Background Check To Buy A Lower Receiver? What You Need To Know

I love guns. When it was younger, it was always a dream of mine to build and own an AR-15. Years ago, I saw an amazing deal online for a couple of stripped lowers. After researching the brand of the lower, I decided to buy it. I had no idea what to expect when I bought it. All I know is that I paid for it and that was it. I tried to figure out what to expect, but it’s hard to understand the ins and outs of firearms purchasing. So I decided to write about what I found through my experience.

Do I need a background check to buy a lower receiver? Any person trying to buy a stripped lower receiver will need to complete an NICS, which is an electronic background check run by the ATF. The stripped lower will need to be purchased at an FFL ( Federal Firearms Licensee) in order for the FFL to run the NICS. Or the stripped lower needs to be sent to an FFL and then transferred to the owner’s possession.

Obviously, there is a bit more to buying a lower receiver than that. Let’s check it out below. For those looking for recommendations on some of the best firearms, gear and other awesome gun-related things, check out our recommended page here.

Detailed Explanation

The government considers the lower of an Ar-15 the actual “firearm”. While the stripped lower is only a light piece of aluminum, it is the keystone of the gun. It’s the piece into which, all the parts that allow the firearm to operate and shoot a bullet, are attached; to make the AR-15. Without the lower, the firearm would have the ability to shoot. Now depending on the state, the process to buy an AR-15 can take anywhere from minutes to months to get approved. The process of buying a lower at an FFL is not scary. The concept of a background check is a scary idea, but it’s not as bad as it seems.

Every firearm is issued a serial number and is regulated by the ATF. The stripped lower is the part of the firearm that has the serial number. The rest of the parts to complete the whole AR-15 do not require an NICS background check. Although, the pieces that are sold with the stripped lower will be included in the transaction that requires an NICS background.

For example, if you were to buy an upper for the AR-15, an NICS would not be required. However, if you bought a completed lower receiver for the AR-15, then it would need to be sent to an FFL. The FFL would then run an NICS before you can get your hands on the completed lower. The pieces that complete the lower aren’t suddenly regulated or given a serial number. They are just attached to the piece that is regulated and serialized, so the pieces are regulated by default.

What is an NICS background check?

NICS stands for National Instant Criminal Background Check System. It is essentially an electronic background check. This is the background check that is required every time a person attempts to buy a new firearm. It is in place to stop firearms from falling into the wrong hands—no matter how worthless that may be. Every state requires an NICS, but some states require more information than others. Click here to see which states have which requirements.

Is an NICS completed by an FFL or FBI?

An FFL is Federal Firearm Licensee. The FFLs are the ones that are legally licensed to sell firearms and equipment for those firearms. The FFLs are the ones that start the NICS process, but then contact the FBI or the NICS department in the FBI to do the actual background check. The background check is to make sure the buyer is a good upstanding citizen and is allowed to own a firearm. This is the department that will allow or deny someone’s request to obtain a firearm.

So, technically it’s both the FFL and the FBI that do the background check. They coordinate with each other to complete the process. The FFL completes the entire process, while the FBI is involved in only the background check portion.

Can I ship my Lower to my House?

Unfortunately, you cannot ship a lower to your house. It needs to be sent to an FFL. It cannot be sent to a house because the government considers the stripped lower the firearm piece of the AR-15. Due to this fact, a person trying to get a lower will have to have an NICS background check run on them so the government can ensure the legality for the person to own a firearm.

Even though a firearms must be sent through and FFL, the process is easy. You can buy the stripped lower online, look up the closest FFL, and put the delivery address as the closest FFL to your home. It might take a couple of days, but with today’s technology, the shipment is easily tracked. Once the stripped lower arrives at the FFL building, you go to the FFL and they run the NICS. Once the NICS comes back as clear, you pay for the NICS, and any other transfer fees, and walk out with the stripped lower.

What would cause me to fail an NICS Background Check?

An NICS looks into all the state and Federal database and looks for any criminal records that would exist. They will look into any court cases involving the person there are currently or were in the past. They will also look at what the cases involved and if they’re a concern. The NICS looks into every system that it can search for a person’s name and any reason why this person should not own a firearm. The list of reasons a person would be denied the request to own a firearm is listed below. I got the following list from the FBI website:

A person who has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year or any state offense classified by the state as a misdemeanor and is punishable by a term of imprisonment of more than two years.
Persons who are fugitives from justice.
An unlawful user and/or an addict of any controlled substance; for example, a person convicted for the use or possession of a controlled substance within the past year; or a person with multiple arrests for the use or possession of a controlled substance within the past five years with the most recent arrest occurring within the past year; or a person found through a drug test to use a controlled substance unlawfully, provided the test was administered within the past year.
A person adjudicated mental defective or involuntarily committed to a mental institution or incompetent to handle own affairs, including dispositions to criminal charges of found not guilty by reason of insanity or found incompetent to stand trial.
A person who, being an alien, is illegally or unlawfully in the United States.
A person who, being an alien except as provided in subsection (y) (2), has been admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa.
A person dishonorably discharged from the United States Armed Forces.
A person who has renounced his/her United States citizenship.
The subject of a protective order issued after a hearing in which the respondent had notice that restrains them from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such partner. This does not include ex parte orders.
A person convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime which includes the use or attempted use of physical force or threatened use of a deadly weapon and the defendant was the spouse, former spouse, parent, guardian of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited in the past with the victim as a spouse, parent, guardian or similar situation to a spouse, parent or guardian of the victim.
A person who is under indictment or information for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.

Is an NICS background check required every time I try to buy a new stripped lower?

An NICS will be required any time someone tries to buy a new firearm. So if you buy a stripped lower today an NICS will be run; and if you go to the same FFL and buy another firearm, the FFL will run another NICS. Even though one was just run the day before, the FFL will have to run another one. A new NICS will be run on any new purchase of a firearm no matter when the last NICS was completed. They do this as an extra precaution and want to make sure that the person is allowed to own a firearm.

Because circumstances are always changing, an NICS has to be run each time a person purchases a firearm. Is it probably excessive to run an NICS twice in the same day; however, the FFL is required to do this in order to make sure the NICS is as up to date as possible. The FFL has no way of knowing if you recently had charges filed against you disallowing you from purchasing a firearm or other such issues.