Antique (pre-1899) Firearms Legal in DC?

tomandjerry00 · Mar 29, 2020

Howdy,

I’ve been trying to do a bit of research on the legality of antique firearms in DC but haven’t seen anything recent.

What’s the deal? Pre-1898 centerfire pistols/rifles/shotguns? Black powder revolvers?

Thanks!

swamplynx · Mar 29, 2020

tomandjerry00 said:
Howdy,

I’ve been trying to do a bit of research on the legality of antique firearms in DC but haven’t seen anything recent.

What’s the deal? Pre-1898 centerfire pistols/rifles/shotguns? Black powder revolvers?

Thanks!

Legal, but you still need to register it. Their definition of antique excludes anything that fires centerfire / rimfire ammo. Citation below.

(3) “Antique firearm” means:
(A) Any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percus- sion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898; and
(B) Any replica of any firearm described in subparagraph (A) if such replica: (i) Is NOT designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional center- fire fixed ammunition; or
(ii) Uses rimfire or conventional ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary chan- nels of commercial trade.

rascal · Apr 25, 2020

Watch out for ammo laws too!

In addition to Swamplynx's important notes on this, there is another issue on anitque or replica and ammunition. You'd better have some gun registered in DC or you will be prosecuted relentlessly for a single ball or piece of shot in your home or rolling around the floor of your car, even if you keep no powder, flint or cap.

Even if you get one that does not use centerfire / rimfire; if it is unregistered, and you have no other firearm registered, possession of any single constituent parts of the ammunition, ie a) any part of projectiles, or powder or cap or b) in the case of "rimfire or conventional ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary chanels of commercial trade," any whole ammo, or any constituent part to that ammo, you are committing is a gun crime in DC -- and one that is prosecuted even for a single ammunition part.

It is not possession of all the ammo parts, in fact it is possession in DC of any single part of ammo that is illegal for persons not holding a valid gun registration.

So the legal donut is you can't register some of them, but ammunition for them is illegal as "unregistered ammunition." Before the change in ammo law that had forbidden registrants of guns to have ammo of a different caliber than the gun registered, it was defacto impossible to legally have ammo for a black powder antique qualified gun in DC. Today, thanks to legal challenges and threats of them, a gun registrant can have ammo differnt from registered gun's caliber so there is a way around the catch 22/donut: register another gun that is registerable, or find some way to register the antique, which is normally not done.

If you want to keep any working ammo or any parts of ammo at all, in DC for your antique or qualifying replica, your choices are:
1) convince MPD to register that gun even if it is one that is not normally registered (or even serialized)
2) Get a second gun that can be registered.

does anyone know if you can get DC MPD to use method #1? I know lots don't have to be registered. Will they now register any and all, even those that don't normally require registration?

.

swamplynx · Apr 25, 2020

As long as it is serialized I think they will register it. I think. Doubt you would have any luck getting them to register something without a SN. But I don’t see why you couldn’t have it engraved with something politically creative, if you didn’t mind defacing the gun.

I have a pre-1898 rifle centerfire rifle in my collection that is registered. It was already serialized.

Why it is registered is actually in part a potential initial mis-read of the law in my above post. Reading it again the centerfire / rimfire exclusion only applies to replicas and not firearms actually manufactured before 1898. Battered gun owners syndrome aside, I was gifted a collectors piece that was manufactured prior to 1898 and was designed for centerfire ammo. I transferred and registered it using my 03 FFL. Hindsight, it isn’t even considered a firearm per Federal law, and I believe DC would also consider it an antique, so neither my 03 FFL nor registration was actually necessary. If I didn’t have other firearms, the absurd ammo law would obviously be an issue.

rascal · May 3, 2020

I'm bringing it up since people may ask what has to be registered because they want a gun that does not have to be registered for a number of reasons (privacy, ability of otherwise prohibited persons to posses etc).
We can't excluded that a new user here emight be asking about possession of black powder firearm in DC for this reason, especially given the very high per capita rate of prohibited persons in DC compared to the national average.

So I am just pointing out that if the OP is asking about black powder because they prefer a gun that does not have to be registered, DC relatively uniquely has a way to put them in jail for constituent parts of any "unregistered ammo", that being any part of any ammo they possess in DC.

BlueHeeler · May 15, 2020

swamplynx said:
Legal, but you still need to register it. Their definition of antique excludes anything that fires centerfire / rimfire ammo. Citation below.

(3) “Antique firearm” means:
(A) Any firearm (including any firearm with a matchlock, flintlock, percus- sion cap, or similar type of ignition system) manufactured in or before 1898; and
(B) Any replica of any firearm described in subparagraph (A) if such replica: (i) Is NOT designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional center- fire fixed ammunition; or
(ii) Uses rimfire or conventional ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States and which is not readily available in the ordinary chan- nels of commercial trade.

I do not believe that is not correct. Neither does the NRA:

(9) “Firearm” means any weapon, regardless of operability, which will, or is designed or redesigned, made or remade, readily converted, restored, or repaired, or is intended to, expel a projectile or projectiles by the action of an explosive; the frame or receiver of any such device; or any firearm muffler or silencer; provided, that such term shall not include:

(A) Antique firearms; or
https://code.dccouncil.us/dc/council/code/titles/7/chapters/25/

Antiques and Replicas
Antique firearms, and replicas of antique firearms, are exempt from the registration requirement.
https://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-gun-laws/district-of-columbia/

Section 22-4513 Exceptions.
Except as provided in § 22-4502, § 22-4504(b), and § 22-4514(b), this chapter shall not apply to toy or antique pistols
unsuitable for use as firearms
https://www.atf.gov/file/117186/download

HOWEVER rascal is correct on ammo laws. If you do not have a registered firearm you cannot have percussion caps or lead balls. DC will prosecute on unlawful possession of ammunition.

Antique (pre-1899) Firearms Legal in DC?

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