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It's still illegal to manufacture firearms for others without a license.
A Sacramento, California man was sentenced Thursday to over three years in prison for unlawful manufacture of a firearm and one count of dealing firearms.
Last year, Daniel Crownshield, pleaded guilty to those counts in exchange for federal prosecutors dropping other charges. According to investigators, Crowninshield, known online as "Dr. Death," would sell unfinished AR-15 lower receivers, which customers would then pay for him to transform into fully machined lower receivers using a computer numerically controlled (CNC) mill. (In October 2014, Cody Wilson, of Austin, Texas, who has pioneered 3D-printed guns, began selling a CNC mill called "Ghost Gunner," designed to work specifically on the AR-15 lower.)
"In order to create the pretext that the individual in such a scenario was building his or her own firearm, the skilled machinist would often have the individual press a button or put his or her hands on a piece of machinery so that the individual could claim that the individual, rather than the machinist, made the firearm," the government claimed in its April 14 plea agreement.
So, if he taught a class in how to do it would he also then be a criminal?
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday February 17 2017, @11:59PM
I don't claim to be an expert, but it seems that if you buy an 80% lower and finish it yourself, then do a system build on it, then it might be legal to have an unserialized firearm, depending. Based on the exhaustive internet research I've done on the matter, it seems that both federal and state law as well as the mood of the local ATF are all factors assuming that you are leaving it up to others to have any involvement in your system build other than your purchasing of the unfinished lower receiver.
Amusingly, ARES armor was raided by the ATF [bearingarms.com]. Of course, when your radio ads sound something like, "Are you tired of the NSA spying on you?" you're gonna get their attention. Now they have some big conglomerate-looking website [americanweaponscomponents.com] but I cannot speak as to whether or not "they" are monitoring your purchases of unfinished 80% lower-receivers.
If you want to find out whether or not you're on their shit-list, try to order a finished lower-receiver. If you succeed, then you aren't on the government's shit-list...yet.