What the meaning of the term “identical” in Title 18 USC 922(r)?
Many people think they can modify a rifle so long as they don’t create a rifle that is an exact copy of one of the rifles prohibited by ATF. This is not the case. The following is directly from ATF-346: The comment was made that the use of term “identical” in section 922(r) was intended to require that firearms prohibited from assembly under section 922(r) be exact copies of specific rifles or shotguns which ATF has found to be nonimportable. The comment has not been adopted because such an interpretation would result in a prohibition which could easily be circumvented by merely changing a minor feature on the assembled firearm, e.g., slightly changing the barrel length. Additionally, if the regulation adopted the position that only those specific firearms previously found to be nonimportable are prohibited from assembly under section 922(r), ATF would constantly be one step behind in enforcing the law. For example, an importer could make one or more minor changes in an existing nonimp
