Thx… as always, good to have a starting point.
The 2009-1 ruling states that embellishing firearms does not qualify as “Manufacturing,” so you do not have to get a Manufacturing FFL.
The issue is that the last part of the ruling specifically states that embellishing firearms is considered to fall under “gunsmithing”, which requires a type I dealer/gunsmith FFL.
“Held further, any person who is engaged in the act of camouflaging or engraving firearms as described in this ruling must be licensed as a dealer, which includes a gunsmith, under the Gun Control Act.”
Note that the act considered the serialized portion of the firearm to be the firearm itself, so they don’t seem care if you embellish a slide or a magazine. Engrave the receiver however? Not without a FFL apparently,
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yup I had some interesting conversations with a local ATF agent as I was considering doing this. The basic rundown was if you don’t have an FFL you are not allowed to accept complete firearms or the serialized piece since that is the firearm portion just like you mentioned.
Keep in mind for people who don’t know a lot about guns. The serialized piece tends to just be the piece that contains the trigger/trigger assembly in most firearms. I would personally stick to doing parts that are obviously not restricted like magazines or dust covers. The safe thing to do with firearms is get your FFL and then the feds wont be coming to your door with warrants to take you/your things. Also just a blanket statement here, do your own research and talk to lawyers and things like that before making decisions.
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The slide, barrel and receiver are serialized on my Glocks. Pretty sure on my XD as well.
It would be right under the “We” on your slide.
The issue is the trigger assembly is considered the actual “gun” as that contains the mechanisms that allows the firearm to be discharged. While the slide may have a serial number it is not considered the actual “gun”. This is because the slide contains the barrel and firing pin. The slide itself doesn’t Contain the mechanism to fire the weapon.
Not as simple as that.
For the purposes of United States law, the receiver or frame is legally the firearm,[3] and as such it is the controlled part. The definition of which assembly is the legal receiver varies from firearm to firearm, under US law. Generally, the law requires licensed manufacturers and importers to mark the designated receiver with a serial number, the manufacturer or importer, the model and caliber. In addition, makers of receivers are restricted by International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Thus, in the case of a firearm that has multiple receiver parts (such as the AR-15, which has an upper and a lower receiver), the legally controlled part is the one that is serialized. For the AR-15 rifle, the lower receiver assembly is legally considered the actual receiver[4] (although it is functionally a chassis that also houses the separate trigger group); while in the FN-FAL rifle, it is the upper assembly that is serialized and legally considered the receiver.
In the case of the glock the frame of the pistol is the serialized part and considered the firearm. In the case of an AR15 type rifle, the lower receiver that contains the trigger assembly is the serialized part considered the firearm. There are rifles where the upper receiver is considered by the manufacturer to be the serialized part allowing for swapping of multiple lower receivers to accommodate caliber changes (like the SCAR and ACR). In none of these cases is the actual trigger pack or trigger assembly considered the serialized part, nor is it necessarily the part that contains the trigger assembly that will be considered the serialized part, though that is the most common case.
Basically the law just states that the serial number must be engraved on the frame or receiver ( in the case of AR-type firearms the lower receivera). Any extra serial numbers are just extra. So the serial number on the glock slide or barrel doesn’t make it the controlled part.
What it comes down to is that if you don’t know enough to know what part of the particular firearm you are engraving is the controlled pard, then don’t do it.
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There is also a big difference between engraving your personal firearm and engraving someone else’s. You do need a FFL to engrave a serialized lower but as long as you don’t manipulate the serial number you can engrave your personal firearm. Same with manufacturing a lower receiver, you can make your own but not one for somebody else.
Thank you so very much for your setting’s did you enter any material type? I’m sorry a Glowforge cherry but have several slide’s I could engrave and don’t know the first thing about engraving the slide’s. Thank you again.
Greg
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I believe I selected cherry hard wood, then I just went to manual and entered the settings.
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Does anyone have pictures of Glock slide end results?
There are pictures in this thread, above.
Those are of a 1911 style pistol slide. I asked about Glock slides.
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You might want to take that up with the person that posted the pictures of a Glock slide he engraved.
Looks pretty much identical to the slides on any of the Glocks I own.
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Dude, I am freaking blind. I enlarged the pic and i felt pretty dumb. I’m looking at all this on my phone.
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lol… no worries!
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Got another question. Is it necessary to remove all the internals from the slide when engraving it?
It’s not required, I engraved mine without removing any of the internal components (other than the spring and barrel).
Can’t imagine why. It’s not going to get even perceptibly warm, and even if it got hot, that wouldn’t hurt the firing mechanism. The slide cover plate perhaps, but again, it’s not going to even get slightly warm.
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care to share the settings for your lower receiver etching/engraving?