So it's a good thing then ? :)
So it's a good thing then ? :)
Yes, it will be a good thing, but it's still a work in progress. They're making progress on it, but like anything else in government, it takes time.
Fred
Sounds good. Keep at it and swage on!
Brian
I get regular updates about this since we have a type 7 FFL. Essentially it moves all “dual use” munitions from ITAR to a similiar agency called EAR under the Department of Commerce. You will still have to register, but there are no fees associated with the registration. These are currently just proposed rule changes. They need to be posted to the Federal Register along with the commensurate public comment period. Once that is over, guys operating in the shadows can cast and sell without fear of ITAR. You will still, however, need a type 6 or 7 FFL to be able to legally make and sell bullets or ammunition. Also note that completed ammo will attach an 11 cent per dollar Federal Excise Tax, while components are FAET free! Away for the weekend, but when I return I will post more detailed info. The rule change is scheduled to take effect in 2019.
Cool, thank you to you guys that are helping us to make since of all this.
That is my hope. :drinks:Quote:
Originally Posted by BT Sniper
From https://www.saf.org/doj-saf-reach-se...buted-lawsuit/
"Significantly, the government expressly acknowledges that non-automatic firearms up to .50-caliber – including modern semi-auto sporting rifles such as the popular AR-15 and similar firearms – are not inherently military.
“Not only is this a First Amendment victory for free speech, it also is a devastating blow to the gun prohibition lobby,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “For years, anti-gunners have contended that modern semi-automatic sport-utility rifles are so-called ‘weapons of war,’ and with this settlement, the government has acknowledged they are nothing of the sort.
“Under this settlement,” he continued, “the government will draft and pursue regulatory amendments that eliminate ITAR control over the technical information at the center of this case. They will transfer export jurisdiction to the Commerce Department, which does not impose prior restraint on public speech. That will allow Defense Distributed and SAF to publish information about 3-D technology.”
There is a real possibility that making components and ammunition for them will not require registering with ITAR in the near future, just the ATF 06 license.
I'm going to be the wet blanket in this whole thread. I saw no mention of the paying of the Pittman-Robinson Act taxes. I assume all manufactures of sporting equipment still have to pay it.
Pittman-Robertson excise taxes were instituted by caring sportsmen in the 1930's, and is one of the best things that have ever been done for our sport. Almost every Hunter's Education program in the U.S. is funded with P-R funds. Our range has benefited from 10 P-R grants over the years that have enabled us to greatly improved our facilities. I wrote all 10 of those grant requests.
Wetlands have been restored with P-R funds, hunter's access has been purchased for landlocked public lands with P-R funds, and on and on. There is no downside to P-R, since it comes right back to the people who pay it. Sure, they're indirect paths, but it does come back in many ways, and benefits those who paid it in the first place, unlike so many other taxes...
Hope this helps.
Fred
Is that the basis for the law that requires an 11% Federal Excise Tax on assembled ammunition?
Not in NH it seems. They use the money for who knows what. This state has no .gov owned ranges sorry to say but target shooters with rifle shotgun and pistols pay the most tax and get NOTHING from the Tax.
That tax is nothing but welfare to the states IMHO.
That is what the EFT is.
Yes, it's the excise tax on firearms, ammunition, archery equipment and fishing gear. It all goes back to the states for wildlife restoration, shooting enhancement, education, etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zbench
Hope this helps.
Fred
Thanks for that info, I (like many) thought that money was just 'lost' in the system and went for important things like Whitehouse dinners and congress critter retirement checks.Quote:
Originally Posted by ReloaderFred
I've gotten our club right around $120,000 in P-R matching fund grants in the past 20+ years. Without those funds, we'd still be shooting in the sand dunes, instead of having covered shelters, huge impact berms, side berms, handicapped parking, reorienting the rifle range away from a new housing development and a 7 bay Action Range, with 4 of the bays having 3-sided covered shooting shelters (24' x 30' on two of them, and a 24' x 90' building on the other two). And we're just one club in the state that has benefited from P-R grants. The money does actually come back to the people who pay it.
The funds are funneled through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and I'm sure USF&W takes some to cover their overhead in the process. They apportion the moneys to the individual states, usually through the Game and Fish Depts., and the money is earmarked for Hunter Safety programs, wildlife habitat and range projects. There are specific rules that have to be followed, and as long as you follow their rules, it's a pretty straight forward process. Some of the rules seem silly, but it is a federal agency..... We had to have an archeological survey done on the 42 acres that our club owns, but once it was done, it's good forever.....
Hope this helps.
Fred
Part of the issue with ITAR is that under budget reconciliation federal agencies that issue licenses were told that they have to charge the actual cost of processing the license/registration. ITAR was not as expensive before that. But exempting some business's from ITAR may be great for those business's, but the agency that takes care of it will not SHRINK...so the ITAR fee will go even higher for those remaining.
This stuff hit the HAM radio licenses too, the fees went up.
It is fine to make the agencies charge realistic fees, but they should be forced to be more efficient too. ITAR could be a self registry paid with a Credit card.
The original intent was a noble one I think, to identify business with munitions making capability...in an era when "records" were written in a ledger somewhere. But it has grown into a mostly useless bureaucracy.