Revision of Antique Firearms Status?

[bonza]

Just tossing this out there for comment. I collect & shoot, almost exclusively, antique & vintage firearms. Most firearms made pre-1899 are considered a non-gun under federal law so there are no problems buying & shipping those, & my C&R FFL covers all the post-1899 guns I'm interested in. I recently bought a couple of WWI-era handguns on my C&R, both made between 1914 & 1916, & it dawned on me that they are close to a hundred years old now, & was wondering if the BATF will eventually revise the date (eg. 1909) that determines antique status? Incidentally, anyone know when the 1899 date was established as the antique cut-off, & why?

 

[Mike OTDP]

It's not an ATF decision, it's specified in the Gun Control Act of 1968. I suspect 70 years was arbitrarily selected, written into the law, and forgotten about.

What I'd like too see is a new cutoff date of 1940...with ATF authorized to adjust that by +/-5 years for specific models of firearm. The intent being to classify all of a given model as either antique or C&R.

 

[InkEd]

If given the ability to make exceptions, the ATF would probably exclude alot of firearms from C&R status or even civilian ownership. I am admittedly not very familiar with C&R laws bt it would be nice if they were simplified to consider any firearm of a certain age would qualify as an "antique." (Just like cars, furniture, everything else are considered "antique" after X number of years.)

Even if the number was changed to 100 years (which is pretty much an inarguable age for ANYTHING to be considered antique) AND even though IMHO 50 years would be more appropriate age for firearms, the options for some very nice and still practical firearms would not be too far away. World War II was about 70 years ago, Korea (which seems to be "forgotten" about a bit) was 60 years ago and even Vietnam is approaching it's 50th anniversary in less than about a decade. Those dates would equate to alot of popular designs becoming available to us lowly citizens without government interference or regulation. I think C&R reform (to loosen regulation) is something worth pursuing by pro-gun lobbies and owners.

Just my two cents.

 

[AlexanderA]

The "pre-1899" definition of antique guns in the Gun Control Act of 1968 was the result of testimony by a well-known antique gun dealer from Dallas, I believe. It might have had something to do with the fact that 1898 was a landmark year for gun innovation (the Mauser '98 springs to mind).

Updating that would take a law change. The "curio and relic" definition, on the other hand, can be administratively changed. As it stands now, anything 50 years old and older is a C&R, plus anything the ATF cares to specifically name.

 

[Piper106]

I think 1899 was chosen as a nice "round' number year that also related to the black powder to smokeless powder changeover. Pre1900 = black powder and not too scary. (Yes, I am aware there were plenty of smokeless powdedr guns built in the early 1890s).

1900 again is a nice round number that defines the start of the smokeless powder era where most guns are 'close' to equal in performance with modern weapons. As such it would be hard to move the 1899 date.

That is all I think I know.

Piper106

 

[dprice3844444]

http://www.atf.gov/publications/firearms/curios-relics/

 

[bonza]

Thanks for the replies, very interesting thoughts. Really, I'm pretty satisfied with the cut-off dates as they currently stand, in regard to my collecting 'needs/interests', but am always open to less government restrictions on my gun owning rights. Apart from my CCW pistol, the newest guns I own are WWII-era, though the vast majority are significantly older than that.