ANTIQUE premium for a Winchester, or any firearm, for that matter…|General Discussions & Questions|Forum|Winchester Collector

Since this was brought up in another thread…

It was already addressed that an antique, pre 1899 firearm, possesses advantages that post 1898 firearms do not.  It was brought up that perhaps this should be revised such that anything pre WWI should be considered antique.  If that’s the case, perhaps the definition of antique should be anything over 70 years of age (pre 1956), as that is what an antique firearm was defined to be in 1968.

BUT

I pointed out due to research I did in 1998, when I was hoping that it would be redefined that an antique would be considered anything that hit the Century mark, and so, by now, being a sliding scale, anything pre 1926 would be considered antique.

Which makes total sense, until you understand how pre 1899 was derived.  I would never say Congress was competent, but at least a few Congressmen had working knowledge of firearms, or knew whom to consult to get that.  At that time, pre 1898 was the year in which antique was to be defined, as the Mauser 1898 action was determined to be modern.  Anything before that was antique.  Due to a clerical error, it became pre 1899 and not pre 1898.

And so, the definition is technological, and not chronological.

And, many years ago, I thought this might be in jeopardy when an elderly man opened fire using a pre 1899 Winchester Model 1890 rifle he inherited from his father.  I think he killed or wounded a guard or two.  Amazingly, nothing came of that incident.  Not to say that a repeat incident couldn’t occur, as there are plenty of pre 1899 firearms out there.  I’m certainly pleased with the industriousness of our forefathers!

Nonetheless, if a repeat incident were to occur, and this status of pre 1899 firearms were addressed, could any of the following happen?

Congress gets rid of the antique status?  I’m sure that could easily happen.

Or, the President issues an Executive Order.  I’m not sure if that’s possible, but, then again, is it impossible?

For these reasons, it’s probably best the pre 1899 antique firearm status is not brought to the attention of your Congress critter as it may be well meaning to change the status to a much later date, but I’m sure that Democrats could use this to their advantage once they discover this exists at all.  Fortunately, Trump won and there was a Republican landslide, but that won’t always be the case.

We are placing a premium on a pre 1899 firearms and it doesn’t seem all that impossible, albeit in greater than 4 years now, with the stroke of a pen, that could be gone.

What really should be addressed, instead, for which the NRA should have fought mightily, was the Gun Control Acts of 1934 and 1968, as the Second Amendment clearly states:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The GCA of 1934 and 1968 is infringement.  Every time you complete a Form 4473, that’s infringement…