Q: What does HR 7115 mean?
A: HR 7115 is effectively a prohibition on the advertisement for “80% receivers” and AR parts, a requirement that homemade guns be serialized with FFL-assigned serial numbers, and it re-defines certain products as “banned hazardous products.”
Summary: HR 7115 proposes 3 major changes to current gun laws. It aims (pun intended) to:
- define “80% receivers,” “assault weapon parts kits,” and “machine gun parts kits” as banned hazardous products under the Consumer Product Safety Act,
- prohibit the advertisement of “80% receivers,” “assault weapon parts kits,” and “machine gun parts kits” via electronic means (newspapers are good to go?), and
- Require that homemade firearms have serial numbers.
“Do-It Yourself Assault Weapon Ban”
The firearms industry enjoys insulation from the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) because firearms are subject to the tax imposed by section 4181 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 U.S.C. 4181]. This tax, and excise tax, raises wildlife conservation dollars.
Because of this tax, however, firearms can not be regulated by the CPSC and therefore, manufacturers can not be forced to recall firearms as “dangerous products.”
This is a BIG DEAL.
The excise tax on firearms is a pain for the industry to pay, but it saves the firearm industry from having its products regulated based on their “safety.”
HR 7115 proposes to define certain firearm parts as “banned hazardous products” despite the prior exemption in the law.
The proposed banned products are:
- “Firearm receiver casting or firearm receiver blank or unfinished handgun frame” (80% receivers)
- “Assault weapons parts kits”
- “Machine gun parts kits”
As is often the case, the meaning ultimately depends on how these terms are defined.
All three of these categories are seriously troublesome.
First, a “firearm receiver casting or firearm receiver blank or unfinished handgun frame that at the point of sale [is not yet a firearm] and after purchase by a consumer can be [made into a firearm]” is INCREDIBLY broad.
Technically, that definition bans raw billets of aluminum. After all, a block of aluminum is not a firearm and it could be turned into an AR-15 receiver by a consumer.
Second, “assault weapon parts kit[s]” effectively include all AR-15 parts. It is defined in the bill as any part or combination of parts designed and intended to enable a consumer who possesses all such necessary parts to assemble a semiautomatic assault weapon.” This could easily be read to mean any part from an “assault weapon” which is any:
- semiautomatic rifle or shotgun that can take a detachable magazine
- semiautomatic pistols that meet the old definition of an assault weapon (barrel shrouds, magazines outside the pistol grip, etc.)
This would conceivably shut down all AR-15 part sales.
Third, “machine gun parts kits” include “any part or combination of parts designed and intended to enable a consumer who possesses all such necessary parts to assemble a machinegun or convert a firearm into a machinegun.”
So, would full-auto bolt carriers be banned?
“Prohibition of Advertising Do-It Yourself Assault Weapons”
The second relevant section of HR 7115 prohibits the advertisement of the items above.
Yikes.
“Requirement that Homemade Firearms Have Serial Numbers”
Currently, it is perfectly legal for a law-abiding citizen to manufacture their own firearm at home (sans serial number).
This bill proposes to require that a serial number first be obtained from an FFL dealer.
A dealer?
This causes a couple major problems. First, dealers currently have no mechanism to create an entry in their bound-books and “give birth” to a serial number the way manufacturer FFLs do. Second, how is the ATF going to ensure that the serial numbers are unique from dealer to dealer across the country?
The dealer also has to inspect such homemade firearm within 90 to confirm the markings. This will introduce many problems… what happens to the dealer if the customer never comes in? How does the dealer confirm the proper height and depth requirements for markings?
The worst part?
HR 7115 would ban the possession of any firearm currently made without a serial number. Would this turn into confiscation? It’s rare that federals laws ban currently existing items instead of “grandfathering” them.
This is obviously horrible news for the firearms industry – especially with Democrats in charge of the House. Hopefully the republicans will stand in the way, but they haven’t been too strong this far.
This sounds like a great time to get your FFL. Not only could you make money on the serialization requirement, you also would have the ability to possess firearms that non-FFLs couldn’t.
If you’re going to get your FFL, please DO NOT WAIT! After the FFL course, following your application submission, it will take about 2 months to get your FFL in-hand.
The time to start is NOW.
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