Transporting Issued SBR's

[Devildawg77]

I searched and was able to find numerous threads explaining the necessary steps to legally transport a personally owned SBR to another state. I didn't however find anything pertaining to issued SBR's.

My agency issued me a Colt Commando. I live and work near the border of two other states. We have several officers that live in these neighboring states and SWAT regularly travels out of state to train.

Do we have to complete the same paperwork in order to legally do so? If we do, who is responsible for it? The individual officer or the agency?

I realize I'm possibly making this a greater concern than it truly is, but this thought recently popped into the "worst case scenario" part of my brain.

[markm]

I wouldn't give it a second thought for company purposes.

[ST911]

I posed these exact questions to BATFE NFA branch via telephone. With the usual caveats that such things are best in writing and subject to change, their response was as follows:

Credentialed LE officers carrying NFA guns for LE purposes, whether agency or individually owned, need not obtain a 5320.20 for transport. Officers should carry a copy of the NFA paperwork for the gun, as well as their LE credentials. If the destination state had further regulation beyond NFA rules, they should be observed.

I asked specifically about travel that was not duty related (i.e. vacation) with agency or personally owned NFA articles used for duty, and the advice was the same.

The person I spoke with was very helpful. They added that they would be happy to expedite travel paperwork for LEOs that wanted the added measure of compliance. They went on to add that if the destination state(s) did not impose any additional regulatory processes on NFA items, relying solely on compliance with federal rules, matters of federal compliance were not their concern.

<Repeat caveats about telephonic advice and BATFE decision making here.>

[fixit69]

This. On the job you just need paperwork for dog and pony.

[Reddevil]

I would ask your SFI to be sure, but I wouldn't give it a 2nd thought. We don't have or require to carry paperwork on ours, but that could be because we're federal LE and our M4s are GOV issued.

[Iraqgunz]

I believe that what Skintop posted was spot on and as far as I know it is the current guidance.

[Devildawg77]

Thanks Skintop and others. I was going to call myself but figured a thread detailing what to do might help. Figured either someone else would already have the answer or I would post whatever I learned.

I realize it's highly unlikely that we would have any issues transporting our agency issued weapons. Just figure a little bit of paperwork effort is simple insurance against Mr. Murphy biting us on the ass.

[ST911]

Call anyway, and see if the answer differs. It's always handy.

Standing rule and advice applies to the situation:
Travel smart, conduct yourself well, pack discreetly, and SHUT UP - SHUT UP - SHUT UP. :D

[El Cid]

I concur - its always a good idea to research ahead of time. Just because it's legal doesn't mean a LEO who is ignorant of the law won't make trouble for you. I had a coworker take his agency MP5 to the range at Bass Pro. The guy working the counter saw his LE ID (non-LE guns are zip tied by the morons) and told him that he was breaking the law because the bbl was under 16"!! lol! He threatened to call FDLE to arrest him and my friend ignored him. Had he called it would have eventually been sorted out... But that's not how I want to spend my afternoon.

[Devildawg77]

I plan on calling on Monday Skintop and agree with the being discreet. The SBR's we have are all issued to those of us on SWAT and to a one, we don't run around advertising our duties or gear.

The example El Cid brings up is what I'm mainly concerned about. There are a couple of different .civ ranges I'll go to when the LEO only ranges in my area aren't available. Most people don't seem to pay me any mind, but I have gotten a few strange looks from some when I pull my SBR out of it's bag.

My goal is to be prepared in case any of us become the focus of any overzealous attention. If all the "I's" are dotted and the "T's" crossed, we would most likely be able resolve any issues on scene with little to no hassle.

The last thing I want is for any of us to end up on the local/national news due to a lack of preparation/attention to detail.

Provided I can make contact on Monday, I'll try to make time before work to share what I learn.

[Iraqgunz]

Just remember that you can contact BATFE and depending on who answers and the day of the week you can get different results. We have seen that here more than a few times.

[Devildawg77]

I spoke with their "NFA Compliance" division today. The lady I spoke with explained that LEO's are fine to transport their issued SBR's either on or off duty without completing any paperwork.

I asked about keeping copies of the rifle's paperwork as a method of "proving" it was actually agency issued. She said while not necessary, it wasn't a bad idea and that a regular copy would suffice.

[Iraqgunz]

Thanks for passing that on.


I spoke with their "NFA Compliance" division today. The lady I spoke with explained that LEO's are fine to transport their issued SBR's either on or off duty without completing any paperwork.

I asked about keeping copies of the rifle's paperwork as a method of "proving" it was actually agency issued. She said while not necessary, it wasn't a bad idea and that a regular copy would suffice.

[ST911]

Excellent. Thank you for the update. Good to see the consistency.

[Devildawg77]

Anytime man.

It was nice to hear a consistent answer. The lady I spoke with said she had to look it up and put me on hold for a minute. Hopefully there was actually a specific part of the law/regulation she referenced that specified as much.

We just got our patrol rifle/SWAT rifle program started a couple of months ago and it only happened because we got a new chief who is actually pro cop. His predecessor allowed us to purchase some on a grant but they sat in our armory for about 18 months or so.

Every now and then the "worst case scenario" part of my brain would start working overtime. I had visions of my agency and fellow officers ending up as the lead story on the evening news. My chief's a solid guy, but I fear the likely resultant pressure from the city leaders to shelve them would be too much for even him to bear.