Are companies that are engaged in the business of selling weapon parts kits required to be licensed as a manufacturer and to mark those weapon parts kits?

The final rule clarifies that the definition of “firearm” includes a weapon parts kit that is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive. It also clarifies that the term “firearm” does not include a weapon, including a weapon parts kit, in which the frame or receiver of such weapon is “destroyed” as described in the definition “frame or receiver.” The final rule also explains that persons engaged in the business of selling or distributing weapon parts kits cannot avoid licensing, marking, recordkeeping, or other requirements to which federal firearms licensees (FFLs) are subject ‘‘by selling or shipping the parts in more than one box or shipment to the same person, or by conspiring with another person to do so.’’

Licensees who require a determination whether a weapon parts kit is a regulated firearm may contact ATF’s Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) for a determination.  

Last Reviewed July 22, 2022