Government 1911 .45's May Soon Be Sold To The Public

The good news is that US issued 1911 45. pistols may soon be sold to the public. The bad news is that official release hasn't happened. The latest National Authorization Act (NDAA) calls for sale of these military relics. But, It's 10,000 per year through the  Civilian Marksmanship Program, and there's government red tape, of course. And authorization is pending. Maybe The President will push through repatriation of over 200,000 M1 Garands that are on hold since Hillary and Obama stopped their sale.

Many will complain that they would rather buy a commercial .45 auto than a piece of "junk." That's fine.There will be some clunkers included; however, all sold will be graded and priced accordingly. Big deal. You wont be buying a proverbial pig in a poke.

The appeal is owning a piece of HISTORY.  Has the .45 you are buying from CMP visited the beaches of Normandy? Was it on a South Pacific battlefield. Did it serve in Korea or Vietnam? Or, was it hardly used and carried by a Soldier or Marine and never saw combat?

If  you want to shoot it, try it after a good inspection. If it just needs parts like a new barrel, extractor, spring, or other common replacement parts, so what? They are always available to buy and easy to replace.

Here's what you need to know from the CMP.

December 19, 2017

The CMP Board of Directors has discussed at length how the sales of 1911s would be handled, if the CMP were to ever receive them from the United States Army.

Some preliminary decisions further clarified updated 12/19/2017:

1. CMP will have an all-new 1911 order form, 1911 purchasing instructions, a 1911 page on our web site, a dedicated 1911 FFL fax number and email address for the FFL holder to send their FFL with customer's name attached. The customer will have to send in a complete new order packet with all new qualifying criteria included. Everyone will be a new customer, everyone starts with no advantage or disadvantage. CMP 1911 is an FFL governed operation and is a separate entity from CMP and has to have its own record keeping operation with no ties to the old CMP records. 
2. Decisions concerning the grade and pricing of the 1911s will not be made until inspection has occurred of a substantial quantity which will take an estimated 150 days post receipt.  CMP will price at fair market value in accordance with CMP's enabling legislation.
3. Potential purchasers will have to provide to CMP a new set of documents exhibiting:  1) proof of U.S. Citizenship, 2) proof of membership in a CMP affiliated club, 3) proof of participation in a marksmanship activity, 4) a new form 2A with notary, 5) a signed copy of the 01, or 02, or 07 Federal Firearms License in which the 1911 will be transferred to.
4. A NICS background check will be performed by CMP on the customer to assure the customer is eligible to purchase prior to shipment to the FFL licensed dealer. The customer must receive a "proceed" from NICS prior to shipment of the pistol to the FFL licensed dealer.
5. The CMP customer will be required to complete a form 4473 in person at the FFL dealers place of business, successfully passing a NICS check, in which the information is provided by the FFL holder to NICS, before the pistol can be transferred.  This is a second NICS check performed on the customer.
6. Qualified CMP customer will only be allowed to purchase one 1911 per calendar year.
7. No 1911s available in the CMP stores, or on line, only mail order sales.  All 1911 orders will come in via USPS, UPS, Fed EX, etc.
8. CMP will set the date in which it will accept orders for the 1911s. The date will be posted to the world.
9. Orders will only be accepted via mail order delivery, USPS, UPS, Fed Ex, etc.
10. Orders will only be accepted post marked on the date or after, no early orders.
11. Once CMP receives 10,000 orders, customer names will be loaded into the Random Number Generator.
12. The Random Number Generator will provide a list of names in sequence order through a random picking process to CMP. 
13. Customers will be contacted in the sequence provided by the Random Number Generator.
14. When the customer is contacted a list of 1911 grades and pricing options that are available will be offered for selection of one 1911 type pistol.
15. As CMP proceeds down the sequenced list less grades and pricing options will be available. 

Reasons for the two NICS checks:

First Reason:  The first NICS check makes sure the customer can legally possess the 1911 type pistol prior to shipping it to the local 01, or 02, or 07 FFL dealer.  The CMP, Congress, and the United States Army do not want the 1911 to have to be shipped back to CMP 1911 if the purchaser is not legal to possess.  The more in transit the pistol is, the more likely it could be lost or stolen.  The second NICS check is performed by the local 01, or 02, or 07 FFL in accordance with their standard transfer procedures.   

Second Reason:  CMP’s enabling legislation mandated by Congress specifies that the purchaser “successfully pass a thorough and complete background check”, i.e. NICS.  CMP cannot turn any firearm over to the purchaser until it receives a “proceed” from NICS, the local FFL can turn the pistol over after 72 business hours have elapsed if they have not heard back from NICS.  Turning the pistol over after 72 hours and not getting a “proceed” does not satisfy CMP’s enabling legislation mandated by Congress.  This leaves CMP no choice but to have a NICS check done and get a “proceed” to satisfy its enabling legislation, before shipping to the local 01, or 02, or 07 FFL.

Note: 1911 type pistols purchased from CMP cannot be transferred to 03 FFL (curio and relic) license.  BATF and the United States Army prefer the second background check be performed by an FFL dealer.  Each customer purchasing a 1911 type pistol from CMP will be subjected to two NICS background checks, one the information provided by CMP to NICS and the second the information will be provided to NICS by the FFL dealer in which the pistol is shipped.

Ordering Information: CMP will have an all-new 1911 order form, 1911 purchasing instructions, a 1911 page on our web site, a dedicated 1911 FFL fax number and email address for the FFL holder to send their FFL with customer name attached. The customer will have to send in a complete new order packet with all new qualifying criteria included. Everyone will be a new customer, everyone starts with no advantage or disadvantage. CMP 1911 is an FFL governed operation and is a separate entity from CMP and has to have its own record keeping operation with no ties to the old CMP records. 

Concerning sale price of the 1911s: CMP has been selling M1 Garands, M1 Carbines, 1903s, .22s, etc. for 21+ years and we have never taken advantage of anyone. CMP is not going to start price gouging people now with the 1911s. The 1911s will be priced at fair market value just like our M1 Garands. The CMP's enabling legislation directs sales of items at fair market value.