The year is ending, and inflation is higher than ever before. Beside high prices, demand for goods across every industry has outmatched supply. In the world of guns, manufacturing costs are already high. Production is complex, politics place pressure on the market, and margins are razor thin.
But demand for firearms is unprecedented. Half of all new purchases in the past year were made by first-time buyers and minority demographics. Pitted against inflation, firearm enthusiasts and new buyers alike are facing sticker shock – if they can even find a new rifle or pistol on store shelves.
Price gouging, low stock, and long wait times have forced many buyers and owners to become do-it-yourself gunsmiths: They’re no longer buying new guns. They’re building them from scratch. Enter the 80 percent lower, an unfinished firearm, or “blank”, that isn’t functional and can’t accept any moving parts – like a trigger, hammer, safety, bolt, or magazine – without further fabrication and assembly by the end user.
But what’s the point of buying a partially manufactured firearm instead of just buying one? The Gun Control Act of 1968 clarifies: Any private individual who can legally own a firearm is allowed by federal law to make their own firearm at home for personal use – no federal firearm transfer or gun dealer required.
Building a gun from scratch means avoiding the gun shop mania. Would-be buyers need not try to hunt down the rifle or handgun they want to purchase, hoping to find it in stock for an exorbitant price. Building a custom firearm means there is no compromise on configuration nor function, either.
And individual parts are easier to come across, since they aren’t regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Parts like gun barrels, trigger assemblies, stocks, and accessories can be bought and sold like any other typical consumer product.
To eliminate any guesswork or issues with assembly, many gun part retailers provide ready-to-build parts kits. These kits include all non-regulated components needed to finish the user’s fabricated firearm blank. These receiver blanks and frame blanks are readily available for the most popular and sought-after firearm platforms. That includes all the tactical rifles and handguns – like the AR-15 and GLOCK – that dominate the gun market and which gun shops struggle to price fairly, let alone keep in stock.
Indeed, the concept of DIY gunsmithing has caught such a following in the larger gun hobby that politics has swung its spotlight back around to the topic of gun control. Various lawsuits are working their way through the lower courts, challenging the ATF’s ever-increasing grip and regulatory hurdles thrown at this gun subculture. Within the past year, the federal agency attempted to severely limit the ability of retailers to sell 80% lowers.
The agency went so far as to warn retailers against selling unfinished blanks alongside other gun parts. The ATF’s new rulemaking claims such combinations of parts constitute the making of a firearm-by-definition – a controversial interpretation of its own authority to interpret Congressionally ratified firearm laws.