Overseas Move as an NFA Owner

[Texpatriate]

So my family and I are considering a move overseas for a few years. I own an SBR, and obviously I can’t take it with me. So other than selling the SBR, what are my options? I’m a Texas resident, and the SBR is registered in my name, not a trust. My parents and brother also live in Texas, so I’m wondering if the best option would be to form a trust and transfer the SBR to the trust held with my brother and possibly dad. Brother has some NFA items of his own but they are registered in his name and not a trust. As far as my other non-NFA firearms are concerned, I was planning to leave them with my dad or brother until we move back to the U.S. Anyone walked this path before and have any advice? Thanks.

[ginzomatic]

have you considered a safety deposit box?

[Hmac]

If you put a barrel or upper that is longer than 16 inches on it, it’s no longer an NFA item. You could give it to your relatives to keep until you return.

[BigWaylon]

Pick one:
1. Reconfigure it into a non-NFA firearm by installing a 16” upper (could sell the short upper, or install it on a braces lower, or several other options)
2. Store the lower in a safe deposit box and do something else with the upper (or store both in the box if possible)
3. Lock it up in a container and leave it with family, along with a copy of the F1/F4 and a letter stating you’ve left it with them for storage

[Texpatriate]

have you considered a safety deposit box?

2 things come to mind here:
1) as an NFA item, my understanding is that is that it’s not supposed to be in anyone else’s possession other than the person registered to or holders of a trust that it is registered to, i.e. a bank, and
2) I don’t think that one can legally bring any firearm, let alone a registered SBR into a bank.

[cdb]

2 things come to mind here:
1) as an NFA item, my understanding is that is that it’s not supposed to be in anyone else’s possession other than the person registered to or holders of a trust that it is registered to, i.e. a bank, and
2) I don’t think that one can legally bring any firearm, let alone a registered SBR into a bank.

It's Texas, man, some banks welcome folks carrying. The bank ought to give you privacy to put your belongings in the box. Would guess it might be easier to fit as a lower only.

https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/texa...oncealed-carry

[BigWaylon]

2 things come to mind here:
1) as an NFA item, my understanding is that is that it’s not supposed to be in anyone else’s possession other than the person registered to or holders of a trust that it is registered to, i.e. a bank, and
2) I don’t think that one can legally bring any firearm, let alone a registered SBR into a bank.

1) that’s not as black & white as you’d think
2) I used to think the same, but there is no federal prohibition to having firearms in a bank

[Renegade]

2) I don’t think that one can legally bring any firearm, let alone a registered SBR into a bank.

I guess you do not have a LTC.

Banks have no special status wrt to firearms in Texas, and there is no FedLaw.

The best solution to your problem is to put a long BBL on it, or if you built it from a pistol, take the stock off.

[Hmac]

2 things come to mind here:
1) as an NFA item, my understanding is that is that it’s not supposed to be in anyone else’s possession other than the person registered to or holders of a trust that it is registered to, i.e. a bank, and
2) I don’t think that one can legally bring any firearm, let alone a registered SBR into a bank.

If it doesn’t have a barrel less than 16 inches mounted, or if it has NO upper mounted, it’s not an NFA item at all.

[exkc135driver]

2 things come to mind here:
1) ...
2) I don’t think that one can legally bring any firearm, let alone a registered SBR into a bank.

That is not correct. But even if it were, after you have rented the safe deposit box, here is what happens when you put something in the box:
> You go into the bank with item(s) in your pocket, in a bag, in a box, whatever. You tell the nice bank lady that you want to access your safe deposit box. She verifies that you are you.
> The nice bank lady takes you into the safe deposit box area, usually a separate area inside a safe room with a humongous door. It is filled with safe deposit boxes of various sizes. Each safe deposit box has two key slots. She goes to your box, puts the bank's key in one slot and your key in the other, opens the door, and takes out a metal box. The metal box has a lid, and neither you nor the nice bank lady can see what is inside.
> The nice bank lady leads you to a private area -- it could be a separate room, or maybe a curtained-off cubicle. She closes the door/curtain and leaves.
> You open the metal box and put in (or take out) your stuff ... firearms, stacks of cash, gold bars, old love letters your wife doesn't know about, whatever. Only you know what you're putting in the box. You close the lid to the box.
> You return the metal box to the safe deposit box, you and the nice bank lady lock the box, and you leave.

Barring invasion, TEOTWAWKI, etc., there are only two situations in which someone else is going to access your safe deposit box:
> Court order: in appropriate circumstances (for example, death, bankruptcy, suspicion of concealing assets in a nasty divorce) a judge can order that the safe deposit box be drilled and opened.
> You don't pay the annual box rent, in which case the bank will eventually have to have the box drilled into. The bank won't be in any rush to do this, though, because it costs the bank, and they know that whatever may be in the box, it isn't going anywhere.