The manuals that go with my C&R license just arrived. One of the books is a volume that contains all the pertinent laws of each state, presumably to make you aware of what they are so you don't violate any. (Gad, but I hate lawyerese.)
Anyway, this is the question. As you know, New York has its own stupid version of the unlamented Slick Willy Gun Ban on the books. One of the sections they have in there in the portion that concerns "assault rifles" deals with AK-47s and variants. It reads like all AKs are banned. Yet every gun shop I've been to in the last three months has them prominently displayed. They can't ALL be pre-bans!
I've asked the owners and they all say the same thing: "We just order them, they come in, they sell." I've been going to the shops for years. Half a dozen gunshop owners can't be wrong, they're all extremely ethical dealers; if they were committing an illegal act either the State Police or the BATFE would have been all over them by now. When they sell a firearm, be it a rifle, a shotgun or a pistol, they have to do a NICS check. If they were doing something like selling illegal rifles, someone at BATFE would notice!
So what's the scoop on semi-auto versions of the AK-47 in New York State? Someone please explain this to me, with simple words and diagrams?
Be careful on the questions to the BATF, asking for specifics sometimes leads to more rules implemented because of just asking for something they dont know. All Im saying is watch what you say. Asking a few questions on some other boards may not be such a bad idea. Some actually have lawyers that are gun owners that have a interest on KNOWING these things. If you check even AR.15.com in the law section you will most likely find what you are looking for. Just a suggestion.
Thanks, Moose. I think that clears things up. If I am reading this correctly, they are not banning all AKs, but only those specific manufacturers. If memory serves, all of those makers have had quality control issues that either allow a semi-auto firearm to be converted to full auto or to accept a full auto trigger group. But other varieties (the current fave seems to be the WASR-10) are okay provided they don't have bayonet lugs or flash hiders and barrels in excess of 16 inches in length and a length overall of 28 inches or more.
And I know I can't buy them on a C&R. However, the regs books I got are clear on this matter - it's even in plain English. If you purchase a firearm that does not fall under C&R rules, e.g., an AR-15 manufactured in 2005, you are considered an ordinary citizen and those rules are the one in play in that case. Having a C&R license does not prohibit you from buying and owning firearms that are less than 50 years old. It simply means you can't have them shipped directly to your house, the way C&R firearms can be. You still have to buy them from a dealer and have a NICS check done at the point of transfer/purchase. Not a big deal, in other words.
