The rule outlines the factors ATF would consider when evaluating firearms equipped with a purported “stabilizing brace” (or other rearward attachment) to determine whether these weapons would be considered a “rifle” or “short-barreled rifle” under the Gun Control Act of 1968, or a “rifle” or “firearm” subject to regulation under the National Firearms Act. The rule’s amended definition of “rifle” clarifies that the term “designed, redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder” includes a weapon that is equipped with an accessory, component, or other rearward attachment (e.g., a “stabilizing brace”) that provides surface area that allows the weapon to be fired from the shoulder, provided other factors, as listed in the definition, indicate the weapon is designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder.
FINAL RULE TEXT HERE (all 293 (!) pages of it)
I took the time to read just about every part of the rule. From what I was able to ascertain, most AR pistols with a brace will be considered a rifle, if the brace has a back that can be placed on your shoulder.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the verbiage is pretty ridiculous and often seems to contradict itself at times. This is not an accident, but a feature, in my opinion. The BATFE always likes to leave themselves wiggle room, in order to be able to put the screws to anyone that they want to have leverage over.
The biggest part of this rule making that I am feeling is that more is on the way. This is just the first shot of a siege of the Biden Administration. We all know that the liberals want all guns to just disappear in a puff! But we know that with the Bruen decision they can't do it directly, so they have had to get shall we say, creative. And unless the SCOTUS cracks down on this strategy, it will likely stand, and wait for the next shoe to drop, which likely be some form of registration of AR 15's and AK 47's. That is one that they probably can get away with, if they follow the same path that they have cut with the brace rules. They will likely try to do something by the end of summer.
So, if you Remove the "Pistol Stabilizing Brace", Is it, or Is It Not, a "Short-Barrel Rifle"?
DeleteIMO, and AR without a Stock, and a Short Barrel is not very Useful as either a Rifle or Pistol.
5.56-MM without the 20-inch Barrel that it was designed for makes for an underperforming Round.
YMMV.
Your SBR question: I don't know. I've been watching videos put out by lawyers and I'm getting conflicting reports. The rule outlaws pistol braces, but it also has other criteria such as length and weight of the firearm as well as optics and back up sights.
DeleteEven without the brace, if it weighs over 4 pounds (don't quote me on that), and they all do, it's an SBR. If the optics require eye relief, it's an SBR.
So who knows? The rule just came out yesterday and nobody's had time to go through and study (key word there) all 293 pages. We'll know more in a few days.
As far as underperformance, you're thinking of the M-16 and the original ammo. It's a whole 'nother ballgame with today's ammo. Even the military realizes that seeing as the M-4 sports a 14 inch barrel.
What would Henry Bowman do?
ReplyDeleteBear Claw
Lemme get this straight. People far away get to arbitrarily make silly assed rules that I am supposed to obey just because? As a rule I ignore rules. fuk em ded
ReplyDeleteI said fuck it, and am doing the paperwork on four guns, five if I can get the last one in time. Pain in the ass, but seeing as how once they're tax stamped they will count as a "SBR" the ability to mod and change out parts makes it worth while to us.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the 5.56 in a less than 20" barrel, that really only matters if you are running 55gr fmj and want it to fragment on impact. If you use modern bonded soft point ammo (Speer Gold Dot, or Federal Fusion are two good examples) or a prefragmented solid copper (LeHigh defense Controlled Copper Chaos, for example) you can technically drop down to *about* 12.5" barrel length without losing to much effectiveness. Change up the powder used, or create your own hand load and there really isn't to much you can't do. Hell, before I sold it I had a .300blk with a 8.5" barrel that I was getting 2190-2210 fps out of a supersonic frangible load, with 2095-2111 fps out of a 125gr FMJ practice load.
Just have to play around with the platform and your preferred load.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on the registration. I've heard the ATF estimates there are up to 40 million braces out there. As bogged down as the ATF site is with just suppressors and the guns being registered as SBR/SBS before this ruling came down, can you imagine the wait time now if only 10% of the owners of AR pistols tried to register them in the 120 day period? It may be years before you get your Mother-May-I slip.
DeleteOh, I expect it will be 12-14 months, just like the last time I did it, however if the paperwork is sent in then the items that are 'processing' are not illegal to own, even after the 120 day grace period.
DeleteAlso, to be honest, I had been planning to put all of those on Form 1's anyway, since as I mentioned above it makes life easier when it comes to adding accessories and parts if you don't have to play the ATF guessing game bullshit. (Is adding this part legal? A felony? Who the hell knows, the ATF hasn't consulted the magic 8ball today)
An example of how dumb this stuff is:
A 9mm CMMG Banshee (AR pistol that takes Glock magazines, and has a 5'+9" barrel.) *cannot* have a vertical foregrip without violating the NFA....
However a Kalashnikov USA 'Komrade' 12ga which is a 12ga AK with a 12.5" barrel, comes with a vertical foregrip *from the factory*.
The Banshee is considered a handgun, due to having a rifles barrel and being under 26" overall length which means adding a for grip is "creating a short rifle", but the Komrade is a "firearm" because it's *not* a shotgun (a shotgun *must* have a stock and is fired from the shoulder), it's not a pistol (must have a rifles barrel and be under 26" overall length) and it's not a rifle (minimum 16" barrel, rifling, fired from shoulder) so it's a "firearm" and as such can have a foregrip.
This absolutely retarded idiocy can be disregarded if whatever is in question is NFA registered. Since I already have NFA items, and have been in the industry long enough that I would bet money I am *already* on their radar, I don't worry to much about it.
Oh, I think you're looking at years rather than months because as I said, their system is bogged down now. Think about what it's going to be like when 10% of the owners of the 40 million (and I'm just pulling those two figures out of my hat) AR pistols flood the system trying to register theirs.
DeleteAnd I'm not too sure you'll be legal just because you beat the time frame. After all, I can't take possession of a suppressor until my paperwork is APPROVED, not just filed. Also, if I wanted to convert an AR carbine to a pistol, I couldn't complete the assembly until my paperwork is approved.
Regardless of whether I'm right or wrong, I do wish you luck in your endeavors if that's the route you choose to take.
I am going to be pulling all the questionable parts, until the Form 1s come back, just to be on the safe side. Thanks for wishing me luck with it, in my experiences with the NFA branch I may need some luck.
ReplyDelete