I have been following the 80% receiver story for several years. There have been 5 or 6 80% receiver manufacturers raided during that time.
I am not aware of any of them who have ended up in jail, but every one of them were broken financially with the cost of defending themselves, not to mention seizing all their inventory, freezing their bank accounts, etc. And yes, the BATF does get the sales records and has notified the people with “illegal” 80% receivers to turn them it. I wonder how many did.
Most of the 80% receiver manufacturers have exited the business in an agreement with the BATF to get the BATF off their back (I can only remember one that is still in business and he seems to be a stubborn cuss). I am thinking that is what the intent was all along.
They don’t have to send you to jail. All they have to do is break you financially to get what they want. With the full power of the Federal Government behind them, that is childs play.
This is news to me. Are you talking about the businesses who were renting time on their CNC machines to finish 80% receivers to 100%, or are you talking about people who manufacture shaped hunks of aluminum alloy with some holes in them?