An NFA Item Could Be Considered Marital Property

Video Transcribed: So here’s one for all you guys who are gun collectors. My name is Brian L. Jackson, I am a Tulsa fathers rights attorney here at Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable. Today I want to talk about firearms and firearm accessories that come under the National Firearms Act and how they would be likely handled in the event of a divorce.

Now for those of you who are familiar with the National Firearms Act, or own items that are covered by the National Firearms Act, you would know that these types of items are very heavily regulated and you, more or less, have to get permission from the federal, state, and local government just to have one.

The take-away from that is not just anybody can own an item covered by the National Firearms Act. Just for clarity’s sake, some examples of those items include suppressors, which are more commonly known as a silencer. A short-barrel rifle, a short-barrel shotgun. Anything that fires on fully automatic.

And then, of course, items that are, there’s a catch-all category called, destructive devices which include things like a firearm that’s a larger caliber than a 50 caliber if it’s not a shotgun. Anything that’s an explosive device, like a grenade would be considered a destructive device. These items are very heavily regulated.

In the case of a divorce, however, if the item is acquired using marital assets, in other words, money that was the product of a joint industry between the partners, then at least arguably, that item would be considered a marital asset. However, if one spouse has permission to own that item and one spouse does not have permission to own that item it does create an interesting problem because a state court does not have the authority to override federal law.

So, those items are going to go to the spouse who has permission. However, they still have value and that value has to be made up somewhere. So what would likely happen in that situation is that the spouse who originally acquired these items gets to keep them because they are the only one who can, and the value of those items would then be awarded in some other part of the marital estate to the other spouse.

It is a potential disadvantage because you might see a situation where you get the NFA items and because they are worth quite a bit of money, the offset might be, for example, out of the equity in the marital home. It could be a vehicle or some other valuable asset. Or it could be that you have to pay her half of the value of those items.

So it’s something to consider if you own these types of items and you’re married, it’s something to think about. Not a reason necessarily not to acquire those items, or if you own those items already, it’s not a reason not to get married but something to be aware of.

If you have questions about that or any other issue relating to marital law or the National Firearms Act, one place you can find a Men’s Lawyer in Tulsa, Ok at Dads.Law, where fathers are not disposable.