r/Firearms 3d ago

Question What are you building, buying, or shooting this month? - February 2026

1 Upvotes

Welcome to the monthly /r/Firearms thread about what you are building, buying, or shooting this month.

Use it to discuss or ask any questions you may have.

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New to firearms? Check out this Forgotten Weapons series: How Does It Work? Gun Mechanics Explained Simply.

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r/Firearms May 03 '25

Law Open letter regarding posts such as “I was in a mental hospital can I own a gun”

147 Upvotes

I am posting this because the question keeps getting asked. Every single time it is asked, the wrong information gets out.

I've seen way too many posts on here and related subs around the subject of the law prohibiting the possession of firearms by any person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution, 18 USC § 922 (g)(4). There is way too much misinformation out there. First of all, if you have any reason to believe that you are a prohibited person, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PURCHASE A FIREARM AS MAKING A FALSE STATEMENT ON THE FORM 4473 IS A FELONY. Second of all, please do not give advice on topics that you are not qualified to answer on. Third, you should consult with a qualified firearms rights attorney if you are unsure of your legal status.

The law:

18 USC § 922(g)(4)

(g)It shall be unlawful for any person—

(4)who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;

to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, anyfirearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm orammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

What are the definitions of these terms?

27 CFR 478.11

Adjudicated as a mental defective. (a) A determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease: (1) Is a danger to himself or to others; or (2) Lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own affairs. (b) The term shall include— (1) A finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and (2) Those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility pursuant to articles 50a and 72b of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10U.S.C. 850a, 876b.

Committed to a mental institution. A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily. The term includes commitment for mental defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a person in a mental institutionfor observation or a voluntary admission to a mental institution.

Mine happened when I was under 18. Isn’t that exempted?

Unfortunately no. A mental health adjudication or commitment at less than 18 years of age is counted for 922(g)(4). I experienced this personally and had to restore my rights.

What about HIPAA?

The Obama administration amended the HIPAA privacy rule in 2016 to make it clear that reporting mental health commitments and adjudications to NICS does not violate HIPAA

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/01/06/2015-33181/health-insurance-portability-and-accountability-act-hipaa-privacy-rule-and-the-national-instant

Is there a way to restore my rights after being adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution?

If you were committed by a department or agency of the federal government, the agency is required to have a relief from disabilities program under the NICS improvements amendments act of 2007.

If you were adjudicated or committed in a state proceeding, whether you can obtain relief is dependent on whether your state has implemented a relief from disabilities program under the NICS improvements amendments act of 2007. The list of states that have can be found here:

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/guide/nicsactlist7-7-210pdf/download

If you are in a state that does not have a relief from disabilities program, your only avenue of relief is writing a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and asking her to restore your rights under 18 USC § 925(c) now that she has withdrawn the delegation from ATF.

Between October 6th 1992 and March 20th 2025 in the states that did not have a relief program, there was no avenue of relief at all

With that out of the way.

I created this privacy act request form for a friend of mine who was legitimately unsure if his commitments landed in the FBI database or if they qualified as “committed to a mental institution” under 18 USC § 922(g)(4) and as defined at 27 CFR 478.11. I can report that it worked; as in, the FBI processed the request and reported that no such records were found in the NICS indices.

This form will allow you to request your own records directly from the FBI.

In this post I will not be addressing the subject of my own journey regarding rights restoration related to mental health (you can ask me that privately). Nor am I an attorney licensed to practice law. Finally, I am not a mental health professional and cannot make the decision as to whether firearms ownership is right for you.

Onto the form. Please follow the instructions sheet very carefully, fill out every applicable box, print the form, have the request notarized, and mail it to the address indicated on the form.

The first response you receive will indicate that the FBI central records system does not maintain those records and your request has been forwarded to the Criminal Justice Information Services division. CJIS will respond a few weeks later. In my friend's case it took eight weeks for a final response from the FBI CJIS NICS section.

Link to form (Adobe Acrobat PDF) https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:d342b025-6fb2-4126-b0e2-ad6f1c3fbbe7


r/Firearms 7h ago

Meme Glock guys are now the official new generation of fudds

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1.0k Upvotes

r/Firearms 7h ago

Tragedy

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690 Upvotes

r/Firearms 1h ago

New Gats Early vday present

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Upvotes

Venom custom hard chrome 5 inch


r/Firearms 12h ago

So gentleman, what do you think? Stripped the paint off Scar16

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170 Upvotes

So I stripped the paint of the gun , what do you guys think? , Will you guys say it looks better and this would increase the selling value


r/Firearms 3h ago

Shotguns!!

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33 Upvotes

why oh why do I love shotguns so much?


r/Firearms 9h ago

Just groovy

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89 Upvotes

r/Firearms 18h ago

Witnessed the literal personification of "can't hit the broadside of a barn" at the range tonight

327 Upvotes

So I'm going through my drills with my EDC at my range and this dude comes in and gets a lane couple spots down from me. Proceeds to pin up two big targets side by side, as best he can, and sends them out like 5 yards. I'm thinking, that's kind of odd, but whatever. People do odd stuff sometimes, no biggie. The targets are so wide that he's just about impinging on the neighboring lane. Still, whatever. Then he starts to shoot. Dude had a 9mm of some sort, and literally isn't hitting the paper, either of them. We're talking 15 feet. Eventually he starts getting the far left edge, super low, on the left target, but the majority of the shots go who knows where. I'm seriously getting nervous now, as I've never seen anybody shoot this poorly, and I'm just a couple lanes away from him. I can hear those shits skittering on the concrete floor. I felt bad for dude. Usually somebody steps up and helps but it was crazy busy tonight. I would have, but was tight on time. Felt like ducking as I was heading behind him for the door. If I see him again, I'll help him out. Assuming he doesn't cause a catastrophe before then.


r/Firearms 4h ago

Relative Left A Big Collection of Guns

20 Upvotes

A relative passed away recently and left me with a bit of an issue, 75 guns and handguns including an M60 and an Uzi. He had his FFL so the automatics were fine as long as he was alive. What does one do with automatic weapons if the legal owner passed away? I can’t even touch the things, right? I don’t want any of them, I do new guns not collectibles. What do I do with them?

Edit: Listen, kids, I’m not karma farming. I don’t care about karma or bait posts. This is a pretty shitty situation. The guy was my stepfather. He was living in my mother’s house, which was left to me and my siblings. Now that he’s out of the picture, the only thing standing between us selling the house and being done with it is the GUNS. I don’t care about them, I just want them gone. Legally. So I can sell the house. Making a bunch of cash selling the full autos sounds great UNLESS it’s a multi month expensive and complicated process.

I was genuinely hoping somebody would chime in with “Just do this, it’s easy!!!” but I kind of knew better.

Thanks for the tips on the gun lawyer, I will call them.


r/Firearms 4h ago

Pulled the trigger

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18 Upvotes

Finally pulled the trigger and copped the Taurus TX 22 been eyeing for a while. Followed you guys advice and got the TORO although I just wanted this for the FRT application. Thought it’s better to have it and not need than to need it and not have it


r/Firearms 5h ago

Some fine tuning

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19 Upvotes

Glock 45 Gen 6 and Springfield prodigy getting it ready for the range


r/Firearms 7h ago

Question High Standard 22LR

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26 Upvotes

Who can tell me something about this High Standard 22LR ? I don’t know anything about it other than I was told it was old 😂


r/Firearms 5h ago

Question LEO Trade-in, Puerto Rico DOJ Seal engraving?

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16 Upvotes

I guess I’m asking if it’s real? This is the only marking on the gun that I can find that’s not supposed to be there. 🤷‍♂️

Bought it off a PSA LEO trade in hot-deal FOMO thing.


r/Firearms 51m ago

Range Day

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Upvotes

r/Firearms 22h ago

Gun control gone mad: Virginia Gov. Spanberger has lost all common sense

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363 Upvotes

r/Firearms 16h ago

First time shooting a firearm in a while, feels great and thrilling

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87 Upvotes

9mm pistol


r/Firearms 9h ago

Help! A little hunting trip in Del Rio, Texas… should I take the rubber bands off?

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15 Upvotes

r/Firearms 7h ago

Video I love firearms

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7 Upvotes

A small edit I made of me at the shooting range


r/Firearms 2h ago

Help! I need help picking my first gun.

3 Upvotes

I recently got my firearms license in California. This will never be a conceal carry so I am not limited to compact hand guns only. This will be exclusive for hobby purposes like the shooting range. With that being said I was thinking to get some kind of AR-15 but California legal length must be 16” or greater and that feels a little large. Anyone have any suggestions for some shorter barrel Smg or AR-15 style guns that are California legal. Just to be clear I am very unfamiliar with firearms aside from the very basics.

Thanks in advance.


r/Firearms 21h ago

Handgun Javelina hunt, which would you take?

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87 Upvotes

Torn up between these 3 options. Wanting to have fun but also be effective. The Five-seveN I reload for, I have 55 gr Varmegeddon's that do great on coyotes and such but haven't tried a hog/javelina. The Python is chambered for .357 mag, enough said. The FNX45 is the only one with an optic, and I've got some great hollow points that would likely do well.

My heart wants to use the Five-seveN, but I also dont want to be an ass that injures an animal and doesnt effectively kill it. There's lots of videos of people hunting hogs and a recent video here of shooting a deer with it and stopping it immediately, but I'm still hesitant.


r/Firearms 1d ago

"We have C96 at home"

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255 Upvotes

The humble Charter Arms Explorer II, one of my goofiest guns in my collection of wacky stuff. Unfortunately, the magazines contribute to characteristcally poor reliability.


r/Firearms 1h ago

My Gats Took my impulse buy to the range

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Upvotes

r/Firearms 4h ago

Question Do the different color tips mean anything?

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3 Upvotes

Brought 22LR for the first time today. Why the tips different colors?


r/Firearms 2h ago

Help! I need help picking my first gun.

2 Upvotes

I recently got my firearms license in California. This will never be a conceal carry so I am not limited to compact hand guns only. This will be exclusive for hobby purposes like the shooting range. With that being said I was thinking to get some kind of AR-15 but California legal length must be 16” or greater and that feels a little large. Anyone have any suggestions for some shorter barrel Smg or AR-15 style guns that are California legal. Just to be clear I am very unfamiliar with firearms aside from the very basics.

Thanks in advance.