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SKS with Bayonet; Legal to Sell?
wilmoe
Member Posts: 17 ✭✭
I was getting ready to list an SKS with the attached bayonet when a co-worker informed me that doing so was Illegal? Really? Anyone who knows for sure, please advise. Thanks!
Comments
Brad Steele
Don't worry about it. You will be shipping it to an FFL, who will be responsible for the gun.
In any case, most SKS bayonets can't be taken off without destructive removal of the retaining nut/bolt.
If you have further questions, always indicate the country of origin.
Neal
There are a few rare exceptions here (IIRC the State of CA is one), but not many. No problems with bayonets in CA. It is the grenade launchers on the Yugo SKS rifles which are the issue in CA.
Note that in most states SKS rifles **ARE NOT** even considered "assault rifles".
Yup, even though they're military grade semiautomatic rifles with folding bayonets, that fire the exact same round as Kalashnikov rifles. And even those these same guns were used in wartime all over the globe (with many of the ones in the USA market being actual military surplus used in both Asia, and in the Balkans war) because they have FIXED (non-detachable) 10 round magazines, and no vertical pistol grip, they lack the COSMETIC features necessary to classify them as "assault rifles" in most jurisdictions.
If your imported SKS does not accept detachable magazines,the bayonet is fine. If the SKS takes detachable mags, then that is the only"evil feature" allowed. No more than one evil feature (bayonet or mount, folding stock, flash hider, or pistol grip) is allowed on IMPORTED semi-auto weapons accepting detachable mags. It is not illegal to own a modified rifle, only to modify it or have it modified. However, an illegally modified weapon may be confiscated. If you replace enough of the imported parts on your SKS with US made parts so that it has no more than 10 imported parts total, it is no longer considered an imported weapon and is not subject to the evil feature restrictions. To my knowledge the ATF doesn't enforce this law. If they do, I've never heard of a charge being placed against anyone. For more information do research on regulation 922r. This is a Federal law. State or local laws may be more restrictive.
[:D][:D]Just goes to show how goofy the import gun laws are. I recently purchased a brand new Norinco SKS (via GunBroker), WITH spike bayonet, WITH folding stock, WITH pistol grip, and WITH removable magazines. All legal, at least here in the free zone of NW Nevada. [:D][:D]
I agree. Import laws like this are basically protectionist to benefit the domestic gun industry. They don't stop anyone from legally (let alone illegally) acquiring semi-automatic weapons in a zillion different configurations. IE, you can buy a domestically built AR-15 in any configuration you like. But an AK or SKS? Nope.
And to be clear on above, while its legal for you to buy or own such a gun in Nevada, and in most (but not all) other States, it probably wasn't strictly legal to convert it into the configuration in which you purchased it. So far as I know, nobody is making SKS receivers in the USA or ever has. . .all SKS rifles are necessarily imports.
In general, the laws with respect to SKS rifles are all over the place, and extremely confusing (IMO probably DELIBERATELY so).
And thanks for the "anonymous" moderator who corrected/updated my post above about CA. I stand corrected on that.
Quick rule is that all European made SKS rifles, if left in original condition, qualify as C&R guns (that's all Yugo, Russian, Albanian, and East German, if you're indeed lucky enough to find/have one of those. . .I'm not quite sure on Polish ones).
They're on the BATFE list as such, so they don't necessarily have to meet the rule about having to be 50 years old to qualify (though many do anyway). Chinese made guns are different, especially the ones made specifically for commercial sale in the USA (as opposed to true military issue ones).
Apart from the general lack of "evil" cosmetic features I mentioned above, qualification as C&R guns makes at least some SKS rifles a little more "legal" and easier to transfer than they might be otherwise.
Next, the 922R rule is a BATFE regulation. As mentioned above, its virtually never (if ever) actually enforced against individuals, but instead only against importers who import large numbers of guns for domestic sale. That hasn't prevented a huge cottage industry of companies and individual selling 922R compliant parts/kits to "legalize" AK and SKS modifications.
The gist of the rule (I don't even think it has the force of law) is that the BATFE has decided it won't permit construction of a gun using foreign parts into a configuration that would otherwise be illegal to import. IE, it won't let you get around the foreign military weapons import ban by importing parts instead of whole guns, then assembling/reassembling them here. Its not against the law to OWN such a gun. . .its not against the law to SELL such a gun. . .just to ASSEMBLE/build it. The way to LEGALLY get around this rule is that if you include a certain number of domestically made parts in your non-importable configuration build, then the gun is considered domestically made, not an import, and 922R no longer applies. Which parts, and how many you need is well-covered elsewhere.
But anyway, bottom line, in MOST jurisdictions, its perfectly legal to own SKS rifles with bayonets, and perfectly legal to sell them.
I'm not aware of any jurisdiction that absolutely bans bayonets per se, though perhaps there are some. . .I kind of doubt it. There certainly are some that consider bayonet LUGS (not the actual blades!) an "evil feature" that along with other "evil" features could classify a gun as a restricted "assault weapon".
If you live in such a State, you'd probably know it (eg you can't buy an AR-15 off a shelf with a bayonet lug, for example). And even in THOSE states, selling of "grandfathered" guns that were present in the State prior to their respective assault weapons bans may still be legal. So your bayoneted SKS may still be legal to sell in State, even if you couldn't legally attach a NEW bayonet on a DIFFERENT SKS!
Lastly, because they were made in many different runs, over many different years, in different places, with different serial number schemes, and imported by different importers (many of whom are now defunct), establishing the correct year of manufacture for Chinese made SKS rifles can be difficult or impossible. That doesn't change the legal status of any gun, but it could significantly increase the difficulty for someone trying to build a legal case on configuration of a given weapon.
At one time, I believe I was told if an SKS was imported with a bayonet attached, it was okay but you couldn't attach a bayonet even if it came with it as an accessory or some such.
I think it was specific to Chinese SKS's, but I'm not user. I'm trying to find the source...