AW Registration Guide **3/18/2021 update: Registration may re-open soon**

[CandG]

Before this law was every passed I was told by a local LEO that so long as it has a BB it doesn’t matter if the mag is inserted or not it can’t accept a detachable mag but just like the DOJ agent this is his interpretation.

Your local LEO was, and still is, right. It's not an interpretation, it's a fact.

If you have a BB, then it does not matter if there is a magazine inserted or not.

If this were not true, then every time someone changed mags while shooting at the range in the last 18 years, they'd have been momentarily committing felonies. And any time someone drove their rifle to or from the range with the magwell empty, or stored it in their safe with no mag inserted - all felonies too.

Above all, if it was already illegal to remove the mag from your BB'd rifle, there would have been no need for this new AW law and registration period.

The Bakersfield weapon you are referring to did not have a bullet button (despite having been registered as having one), it had some other type of fixed-mag device (hence the agents' confusion about it), AND it was not ultimately charged as an AW anyways.

One final note, thousands of weapons have been successfully registered with empty magwells. DOJ has not once raised any issue with this, to my knowledge.

[b18rexracer]

Awesome thank you for the reply!

[CandG]

Also the DOJ's own sample photos don't show a mag in their magwell

[seanter]

Waiting, waiting...

Just a waiting time update. I submitted 5/11, and again 5/17. I got a payment receipt email immediately both times. As of now, no 2nd email or letter, or anything else. I am hopefully optimistic though.

Thanks everyone for the great thread and answers. I for one really appreciate it.

[MustangSteveGT]

I was intending to register my 2016 home built 80% pistol until I read this. Now I'm not so sure... Considering fixed mag options now.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

I submitted one for MP5 pistol build.
Evil feature being magwell outside of grip and foreend. No threaded barrel.
Franklin Armaments HK fixed mag device.

We'll see..

[DrewTheBrave]

If you have a fixed magazine, I don't believe you need to register. It's only Bullet Button equipped (or equivalent) firearms that need to be registered. Per my understanding, a pistol equipped with a Fixed Magazine device complies with the new regulations.

I submitted one for MP5 pistol build.
Evil feature being magwell outside of grip and foreend. No threaded barrel.
Franklin Armaments HK fixed mag device.

We'll see..

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[ByteMe72]

Also, anyone successfully registered a FN P90?

I've got an FN PS90 that I (think) I've just registered. Originally submitted 4/27. I got the "application accepted" e-mail this morning (6/6) after getting three kick-backs on it late last week and Monday of this week. Petty stuff - didn't like one of my photos and which slot I uploaded it to. Also, the DOJ doesn't seem to think the PS90 has a forward pistol grip(!). I wasn't going to argue the point - I un-checked the box as directed. Took about 6 weeks total. Hoping to have my letter in hand soon...

[reese27k]

Hey guys. I'm in kind of in a predicament here and I wanted to see what you all think. I submitted my application at the beginning of last month. They had me make some corrections and I did them. I got a completed email for one of them so far but nothing else.
I had talked to someone at DOJ months ago and asked about submitting the AW registration for an 80% pistol I'd made in 2013 that I had voluntarily registered in my name in 2016. It has only a make, model, and serial number. He told me his understanding of the law was that I didn't need a DOJ serial number and I was good to go. From what I've been reading on here that doesn't seem to be the case. I still haven't gotten anything in the CFARS system about it. Does anyone know what might happen in this case? Could it mess up my entire submission for all my other guns? Or will they just tell me I need to get a DOJ serial number?
Second question. One of the other guns I submitted has a barrel shroud to keep the overall length above 30". I forgot to put that the shroud is permanently attached to the barrel and you can't tell that it is from the pictures. My description was pretty bad and it definitely sounds like it's removable. I sent them an email in the issue log saying I needed to add something to the submission but they sent me a generic answer and said if there's anything wrong with it they'll mark it as incomplete and have me fix it. That doesn't make me feel any better because I don't want them to think my gun is too short. Any feedback? Sorry for the long message.

[Discogodfather]

Hey guys. I'm in kind of in a predicament here and I wanted to see what you all think. I submitted my application at the beginning of last month. They had me make some corrections and I did them. I got a completed email for one of them so far but nothing else.
I had talked to someone at DOJ months ago and asked about submitting the AW registration for an 80% pistol I'd made in 2013 that I had voluntarily registered in my name in 2016. It has only a make, model, and serial number. He told me his understanding of the law was that I didn't need a DOJ serial number and I was good to go. From what I've been reading on here that doesn't seem to be the case. I still haven't gotten anything in the CFARS system about it. Does anyone know what might happen in this case? Could it mess up my entire submission for all my other guns? Or will they just tell me I need to get a DOJ serial number?
Second question. One of the other guns I submitted has a barrel shroud to keep the overall length above 30". I forgot to put that the shroud is permanently attached to the barrel and you can't tell that it is from the pictures. My description was pretty bad and it definitely sounds like it's removable. I sent them an email in the issue log saying I needed to add something to the submission but they sent me a generic answer and said if there's anything wrong with it they'll mark it as incomplete and have me fix it. That doesn't make me feel any better because I don't want them to think my gun is too short. Any feedback? Sorry for the long message.

People who tried to register BBAW with volreg'd serial numbers were rejected and told they had to submit to the new regulatory requirements for obtaining and marking the weapon with the DOJ serial and other required information.

The shroud thing is not clear, sometimes they ask for extra information and other times not. Submit to them in a "report an issue" that the shroud is permanently attached and that you would be glad to put that in if they opened it up for your edits.

[reese27k]

People who tried to register BBAW with volreg'd serial numbers were rejected and told they had to submit to the new regulatory requirements for obtaining and marking the weapon with the DOJ serial and other required information.

The shroud thing is not clear, sometimes they ask for extra information and other times not. Submit to them in a "report an issue" that the shroud is permanently attached and that you would be glad to put that in if they opened it up for your edits.

Thanks for the info. So let's say they reject the 80% gun. Will I just have to resubmit that gun or will I have to do all of my guns over again?

[CandG]

Thanks for the info. So let's say they reject the 80% gun. Will I just have to resubmit that gun or will I have to do all of my guns over again?

They will probably give you 30 days to apply for, receive, engrave, and photograph new serial numbers.

[bokehshooter]

Looking to see if anyone has any info on a scenario similar to below:

Bullet Button AR Pistol DROS'd in 2016 (not at 80%) built by local FFL

I understand that it would have had to been manufactured as single shot. Would the DROS form have single shot listed or would it display semi-auto if converted?

[evorider]

I got my registration letter. I now want to put on a different barrel length longer then 16 inches. Your guide suggests it is legal to modify everything but the BB so long as the modifications are legal. What authority do you have for that proposition. I can't find the regulations that say modifications are permitted. Thanks for your great work!

[CandG]

I got my registration letter. I now want to put on a different barrel length longer then 16 inches. Your guide suggests it is legal to modify everything but the BB so long as the modifications are legal. What authority do you have for that proposition. I can't find the regulations that say modifications are permitted. Thanks for your great work!

That's not how laws work - they don't tell us what we're allowed to do, they tell us what we aren't allowed to do. The absence of a law addressing something, means it's legal by default.

So, I cannot provide citations, because you can't really cite an absence of something.

The closest thing to a citation I can provide is a section in the DOJ regulations ("5477. Post-registration modifications") which does list all of the things that DOJ feels we aren't allowed to do after registering. The list is:

1. Don't remove your bullet button

Everything else is fair game, provided you don't break other laws (like installing a barrel under 16")

[reese27k]

They will probably give you 30 days to apply for, receive, engrave, and photograph new serial numbers.

Awesome! Thank you so much for the reply. You put my mind at ease. Also, did you see my post above about the barrel shroud on my rifle? Do you have any info about that?