A memo released by the RCMP has declared that 80% lower receivers for AR-15 rifles are prohibited because they can be “adapted for use” in prohibited M-16 rifles.

Incomplete “80%” lower receivers for AR-15 rifles have been prohibited, according to a recent memo issued by the RCMP.

The memo, entitled “Important Information Regarding Receiver Blanks”, was issued by the RCMP’s Director of Firearms Regulatory Services, explained that receiver blanks can be “adapted for use as a firearm”, and that AR-15 blanks “can be made into either an AR-15 rifle or an M16 assault rifle”, and thus they are prohibited.

“Receiver blanks are firearms since they are nearly completed receivers and fall within the adaptability clause of the firearms definition in Section 2 of the Criminal Code”, the memo said.

“In other words, a receiver blank is considered a ‘barrelled weapon from which any shot, bullet or other projectile can be discharged and that is capable of causing serious bodily injury or death to a person, and includes any frame or receiver of such a barrelled weapon and anything that can be adapted for use as a firearm.’”

“As such, they are subject to the firearms-related regulatory and enforcement provisions of the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code, including licensing and registration.”

The memo continued, explaining how licensing and registration of receiver blanks will be affected going forward.

A user on a popular Canadian firearms forum on Reddit, who wished to remain anonymous, has reportedly spoken with RCMP firearms techs in Ottawa, stating they had explained that their interpretation is “so long as the blank (in whatever state it may be in) can be ‘easily’ turned into a firearm, it’s a firearm, and since machining is ‘easy’ that any completion of the receiver is enough.”

This decision by the RCMP has drawn considerable criticism, with some expressing concern that, by the verbiage used in the memo, any unmilled piece of alunimium or polymer in the size or shape of an AR-15 receiver can be affected, and some fearing that this is the foundation to reclassify AR-15s as a whole.

The Canadian Firearms Blog reached out to the RCMP and Canadian Firearms Program for comment but has not heard back at the time of writing.

The full text of the PDF has been made available by AlFlahertys.com and can be found here.

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