DeLAND, Fla. – The manager at Stone Mountain Gold 'n Guns in DeLand said he will only sell an unfinished lower receiver to a customer in person if he feels comfortable with the sale.
"If I have a sense that the person I'm selling to should not be buying, then I stop the sale, that's all there is to it," said Luke Waples, the manager.
Stone Mountain does not sell unfinished lower receivers over the internet, but a Google search shows numerous other Central Florida-based gun dealers do, at least six of them in Volusia County alone. Some sell them in bulk: a five-pack, 10-pack, even 100-pack.
What is a lower receiver?
Waples describes the lower receiver as the "heart" of the gun, a small block of metal about the size of a fist where the trigger mechanism is housed and where bullets pass through. A gun cannot function without it.
A finished lower receiver is the piece of the firearm regulated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF.
"This is the one piece on the entire firearm you'd have to do a background check on," Waples said, pointing to the lower receiver.
Unfinished lower receivers are not regulated because they are only manufactured to 80 percent completion and therefore do not require serial numbers.
"Eighty percent, [the figure] they came up with, basically says the firearm is incomplete," Waples said.
To complete an unfinished lower receiver, a purchaser must painstakingly mill or drill out a portion of the inside of the receiver, which can take hours. Only a properly milled lower received can be used to assemble a functioning firearm.
Some have started referring to homemade firearms manufactured without serial numbers as "ghost guns."
There are no federal restrictions on an individual making a firearm for personal use, as long as it does not violate the National Firearms Act (NFA), according to the ATF.
"Some of the firearms that are manufactured by citizens are made with unfinished receivers," said Mary Salter, ATF Tampa Field Division public information officer. "Some may be manufactured completely without the use of "parts kits" or receiver blanks. Since receiver blanks do not meet the definition of a "firearm" under Federal Law, ATF does not regulate the sale or manufacture of receiver blanks."
[Read the first part of the News 6 'Ghost guns' series here]
Waples said the sale of 80 percent unfinished lower receivers is big business these days for his competitors who do sell them over the internet. He said he sells about 20 a month in person but other local dealers sell hundreds, even thousands online every month.
"A lot of guys are in it for the money, there's really good money in these kits," Waples said. "Really good money."
An unfinished lower receiver for an AR-15 sells for $30-50 on the internet, Waples said. A kit that contains the remaining AR-15 parts sells for about $500 at Stone Mountain. But Waples pointed out that a milling machine or at least a milling guide kit is also necessary, especially for the inexperienced. The entire package can cost around $1,500, roughly the same price as an AR-15.
"A lot of people do it for their own hobby," Waples said. "Building your own rifle, you get more satisfaction."
The ATF believes some criminals are purchasing nonserialized firearms because their intent is to commit crimes.
"ATF, and law enforcement, in general is seeing homemade firearms without serial numbers at crime scenes," Salter said. "With advancements in technology in regards to 3D printers, CNC milling machines, and the availability of receiver blanks, it has become much easier for a person to build a firearm."
"This advancement in technology is becoming less expensive for an average person to utilize. Tracing firearms found at crime scenes to the original purchaser is a valuable tool in law enforcement. When a homemade firearm is found at a crime scene, investigators are left with a dead end, where a trace of a firearm may generate valuable investigative leads."
Manufacturing a homemade weapon is tedious, time-consuming and often expensive, Waples said. Building an AR-15 from a kit can take weeks.
Waples said he believes manufacturing a homemade weapon is generally too costly, too troublesome, and too expensive for criminals.