ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Really, does this need any explanation?
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ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by ChopperDoc » Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:24 am

http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/atfs-latest- ... ev4qPAg.01
by JEFF KNOX Email | Archive
Jeff Knox is a second-generation political activist and director of The Firearms Coalition. His writing can regularly be seen in Shotgun News and Front Sight magazines as well as here on WND.

Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, or ATF, have begun confiscating gun parts known as drop-in auto sears, or DIAS. A DIAS is a simple toggle device which, when installed in an AR-type rifle, along with several other critical fire-control parts, can convert a semi-auto AR into a full-auto assault rifle. The devices were originally unregulated, but in 1981 ATF declared them to be machine guns if possessed in conjunction with the other parts needed to make a conversion, but the agency made their new determination apply only to DIASes manufactured after Nov. 1, 1981. Now ATF is apparently using the records of a man who openly sold the devices for decades to track down purchasers and take their property as contraband – with the real possibility of then prosecuting those people.

One of the reasons gun owners tend to be completely opposed to the passage of any new gun laws – no matter how innocuous or reasonable seeming – is the erratic history of interpretation and enforcement of the current gun laws. This is also why I cringe every time I hear someone who supposedly supports gun rights – from politicians to the head of the NRA – calling for the feds to “enforce the laws already on the books.” The fact is, the gun laws that are already on the books are a labyrinth of confusion and booby-traps full of open-ended mandates, ambiguous definitions and unbridled bureaucratic discretion. Many innocent people have had their lives and livelihoods completely destroyed when federal agencies have decided to “enforce the laws already on the books.”

The law that was on the books up until 1981 said that a DIAS was just a chunk of metal unless it, along with at least three other “full-auto” parts, was actually installed in a gun without prior ATF approval. Then in 1981, ATF bureaucrats, at their own discretion and under their own authority, redefined them as machine guns, but in their decree, they included the following exception:
“With respect to the machine gun classification of the auto sear under the National Firearms Act, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 7805(b), this ruling will not be applied to auto sears manufactured before November 1, 1981. Accordingly, auto sears manufactured on or after November 1, 1981, will be subject to all the provisions of the National Firearms Act, and 27 C.F.R. Part 179.”
For the following 30-plus years, it was widely understood that any DIAS manufactured prior to Nov. 1, 1981, was “grandfathered” and not subject to the rules regulating machine guns, and that it could be legally possessed so long as the possessor did not also possess either an AR15 rifle into which the auto sear could be installed or the other necessary M16 conversion parts. The belief in the legality of DIAS possession was so prevalent that a variety of sources continued publicly selling drop-in auto sears that they claimed were manufactured before ATF’s arbitrary cutoff date. Such DIASes were widely known as “Pre-81 Drop-In Auto Sears” and were routinely advertised in various firearms publications and online auction sites.

In 1986, the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act was passed with an amendment forbidding the future civilian transfer of any machine gun manufactured after May 19, 1986. There was also a provision strengthening the definition of machine gun to include any part designed or intended exclusively for the purpose of converting a gun into a machine gun. These two provisions meant that possession of a DIAS – even without a gun to put it in or the other needed parts – was a felony, and that a DIAS could only be legally registered by someone specially licensed to manufacture machine guns for the military and law enforcement – and then could only be possessed by a military or law enforcement agency.


The belief that pre-81 DIASes were exempt continued in spite of a ruling in 1998 from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, which declared that the ATF did not have the authority to “grandfather” or exempt pre-81 DIASes. That determination was not widely reported, nor was there any apparent effort on the part of ATF to enforce the ruling. In May of this year, the determination of the 7th Circuit was echoed, and expanded upon by judges in the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. I wrote a column at the time (http://www.firearmscoalition.org/index. ... Itemid=144) warning that not only DIASes but a variety of other firearms and devices that have long been understood to be fully legal are actually completely illegal (at least in those Circuits) and that the owners of these devices everywhere are in jeopardy.

The fact that the same conclusion has been reached in two different Circuits means that it is very likely that the other Circuit Courts will follow the same line of reasoning and reject any claims of exemptions based on prior ATF determinations. It appears that ATF might be endeavoring to expedite that process, as I am aware of attempts by the agency to locate and confiscate pre-81 DIAS devices in the jurisdictions of both the 1st Circuit and the 3rd Circuit. Thousands of people are now at extreme risk for possessing items ATF has explicitly told them it is legal for them to have. Confiscations of drop-in auto sears could be just the tip of the iceberg, as ATF could start going after other “grandfathered” items such as open-bolt MAC and KG type pistols, Browning “G Series” Light Rifles, and certain other guns and devices. Anyone who owns one of these devices should seek qualified legal counsel immediately. Anyone who is contacted by ATF inquiring about such devices should refer them to counsel and also contact the Firearms Coalition to let us know about it.

As I have said before, while the rhetoric surrounding gun control always talks about targeting criminals and public safety, the reality is that enforcement of these laws is always aimed at regular gun owners whose only crime is believing that they are committing no crime.

The target of gun control isn’t criminals, it’s us. The objective of these laws is to make us criminals and make lawful gun ownership too difficult and dangerous to attempt.
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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by jackalo626 » Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:59 am

Red tape to hang you with.

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by guncrank1 » Fri Jul 26, 2013 12:02 pm

That is the problem with a agency that makes the rules and enforces the rules.
Congress need to rewrite both NFA and GA 1968.

If the interstate commerce clause is invoked Congress needs to make sure the BATFE is only the enforcer not the writer.

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by guncrank1 » Fri Jul 26, 2013 12:08 pm

DIAS are not that effective and easily get out of time.

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by Frailer » Fri Jul 26, 2013 1:12 pm

guncrank1 wrote:...If the interstate commerce clause is invoked Congress needs to make sure the BATFE is only the enforcer not the writer.
Amen, brother.

When Cranky writes complete sentences he can be brilliant. :llama:

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by WLJ » Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:11 pm

When these guys wake up in the morning their first thought must be "How can I fuck with people today?"
There are criminals among us who are both homicidal and incorrigible. Their parents took a shot at civilizing them and failed. Their school teachers took a shot at them and failed. The odds are overwhelming that government welfare programs and penal institutions took a shot at them and failed. If it ever becomes your turn to take a shot at them, don’t fail.

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by Toddinlou » Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:38 pm

Maybe Cranky or someone else can clarify but I thought they had to be registered as NFA items although they were grandfathered thus legal to buy/sell as with any other FA, SBR, etc. as long as you have the tax stamp.
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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by Frailer » Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:31 pm

Toddinlou wrote:Maybe Cranky or someone else can clarify but I thought they had to be registered as NFA items although they were grandfathered thus legal to buy/sell as with any other FA, SBR, etc. as long as you have the tax stamp.
They do. Or, more correctly, to be legally installed in a rifle they must have been registered prior to May 1986, IAW the Hughes Amendment to the FOPA.

What this article states is that the ATF had determined that DIAS manufactured prior to '81 were not--in and of themselves--"machine guns." As a result, they could be *owned* by individuals, even though they could *not* be installed or possessed in conjunction with an AR-15 with a "low shelf" that would permit installation.

The ATF has changed its mind, apparently, so *all* DIAS are now machine guns, regardless of date of manufacture. Therefore, anyone in possession of a non-registered DIAS is now afoul of the NFA. Or The Code of Federal Regulations. Or ATF Rulings. Or something.

Another case of ATF overreach, and I think that stinks. With that said, Cranky is absolutely right. If you do a little research on DIAS you learn two things: first, any bozo who is reasonably skilled with hand tools could make one; second, they're more trouble than they're worth.

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by Rext » Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:14 pm

I have been around and owned a couple drop ins and never saw any with problems. These were all pre 86 so they were seasoned to say the least.
The guy that used to sell them and claimed they were pre 81 was Suppress-on. Apparently he had beat ATF once before over these things. So,ATF got even I suppose? Check out this link and read about this whole thing. Pretty interesting read.

http://www.sturmgewehr.com/webBBS/semif ... ead=116055
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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by scorpionmain » Sat Jul 27, 2013 8:18 pm

Wonder if they'll redefine Slidefires as well.
Feinstein hates them.
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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by jackalo626 » Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:23 pm

scorpionmain wrote:Wonder if they'll redefine Slidefires as well.
Feinstein hates them.
She hates America.

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by guncrank1 » Sat Jul 27, 2013 9:44 pm

jackalo626 wrote:
scorpionmain wrote:Wonder if they'll redefine Slidefires as well.
Feinstein hates them.
She hates America.
Agreed

It would be hard to say a slide fire is a machine gun because then the BATFE would have to revise
The defition of more than one round fired with each pull of the trigger.

The Akson Acceletrator was reclassified as a machine gun because the glitches where resolved and it meet the above defition.

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by Toddstang » Sat Jul 27, 2013 10:58 pm

What does it matter?
They are coming to take them all away anyhow...
:llama:

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Re: ATF's New Confiscation Program (Drop In Auto Sear)

Post by WLJ » Sat Jul 27, 2013 10:59 pm

Toddstang wrote:What does it matter?
They are coming to take them all away anyhow...
:llama:
See my avatar
There are criminals among us who are both homicidal and incorrigible. Their parents took a shot at civilizing them and failed. Their school teachers took a shot at them and failed. The odds are overwhelming that government welfare programs and penal institutions took a shot at them and failed. If it ever becomes your turn to take a shot at them, don’t fail.

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