Recoil Magazine reported that several people who have purchased Glock full auto rear plates had been taken into custody by law enforcement. The ATF had gotten Paypal records indicating they’ve purchased these parts and is now pursuing these folks. This even caused one man to apparently jump out a window with a whole bunch of these plates and injure himself quite a bit before being detained. These guys weren’t criminal masterminds, they were just guys with a smartphone who became felons by being idiots. They purchased these gun parts from the Wish app. Yep, ordered, and shipped to their home without much hassle really. In about five minutes you could install it on your Glock and rock out at the cyclic rate.

Making a machine gun without an FFL Type 7 is a big freakin’ deal and a major violation of the National Firearms Act. I hate the NFA and the Hughes Amendment, but I recognize that violating it is a quick trip to Federal Prison with a hefty fine likely to follow. I’m a nice guy so I’m going to help you a little and give you a guide to not committing a felony via Wish, Amazon, Alibaba, and other e-commerce sights.

How Do I Avoid a Felony With Wish?

First off do not buy a full auto switch on Wish or Amazon. In fact, I’ve seen these switches on Amazon, but they are never properly labeled for what they are. They may advertise them as airsoft switches, or even semi-auto switches. Just don’t. They are so common they are the first suggested search when you type Glock in the Wish Search bar.

That’s not the only felonious gun part they sell. You can even find silencers and silencer parts. Sometimes they are advertised as muzzle brakes and are just the baffles without a sleeve. The ATF has ruled those are suppressor parts and possession of them without a tax stamp of FFL/SOT constitutes a felony. So just say no!

The Almost Felonies of Wish

The two above are very clearly felonies, there is no way to order one from Wish or Amazon legally. There are ways to possess them legally, but even with the proper license neither Wish nor Amazon has the complaint set up to allow a transfer of these parts.

However, there are some other parts selling on both sites that could be felonies, but ordering one is fine, it’s how you use it.

First, there are stocks designed to attach to pistols, again mostly Glocks. These stocks are legal in a few different ways. If your Glock is an SBR they are legal to use. After installing a 16-inch barrel on your Glock they are legal to use. If you own a Glock airsoft gun and not an actual Glock you are good to go. The same goes for those goofy Glock vertical Foregrips.

Another item you can find almost anywhere is a solvent trap adapter. A Solvent trap adapter is a thread adapter to allow you to use an oil filter to catch solvent as you clean your bore. However, some folks use these as suppressors and without a proper form and tax stamp it’s illegal.

Receivers and frames show up, and these can be illegal. However, if they are 80% lowers, or frames they are perfectly legal to purchase without an FFL. Just make sure to grab the correct 80 percent lower jig. Sometimes you can find Poly 80 Glocks on Amazon, which are completely legal to buy. However, complete lowers or frames require an FFL and Wish and Amazon aren’t exactly compliant with ATF guidelines because they aren’t set up to sell guns.

Shop Safe, Shop S-Mart

When it comes to buying gun parts it’s just a good idea to stay away from poorly described Amazon and Wish entries. Even the legal parts are typically crap overall and will rarely last. Buy from reputable companies and shop Smart, people. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Buying and possessing these parts is illegal and it turns out the ATF is keeping their eyes open in this regard.

This article was originally published in April 2020.