The short version:
I have been trading emails with an engraver about having the logo of a government agency put on the side of an AR-15 receiver for a project that I am doing for a friend. The topic of whether the logo, which I downloaded from the agency’s website since it was a really clear .gif file, is public domain came up. Now, I know precisely nothing about public domain and copyright law, so can someone clue me in? If I take that logo and have it slapped on the side of a carbine, will I run afoul of some statute? I have never been associated with that agency, and my friend has been retired for more than a decade from them.
And yes, the irony of me, as a LEO who has told countless people not to ask for legal advice on the internet, asking for legal advice on the internet, is not lost. 