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Kabloosh75 t1_j4xyslx wrote

Reply to comment by largeroastbeef in Philadelphia man manufactured ghost guns, including AR-15s, inside his Kensington home, prosecutors say by PoodlePopXX

I'm not sure. It's probably harder today to get a gun as a felon these days than it was 50 years ago simply because up until I believe 1964 background checks weren't even a thing.

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largeroastbeef t1_j4y0o76 wrote

I kinda want to learn more about gun buying process. Maybe guns are taxed highly once they are assembled and regulated as a gun but you can get around this by making them yourself? Idk.

Seems like just doing private sales and reselling them would have been much easier for this guy

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Kabloosh75 t1_j4y352k wrote

So only a certain part of the gun is the actual gun which has the serial number on it.

For an AR-15 that's the lower receiver..

That's the gun. That's the part that you need to pass a background check to buy it.

The background check consists of a call to a system where the store contacts to say yea or nay. You fill out the form 4473 and they usually use your social security number or your name if you don't want to give your SSN. The problem there is that if your name is John Smith there is a good chance there's a few John Smiths out there with a criminal history so you may fail a background check.

It's not complicated. There isn't any additional taxes unless you're buying an NFA item. NFA items are machine guns, short barrel rifles, short barrel shotguns, "any other weapon," and suppressors. Suppressors aren't actually guns and they don't actually silence the weapon's gun fire. They just lower the sound to a low enough dB level to where you may not need hearing protection.

Buying a gun is pretty easy. Just have the money and interest and you can get one. Just be able to fill out a form and pass a basic background check. To be a prohibited person you would need to have been convicted of a felony, some misdemeanors (ones usually involving domestic violence) or be involuntarily committed. Having a DUI on your record wouldn't prohibit you.

In the case of this story he was machining lower receivers. These things are actually pre-machined bricks of metal that you need to do the rest to make it into a functional lower. This actually is not illegal. You can manufacture your own personal firearm. You just can't sell them without a license. That's the real crime here.

You can even 3d print lower receivers. All the other parts you can freely purchase online and have delivered to your door.

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