The interesting fact here is that neither the FFL dealer nor the police officer selling his used firearm were considered to be at fault... the ATF assumed Grant must have been a guilty party for not bothering to look up to see if it was legal to purchase on an arbitrary California-approved firearms list. In any other industry, the paid professionals (such as the FFL Dealer) would have certainly been the guilty party for transferring or selling the product.

Interesting, although appears to be a little more difficult to integrate (from buyer comments) into a finished weapon (and there is the why? question). About the same price as a completed lower receiver but a little more work. Their upper receivers are pretty stripped and double the going-rate elsewhere.

http://www.centuryarms.biz/proddetail.as...

There's a good show on youtube on the topic, was produced by CNBC a year or two ago - America's Gun: Rise of the AR-15.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCvjoFPD5...

Although you can download plans for an AR-15 lower receiver from Distributed Engineering and build it with a 3D printer, the use of the polymer though pretty much limits it to about 100 or so rounds before it is destroyed, but that is the only "non-registered" method (and not a permanent option). Pretty much the entire AR-15 can actually be printed, except the pin, spring & barrel for temporary use. Scary as that is in terms of terrorism, and the pin, spring & barrel are not tracked. You can probably print the spring too, and maybe even the barrel, just not sure that would actually function. Maybe for one shot or something.

The lower receiver is a rather innocuous part, it's only the housing that the clip inserts into, the pin, the stock screws on, etc. and upper receiver attaches to. You can certainly order them online, but has to be delivered to a federally licensed FFL dealer. The buyer has to pick it up there and there is normally a transfer fee involved of $20 - $50 charged by the FFL. That's federal/ATF regulation and affects any firearm in the US... its not state level, although individual states may also have the waiting period for a firearm and would affect the lower receiver if applicable for the state, or the receiver would be registered for any state gun registration system or whatever. That registration serves for whatever firearm it turns into.

The rest of the parts - barrel, bolt, stock, etc., are not tracked and can just be shipped to the buyer's home, as all would require the receiver to be functional.

It may seem "aimed" toward the AR-15, but actually isn't, all surplus military firearms have their serial number stamped primarily on the receiver and may also have additional numbers on the breach, stock, and other places... M1's, Mausers, K-31's, AK's, etc. It's actually not a new practice, more or less always been like that (I'm a military weapons collector and have a C&R FFL). I have around 50 collectibles ranging from early cowboy lever actions to Swiss K-31s, HKs, SKS, AK-47, AK-74, M1, Mosin Nagant sniper, etc. WWII is my specialty and interest, but I have a few AR-15s as well that I built. I have quite a bit of armorer tools and have & maintain all of mine in completely fire-ready condition. My favorite is probably the Mosin-Nagant (7.62x54mm) - sounds like an AK but has much of the slugging power of a .50 caliber and a 2000 meter range, I can fire that thing through a cinder brick wall and still hit a target with lethal force behind it. The AR-15 .223 round is rather pathetic in comparison. The AR can be an accurate firearm, just not a particular amount of take-down power. Relies on the bullet to tumble & break apart to tear up the inside of a person to be lethal. The WWII high-caliber firearms like the Mosiin and the M1 (30-06) were designed to completely penetrate and pass through the target and "take them out" without necessarily killing them. The intention was to take them out of the fight. In a way, the AR-15 is very inhumane, if I had my druthers in terms of interest of society, I'd ban the .223 round itself and only allow them in .308 caliber (which is also readily available albeit a bit more expensive).

And other times, one gets elected to the oval office and keeps those other lawyers busy (and rolling in dough)...

well then you haven't read the novel :)

:)

No, they won't, but it will become incrementally more expensive.