I think this is the subject letter http://pmddtc.state.gov/compliance/Applicability%20of%20the%20ITAR%20Registration%20Requirement%20to%20Firearms%20Manufacturers%20%28Publish%29.pdf

ETA: These guys were trying to sue them but seem to be having some issues: http://www.leocombat.com/lawsuit/
Not sure if they/he has enough horsepower to get anywhere.

I got a letter from my Reps aids.

" Just wanted to update you on the ITAR, gunsmith issue. On Tuesday, the Congressman Scalise and Congressman Pearce introduced a bill that would move all gun export and import law from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce. This action would remove the current ITAR restrictions for gunsmiths, as well as formally recognize that there is a difference between rechambering a weapon and selling an F-16 to a foreign nation. This bill already has considerable support, and the hope is we can pass it before the new year.



Again, appreciate you raising the issue with us. You were one of the first in the nation, actually, to realize and articulate the impact this new regulation would have. I will be sure to keep you posted as this bill moves forward, and as always, please let me know if there is anything further the office can help you with in the future.



-PC"


This seems like good news although I haven't looked the bill up yet.


ETA: I have asked for a reference to the mentioned bill. If I get a response, I will post it here so someone can decipher it.

Probably need to get that info out to all the gun podcasts and radio shows too.

$2,250 a year, this year. And then once the part time guys are wiped out, it's the next level up.

Holy shit! I already got a response!

He says H.R. 6176 is the bill, he also mentioned that it could take three days to be posted online.

A BILL
To transfer certain items from the United States Munitions
List to the Commerce Control List.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. EXPORT CONTROLS ON CERTAIN ITEMS.
4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 38(f) of
5 the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778(f)) or any
6 other provision of law, all items described in subsection
7 (b) that are on the United States Munitions List and con8
trolled under section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act
9 (22 U.S.C. 2778) on the date of the enactment of this
2
1 Act shall be transferred to the Commerce Control List of
2 dual-use items in the Export Administration Regulations
3 (15 C.F.R. part 730 et seq.).
4 (b) TRANSFERRED ITEMS.—The items referred to in
5 subsection (a) are the following:
6 (1) Non-automatic and semi-automatic fire7
arms, including all rifles, carbines, pistols, revolvers
8 and shotguns.
9 (2) Non-automatic and non-semi-automatic ri10
fles, carbines, revolvers, or pistols of a caliber great11
er than .50 inches (12.7 mm) up to and including
12 .72 inches (18.0 mm).
13 (3) Ammunition for such firearms excluding
14 caseless ammunition.
15 (4) Silencers, mufflers, and sound and flash
16 suppressors.
17 (5) Rifle scopes.
18 (6) Barrels, cylinders, receivers (frames), or
19 complete breech mechanisms.
20 (7) Related components, parts, accessories, at21
tachments, tooling, and equipment for any articles
22 listed in paragraphs (1) through (6).
23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect
24 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act and
25 shall not apply to any export license issued before such
3
1 effective date or to any export license application made
2 under the United States Munitions List before such effec3
tive date.

Copied and pasted from my E-mail. It doesn't seem too bad on the surface.

Maybe.  Trump's a loose cannon.  With the way he bounces around I don't have much faith in him, but I know what Hillary will do so it's an easy choice.

How about providing a public service, kinda like a volunteer fire dept? Taking a few bucks for helping out folks, but not doing it for a living. Those are the folks who will be made an example of. This shit is truly getting old.

So who is enforcing the ITAR statutes?

I haven't followed this.

Suppose I have a gun in my safe.

If I thread my own barrel using my own tools and supplies am I fucked?

What if I do an AK build?

What if I cut checkering into a 1911 I own and reblue.  Again, weekend garage stuff.

What if I tapco fuck a rifle?

What if I change out the bolt on my AR15, or replace the extractor?

Where is the line here.  I have not followed this at all, so the above are real and not rhetorical questions.

I've joked around in the past about just those kinds of scenarios (not the tapco fuck and bolt swap, but the others). I was really only half-joking though. I'm sure they would say that ITAR registration is applicable to you if they were asked. Their position seems to be that if you do any kind of machining on it you are on the hook.  I doubt they care if you are doing it for beer money or just for yourself. The ATF wouldn't require you to be licensed, but the State dept has gotten a bit out of control.

The tin foil in me kinda wonders if this wasn't the first step in getting rid of 80% and other home builds. I'm sure they are looking at the increasing popularity of 80% builds, all the non-serial numbered "ghost" guns out there. Not to mention 3D printing tech. That has to be making someone, somewhere a little nervous.

So you endorse the gov't artificially reducing the market size in order to drive up the value of services you happen to provide?  Are you really that dense?

Pride in your work is one thing, but your words put you beyond that, beyond hubris, and squarely among the company of crony capitalists.

I don't know, that is why I originally stated that it was a knee-jerk reaction for the company in the OP to give up business so soon after the letter was put out.
ATF does not enforce ITAR, ITAR registration, ITAR payments, etc.

 
That is a good bill.

If I am reading this right, unless it is a complete firearm that unassembled firearm parts are considered to be a dual use item?

This. Peasants are supposed to have them since an armed populace is incompatible with the police state.

I''ve always wondered how Americans felt about ITAR.  I had no idea it affected folks that much.  

From a Canadian standpoint, it just makes it a HUGE pain in the dick to buy anything firearms related from the States.  I live near the border and a lot of local gun shops across the border have felt a huge hit since it started.  A lot of local Canadian law enforcement and military types used to go down to the states to buy cases of ammo because it was so much cheaper, but ever since ITAR started, the local gun shops Stateside have taken a huge hit and aren't very pleased with ITAR.

The average American doesn't know it exists... right up until it fucks them in the ass.   Then it's a show stopper.

And those of us that do, fucking hate it.  Can you buy Magpul training DVDs now in Canada?



Outside of the firearms industry, my company has to hold ITAR registration because of some of the work we do....for truck parts.  Because we make components of military vehicles.  It's nonsense.



 

You're on the right track. I've read The ITAR sections defining things, as well as the munitions list (§120.1), who must register (§122.1) and so on.

 

I learned in law school that you can't just read the body of any statute or regulation; if you want to understand what it says and how it applies, you also have to follow the trail through any cited authority, especially where there is an empowering statute. Not looking at cites is a common mistake by lazy lawyers who don't read everything, and lay-persons who don't understand how these things are put together don't realize that one of these "pursuant to" references can change the entire meaning of a document. (People who answer phones at the State Department, BATFE, etc. tend to resemble the latter group. If they were lawyers or legislative consultants they wouldn't be answering phones.)



So, let's follow the trail, looking first at this munitions list, where it seems to empower the President, via SecState, to require ITAR registration for almost any gunsmith or manufacturer:



"§ 121.1   General.  The  United  States  Munitions List.

(a)  The  following  articles,  services and   related   technical   data   are   designated  as  defense  articles  and  defense services  pursuant  to  §§ 38  and  47(7)  of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C.

2778  and  2794(7)"



That list goes on to talk about firearms, ammunition and so on, and if you stay within the four corners of the document, you get the impression that anybody doing anything has to register with ITAR.



BUT... if you look at those two sections of the legislation (§§2278 & 2794 referenced in § 121.1 of the ITAR), you find that these sections, and all powers the President derives from them, relate specifically and only to import/export. (If those links don't work, you can go to the website of the House of Representatives and search for them here.)



22 USC 2778 is from Chapter 39-Arms Export Control, Subchapter III - Military Export Controls.

(a)(1) "Presidential control of exports and imports of defense articles and services, guidance of policy, etc.; designation of United States Munitions List..."

"That provision authorizes the President "to control the import and the export of defense articles..."



The President is authorized "to designate those items which shall be considered as defense articles and defense services for the purposes of this section and to promulgate regulations for the import and export of such articles and services. The items so designated shall constitute the United States Munitions List.



The purpose of the section is right in the title of 22 USC 2778: "Control of arms exports and imports."



Now look at Section (b) - Registration and licensing requirements for manufacturers, exporters, or importers of designated defense articles and defense services.



This says "As prescribed in regulations issued under this section, every person ... who engages in the business of manufacturing, exporting, or importing any defense articles or defense services designated by the President under subsection (a)(1) shall register..."



Okay, follow that? What that means is that all the language about firearms, gunsmithing and manufacturing everybody is so worked up about is strictly and specifically limited to matters of the import and export of military weaponry in the section (a)(1), the power of the President "to designate" is "for the purposes of this section" which is "to promulgate regulations for ... import and export..."



The registration requirement refers directly back to (a)(1), which limits the scope to import and export of military weaponry. The registration provision is defined by and must include that language in its scope and application.



The upshot is that none of this applies to domestic, non-military manufacturing, much less gunsmithing. Nothing in the statute empowers the government, much less the President by Executive Order or via the State Department, to regulate domestic firearms manufacture, unless it somehow relates to the import/export of military equipment, hardware, etc. That is how you get the interpretation about not having to export directly, whether a person has an FFL, etc. But the scope and intent of the legislation is clearly intended to apply only to the international arms trade, and there is no reasonable way to interpret it in terms of regulating domestic-market (i.e., non-military) firearms manufacture. I can see an argument about suppressors, but given that there is a "domestic equivalent" for civilian suppressors, that's pretty shaky if a manufacturer does not - or by law may not - export.



If you don't believe me, go read sections §§120, 121 & 122 of the IFAR and take a close look at

Title 22-FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE, CHAPTER 39-ARMS EXPORT CONTROL, SUBCHAPTER III-MILITARY EXPORT CONTROLS

and YOU tell ME where I'm wrong.
       




 

That's still way better than the alternative.



 

FHRC