot, and it'southward clear that in that location is some defoliation out there nigh what it means to "register" a firearm. Information technology is the purpose of this article to lend some clarity to the bailiwick.

In society to comprehensively address the topic of firearms registration, I volition brand two distinctions. The first distinction is between the categories of firearms: those which are subject to the National Firearms Act ("NFA Firearms"), and those which are not ("non-NFA Firearms"). (I am avoiding other often-used terms, like "Championship I Firearms," "Title Ii Firearms," or "Grade III Firearms" every bit they are inaccurate and misleading.) The second stardom I will make is between registering a firearm, on the one manus, and undergoing an ownership transfer background cheque, on the other.

Categories of Firearms

Returning to the ii types of firearms, "non-NFA Firearms" are the well-nigh usually owned guns, and this category includes handguns (revolvers and semi-automated pistols) and long guns (rifles and shotguns). Merely a handful of states require registration of these types of guns. In fact, hither in Pennsylvania we have laws that affirmatively prohibit registration of firearms. The premise of such a prohibition is that firearm registration is a pace down a glace gradient, leading to eventual confiscation. Conversely, the motivation behind background checks is to ensure that those who are "Prohibited Persons" (such as felons, for instance) are non allowed to ain guns.

However, the law yet requires the transferee (the recipient) of certain not-NFA Firearms to undergo a background check (as mentioned to a higher place, for the purpose of making sure a transferee is not a "Prohibited Person"). This is washed at a Federal Firearms Licensee ("FFL," i.due east. a dealer) who runs a background cheque on the transferee through the NICS (the National Instant Criminal Groundwork Check Organization) database, though hither in Pennsylvania nosotros use the "PICS" (Pennsylvania Instant Check Organization). This is always accompanied past the completion of an ATF Form 4473, besides as the Pennsylvania Country Police force Application/Record of Sale form (SP iv-113) which is the course that lists the various factors prohibiting gun ownership.

(Circumspection: we have had many clients stumble into trouble by filling out one of these forms without a proper understanding of what they mean – read the instructions on the back of the forms before completing them, because an wrong respond tin can lead to criminal charges.)

All Pennsylvania handgun transfers must exist subjected to a PICS bank check, with the completion of a Form 4473 by the transferee of the handgun. However, PICS checks (and therefore ATF Form 4473s) are not required for long gun (i.e. rifles and shotguns) transfers in Pennsylvania (equally long as the barrels are not shortened). That means that a handgun which is owned in Pennsylvania just which was not properly transferred at an FFL (with a PICS check and ATF Form 4473) is an illegal handgun, and its possession will subject the owner to criminal penalties. (There are some exceptions to this, though, such as transfers between a parent and an developed child.) A long gun, nevertheless, as indicated in a higher place, tin can be transferred in Pennsylvania without an FFL-completed PICS bank check and ATF Form 4473, and therefore you can transfer ownership of a long gun in Pennsylvania with just a hand shake. (It is, however, strongly recommended that at least a Neb of Sale e'er exist completed for such transfers.)

What's the Difference Between Groundwork Checks and Registrations?

As distinguished from a background check as described in a higher place, the registration of firearms is not permitted in Pennsylvania. In those other states requiring firearms registration, the process usually involves bringing the firearm to the local police station for the purpose of alerting the municipality of its presence in their jurisdiction. This is an additional step that some other states require, and is typically done almost immediately after the ownership transfer and NICS background check. (Residents of other states should bank check their local laws on specific procedures.)

It has been claimed, and rightly so, that many states' background check procedures in fact constitute 'back door' registrations, since the final result is the same – the regime knows who has what guns. Pennsylvania is a proficient example of this. Even though we have a statute on the books which specifically outlaws any firearm registration, a dealer-facilitated groundwork check must accompany all handgun transfers, the grade that the transferee fills out is then kept by the dealer, and a re-create is sent to the Pennsylvania State Police.

However, the storage of firearm purchaser data, while currently an unfortunate feature of our firearms transfer procedure, is not a necessary characteristic of a background cheque per se. In other words (and here I describe not what the constabulary is, but what it could be) it would exist entirely reasonable for a dealer to conduct a background check on a transferee by simply calling the land police force and getting a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs downwardly' on the transferee, without generating unnecessary paperwork for storage purposes. The state police could limit its record-keeping to the fact that a background cheque was washed on a specific firearm at a specific dealer, without whatever reference to the identity of the transferee. Merely the dealer would maintain a photocopy of the transferee'southward driver'due south license, which he would only be mandated to provide to police force enforcement if a warrant was issued for its provision, in the case that a crime had been committed with the firearm in question.

Such a procedure would prevent a background bank check from condign a 'dorsum door' registration, just would also address legitimate law enforcement needs. Since this is not the case at present, the merely firearms owners in Pennsylvania who are currently non subject area to any kind of 'back door' registration are those who take purchased their long guns privately.

Registering an NFA Firearm

Returning to the law every bit it is, the other category of firearms is "NFA Firearms," which term is defined as including any of the following: (A) a "brusk-barreled shotgun," the barrel(s) of which measure(south) less than xviii inches, or the overall length of which is less than 26 inches; (B) a "short-barreled rifle," the barrel of which measures less than sixteen inches, or the overall length of which is less than 26 inches; (C) "any other weapon" ("AOW") (a pen gun, for instance); (D) a auto gun; (Eastward) a silencer (a/k/a "suppressor"); or (F) a subversive device (a grenade, for example). As in all other states, in Pennsylvania all NFA Firearms must be registered with the federal Agency of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (which is still commonly referred to as the "ATF").

A "Course 4" is the ATF form required to transfer and register an NFA Firearm. Upon approval of a Form 4, an possessor is issued a "tax postage stamp" (since the National Firearms Act is simply a chapter within the Internal Revenue Code), and simply then may the applicant take possession of the NFA Firearm.

Pennsylvania prohibits the possession of "destructive devices," calling them "Prohibited Offensive Weapons," but allows for the possession of any of the other above-listed NFA Firearms, provided they are properly registered with the ATF.

Let us go on in mind, then, that the PICS background check (in theory at to the lowest degree) simply ensures that a transferee is not a Prohibited Person, and, with some exceptions, nearly all firearms (both NFA and non-NFA) are bailiwick to background checks. Registration, on the other hand, while required for the transfer of NFA Firearms, is not officially permitted in Pennsylvania. May we be precise in our terminology, and zealous to keep these terms singled-out, both in theory and in practice, remembering that groundwork checks are intended to proceed guns out of the easily of the bad guys, whereas registration may somewhen continue them out of the hands of the good guys.

Josh Bodene, Esq., an associate in the constabulary firm of Trinity Law, is a firearms enthusiast and handles all aspects of firearms police force.