Where can you legally buy an assault rifle?

Answer 1

An assault rifle by its true definition is a select fire weapon capable of full auto function. For example, an M-16 can, with one trigger pull, fire either single-shot, multiple shot or full-auto. An AR-15 (which looks the same cosmetically) can only fire one bullet each time the trigger is pulled (semi-auto).

In the US, to be able to own assault rifles legally, they have to be NFA licensed weapons, and the owner must purchase the appropriate tax stamp from the BATFE. The rifle will have to be purchased/transferred through a Class III dealer.

In 1994, gun control advocates came up with the term "civilian assault rifle", largely as a confusion tactic, as the general public wasn't expected to know the difference between those and a full auto military rifle. The BATFE determined that any detachable magazine rifle with two or more of the following features was was considered a "civilian assault weapon":

• Pronounced pistol grip
• Bayonet lug
• Flash suppressor
• Grenade launcher (such as the permanently attached type found on the Yugoslav M59/66 SKS variants)
• Folding or telescoping stock

As the ban was based solely on cosmetic features, it was easy enough to make compliant designs, simply by removing, or having only one of these features. For example, if the rifle had a pronounced pistol grip, and none of the other features, it wasn't considered a 'civilian assault rifle', because it only had a single feature. Eventually, the BATFE determined that muzzle brakes were acceptable, so long as they were permanently attached.

After the sunset of the ban in 2004, the states of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Cook County, Illinois have kept this ban in their own law books.

California has had such a ban since before the federal ban, and theirs is a much more sweeping ban. Unlike other AWB states, where you can still have a single feature rifle or import a pre-ban rifle, all such firearms had to be registered with the state in 2000, and could not transferred to anyone else within the state.

With the current California laws, you either have to have owned your weapon prior to the 2000 registration, or else you have two options - there's a fixed magazine rifle, in which case, it doesn't meet the definition of a 'civilian assault weapon' (which must have a detachable magazine), and you're allowed all the features you want - or you must have a featureless rifle - no pistol grip or thumbhole stock, no collapsing buttstock, no flash suppressor - California law also bans forward grips.

On top of all that, you also have to ensure that you have an off-list lower receiver. If you wanted to make a California complaint AR-type rifle, a Colt lower would be illegal, as it's listed in the California DOJ ban list, but a Daniels' Defense lower would be perfectly legal, as they're not (yet) listed by the California DOJ.

Answer 2

You can buy the media-defined and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE)-defined "assault rifles" at any gun store and gun show, as long as they are legal for ownership in your state and you are at least 18 years old and pass a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check from the FBI (as with any long gun). You need to be 21 years old if you wish to purchase a true assault rifle, which would be an NFA taxed stamped select-fire Class III firearm capable of full auto function. Buying NFA items is NOT easy. Full auto rifles are very expensive and there is a limited supply available to the public (your local gun store or gun show WILL PROBABLY NOT have any). Full auto capable "assault rifles" ARE NOT being bought at gun shops and gun shows in the US and taken to Mexico. All NFA items must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Private owners wishing to purchase an NFA item must obtain permission from the ATF, obtain a signature from the county sheriff or city or town chief of police (not necessarily permission), pass an extensive background check (including a NICS), submit a photograph and fingerprints, fully register the firearm, receive ATF written permission before moving the firearm across state lines, and pay a tax ($200). While an individual owner does not need a NFA dealer license to buy Title II firearms. A licensed Class III dealer would have to receive the rifle for you before it could be transferred to you.

Answer 3

Are you referring to a true assault rifle, with select fire capability, or the BATFE defined "civilian assault weapons" - semi automatic rifles determined to be scary because of cosmetic features?

Currently, the semi-automatic BATFE-defined "civilian assault rifles" are banned in California, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Cook County, Illinois. However, to be considered a "civilian assault rifle" in these states (except for California), they must be detachable magazine semi automatic rifles, with two or more of the following features:

• Collapsable buttstock
• Pronounced pistol grip
• Flash suppressor (muzzle brakes are not considered flash suppressors, however)
• Bayonet lug
• Barrel shroud

So, as long as a rifle has only one or less of these features, it's not considered an assault rifle under their laws (which follow the 1994 Clinton ban specifications). Additionally, a rifle which does fit their definition of a "civilian assault rifle" may be imported into the state, so long as the receiver was manufactured before the effective date of the ban.

California is a different story, however. To be California compliant, a detachable magazine semi automatic rifle cannot have any of those features, and must be manufactured on a receiver type not listed by name on their list of banned firearms (for example, you couldn't have an AR-15 built on a Colt or DPMS lower receiver, but you could have one built on a Roggio Arsenal lower). California also lists vertical foregrips on their list of banned features. However, if you turn the rifle into a fixed magazine rifle with the addition of a "bullet button", then you can have all the "evil" features which make them a "civilian" assault weapon (but will still be required to have built it on an off-list lower). Transfer of pre-ban rifles which fit the definition of "civilian assault weapons" into California cannot be done legally.

Civilian ownership of fully automatic and select-fire weapons is severely restricted. Those made before the 1986 FOPA (Firearm Owner's Protection Act) have been grandfathered in, but still require an NFA tax stamp to own and are prohibitively expensive, due to the false market created by the cessation of full-auto registration. Any full-auto weapon manufactured after May 19, 1986 is currently prohibited from civilian possession (with the exception of FFLs who have the proper license and have paid the SOT (Special Occupational Tax), and law enforcement agencies) simply because they cannot be registered.