Who Owns Your On Duty AR?

[Spaffo]

I was in a local gun store today and heard one of the employees tell a prospective LEO customer that if he bought an AW AR for on duty use with a Department letter, the department retains ownership of the rifle if you leave.
I told the employee you could render it featureless or take it out of state, and that the PD, at least LAPD, did not own the weapon.
He jumped all over me and said I was wrong and that that it was illegal to convert an already registered RAW to feautureless, and you couldn't take it out of state because it was PD property. Am I mistaken?
The employee had a ponytail, so you can guess what shop I was in. LOL.

[tnlrat37]

My buddy just got medically retired from a local PD, moved out of state. He took his AW with him that he bought through the PD no problem. Not sure about going featureless.

[RickD427]

I was in a local gun store today and heard one of the employees tell a prospective LEO customer that if he bought an AW AR for on duty use with a Department letter, the department retains ownership of the rifle if you leave.
I told the employee you could render it featureless or take it out of state, and that the PD, at least LAPD, did not own the weapon.
He jumped all over me and said I was wrong and that that it was illegal to convert an already registered RAW to feautureless, and you couldn't take it out of state because it was PD property. Am I mistaken?
The employee had a ponytail, so you can guess what shop I was in. LOL.

Spaffo,

There is a published DOJ opinion holding that if an officer privately acquires an Assault Weapon through departmental authorization, that the officer must surrender the weapon when they leave service. That is different than the department owning the weapon.

There appears to be a lot of legal deficiencies in the DOJ opinion. DOJ Opinions are not law, but are accorded a lot of deference by the courts. This one has not yet been tested.

Whether the officer may be able to circumvent the Opinion by making the weapon featureless, or removing it from the state remains to be seen.

[esy]

I own and bought my duty rifle.

I would concede with Rick here. Lots of gray area. Who knows how the laws will change when I actually retire. If they stay exactly the same when I do, all I was planning on doing was giving them the "firearm" and that's that. I'm keeping all of my accessories.

[Ulfhednar]

Department owns all of our on-duty patrol rifles, Rock River Arms 16" carbines with fixed A2 stock.