# Illegal modifications of firearms and GQ **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477 "2002-09-07T23:30:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/1 "2002-09-07T23:30:53Z")
Regarding this closed GQ thread: [Rifle Question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=134357). Some posters have taken it upon themselves to comment on the appropriateness of the closure in [this MPSIMS thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=134377). I will find it more appropriate to reply to their comments in this forum. **Wearia** , the OPer of the GQ thread that I closed, asked for tips on how to convert a rifle to a handgun. Whether Wearia knew this or not, the procedure in question is, as far as I can tell, completely illegal in his home country of Canada. The procedure is also _generally_ illegal in the U.S. (It is legal with permission from the BATF.) Even if the OPer were from the U.S. I still would have closed the thread, because we would have no way of knowing whether permission from the BATF has been obtained, and no way of preventing people without permission from making illegal use of such tips as might have been offered. Although I am sure many law-abiding people in the U.S. go through the proper channels, I feel that in this case the benefits of such tips to law-abiding people are far outweighed by the danger that this knowledge might be used improperly by others. I have given Wearia the benefit of the doubt and have assumed that he did not know this procedure was illegal in Canada. Thus I feel he did not deserve an official warning, and I did not give him one. However, I did not find it appropriate to leave the thread open. A thread of the fom “Is this legal?” or “How do I get permission to do this?” would not have been closed unless it elicited tips on how to break the law. However, the OP asked how to do it, not whether it was legal to do it. Questions of this sort are bound to elicit tips on how to commit the act in question, even if other posters have pointed out that it is generally illegal. **Wearia** is not in any sort of trouble for having started the thread. I will note that Weiria is not among those posters who have complained about my closing his thread in MPSIMS. He is welcome to comment here of course. I resent any insinuation that I might have let my _personal opinion_ on firearms affect my moderating decision. Thread that are likely to elicit tips on how to commit acts that are generally illegal are closed, period. It doesn’t matter whether I think the laws are good ones or not. As a moderator, my personal opinion about how the laws should be written doesn’t matter. Only what the law says now and SDMB policy matter. I suppose those posters who have already decided that I am unfair in my moderating decisions would not believe me if I claimed my personal opinion is that current laws against sawed-off rifles in both countries are too strict. If you live in the U.S. and want to get permission from the BATF to make a sawed-off rifle, knock yourself out. Here’s the [Application to make and register a firearm](http://www.atf.treas.gov/forms/pdfs/f53201.pdf) (PDF format) Your application is not guaranteed to be accepted. Even if it is, don’t ask for tips on how to make it here. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/2 "2002-09-07T23:40:27Z")
Pipe bomb diagrams are still okey-dokey though, right? ---
**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/3 "2002-09-07T23:53:23Z")
Driving a car is generally illegal if you don’t have permission from the government. Are threads about driving going to be closed because we don’t know if all the posters (and readers) have drivers licences? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/4 "2002-09-08T00:00:04Z")
well, **Kal** seems to me that the thread in question was giving details/asking for instructions on **how** to do something , which would be illegal for the OP in question, and under most circumstances also be illegal where the CR is. Driving isnt’. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/5 "2002-09-08T00:13:18Z")
> [@](#): > > Driving a car is generally illegal if you don’t have permission from the government. Are threads about driving going to be closed because we don’t know if all the posters (and readers) have drivers licences? It’s not generally illegal to drive a car if you don’t have permission from the government. You only need permission to drive a car on public roads. Further, as Wring pointed out, it’s a bad analogy. A better analogy would be comparing the closed thread in question to a thread that asks how to obtain a fake driver’s license. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/6 "2002-09-08T00:33:29Z")
**bibliophage** , you friend of tyrants and enemy of freedom-loving people everywhere, how could you even _think_ about closing a thread on how to do illegal things with a firearm? :wally ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/7 "2002-09-08T00:43:05Z")
Gee. I was 15 years old when I bought a shotgun and sawed it off so I could conceal it from my parents. Didn’t really think that it was that difficult to do. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/8 "2002-09-08T02:45:55Z")
Carry it, **grienspace**. I dare ya. Nothing personal, but as a responsible gun owner, I’d dime you out in a heartbeat. It’s illegal and irresponsible for you to do that. Doing something like sawing off barrels isn’t difficult, and nobody questioned that. I just questioned the legality of it. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/9 "2002-09-08T02:54:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Gee. I was 15 years old when I bought a shotgun and sawed it off so I could conceal it from my parents. Didn’t really think that it was that difficult to do. Yeah. It’s also not difficult to throw a brick through a store’s display window. But you know what? That’s illegal! Ain’t that the limit? ---
**Author:** ![dave316](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dave316](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dave316)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/10 "2002-09-08T02:57:34Z")
i just think it’s a darn shame that teenagers have to beg people on a message board on how to do illegal acts. Why back in my youth there was always a adult around to show a kid how to make a gun or build a bomb ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/11 "2002-09-08T04:14:44Z")
Gee, **Airman** , I’m talking 37 years ago. nothing to get uptight about. ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/12 "2002-09-08T04:24:20Z")
> [@](#): > > i just think it’s a darn shame that teenagers have to beg people on a message board on how to do illegal acts. Why back in my youth there was always a adult around to show a kid how to make a gun or build a bomb What are we coming to as a society when kids can’t learn how to properly trick out their weapons from a knowledgeable elder? At least they are trained to be desensitized to death and killing. I killed oer 100 nazis today with my cousin on his PS2 game “Medal of Honor”. Boy, what a great game. I’m going to have to pick that one up. When he used a sniper rifle to shoot a Nazi in the face from 200 yards (sending him dropping 4 stories from the watchtower where he was posted) I was hooked. DaLovin’ Dj ---
**Author:** ![Wearia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-modifications-of-firearms-and-gq/127477/13 "2002-09-08T05:34:49Z")
I didn’t mind the thread getting closed. I agree that SDMB isn’t a place to learn how to illegally modify a gun. I hadn’t even considered legal issues, I was more concerned on whether it was possible. I’m not even going to bother with it now, I didn’t want to do anything illegal as I’ve said, I just wanted something to do. **bibliophage** was in the right to close it. And also I’m glad he saw it was just a innocent mistake, I didn’t mean to cause a problem.