Legal Status of The AK-47 - in The United States

In The United States

Legal ownership of the AK-47 varies by state, county, city, and local laws and ordinances. Persons interested in owning one of these types of rifles are strongly encouraged to research the laws where they reside or plan to buy, transport, keep, and use the weapon. Manufacturing the AK-47 for civilian use is prohibited.

The 1989 Semi-Automatic Rifle Import Ban (18 USC 925(d)(3)) and the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban specifically banned the AK-47 by name. Many other such weapons (including obvious clones of AK-47's) manufactured after 1994 had to be modified (e.g. removal of barrel threading, bayonet lug and folding stock). This ban expired on September 13, 2004, as part of the law's sunset provision. The import of rifles with certain features are still banned. However, certain states such as California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have specific restrictions with some mentioning AK-pattern firearms by name.

Private ownership of AK-47 rifles was regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. The Gun Control Act of 1968 ceased the import of foreign-manufactured fully automatic firearms for civilian sales and possession. The ATF enforced a provision banning importation of small arms from Communist Bloc nations without a trade agreement with the United States. This ban is still enforced with the former Soviet Union republics and post-Communist Eastern European nations without USA trade agreements. A few Communist nations e.g. China and the former Yugoslavia have trade agreements with the United States.

In 1986, an amendment called the Firearm Owners Protection Act stopped all domestic manufacturing of fully automatic weapons for civilian use. Fully automatic weapons are still manufactured in the US for military and law enforcement use. However, automatic firearms manufactured domestically prior to 1986 or imported prior to 1968 may be transferred between civilians in accordance with federal, state and local law. A number of Soviet and PRC rifles were brought into the U.S. during the mid-1960s, when returning Vietnam veterans brought them home after capture from enemy troops. Some of these were properly registered during the amnesty period under the 1968 NFA law.