The lower receiver on an AR is legally considered to be ‘the gun’ and requires a serial number, NICS, and all the rest. Not sure what they are referring to regarding the “80 complete” claim.
Of course, even though they’re raiding his property “looking for illegal guns”, you can bet your ass he’ll get charged for anything and everything they can find. He better hope his building is up to code & regulations, and the inspection sticker on his car is still good.
Means that the machining operations required to make it a functional lower are only 80% complete.
It’s not a fully functional lower receiver, so doesn’t have a serial number. The end user does the final work to make it functional.
80% receivers are not complete lower receivers, and CANNOT be used to make a working firearm without further machining. They are just interesting-looking paperweights. The 80% standard is ATF-driven - they claim that anything less than that isn't a gun and can be sold to anyone, anywhere, without records, serial numbers, background checks, etc. More than that, it is a receiver.
Most states allow you to make your own firearms, and you don't need a permit for that, or to put a serial number on the gun. A lot of people who make 80% lowers say that you would be better off putting your own serial number on the gun (a snap if you've got the right equipment and the ability to do the machining on the receiver), just so that it doesn't look suspicious. You aren't supposed to sell such guns/receivers, but I don't know how it'd be proven except if an ATF or state-equivalent agent was part of the transaction.
More and more people are buying these paperweights - and the more that are sold, the less power the government has because it has less information with which to control us mere citizens. More power to this guy, and to all others making them.
Somewhere between being an ingot of metal and becoming a finished receiver ready for an upper, the object goes from being a lump to being 'the gun'. ATF has ruled that "more than 80% finished" is when that magical transformation occurs. What constitutes 80% finished is whatever ATF says it is.
> The lower receiver on an AR is legally considered to be ‘the gun’ and requires a serial number,
Actually, the only part of any firearm that is actually considered to be a gun is the part with the serial number. Everything else, including the barrel, is just machine parts.
On site vendors and gunsmiths then assist the hobbyist in final assembly.
The radio ad said you can put anything you want on it except a serial number. These weapons are legal provided they stay in the hands of the builder. They cannot be sold or given away.
I hope this answers your question.