I’m looking to put together an AR pistol. Recently, I was in my LGS talking with the salesman. He wasn’t trying to sell me anything, I was just asking him questions about the rules involving pistols. Here is my understanding:
I can use one of my rifles lowers [with less than 16" barrel] as long as it was a stripped [or complete lower] as long as it wasn’t sold as a complete rifle. I can add a pistol brace.
Is this true or do I need to buy a lower specifically as a pistol?
What is the current wisdom of shouldering a braced pistol?
Strictly speaking, if a rifle lower began life as a rifle (was first used with a 16" or longer barrel) it is always a rifle no matter what length barrel upper is on it. Put a short barrel on it and you have an illegal SBR.
If a lower begins life with a short barrel and a bare buffer tube (or now once again a pistol brace, thank you last week’s court ruling) it is a pistol and can use both short and 16"+ barrels.
Yes, this is what I read somewhere else. Just confirming. I’ve been doing searches on the interwebz but there are new, very recent rules and judgments.
What is the current wisdom of shouldering a braced pistol?
With all the nonsense the past several years, why kick an already upset bee hive?
Pony up the $200 for a stamp if you want to shoulder a short barreled weapon as opposed to hoping you don’t get in trouble using a “loop hole”.
This answer always seems to come up whenever there’s a question about pistols. Some of us don’t want to register our weapons with the ATF and pay $200, some of us don’t want to have to ask permission from the ATF to take our weapons across state lines. There’s a reason the OP asked about AR pistols and not SBR’s
He asked about shouldering a pistol with a brace (aka using an SBR).
I’m saying don’t poke the bear, if you want a SBR just pay for it instead of playing the semantics game. If you want a pistol great, then don’t use it as an SBR which is what all the nonsense has been about.
As to crossing state lines, send in the form with all states you might enter and it’s done, super simple and you’re not doing anything illegal. Is $200 really worth all the drama, to me it isn’t.
My issue is not the $200… I’ve paid it for a SBS, a few SBRs and all of my suppressors.
My main issue is the engraving part. With the recent pressure on shipping companies, it is difficult/costly to get my firearms engraved. That is also why I jumped on the amnesty, because the receiver just used the original stampings rather than having to add my own… but saving $1,200 did go a long way.
I’m sort of tossing between getting a PSA Krinkov to SBR or one of those A-Team Mini-14s. I’d prefer the Krinkov, but shipping a pistol is a pain/expensive. If I can argue that it is a “rifle” upon shipping… Priority and hit the “That Was Easy” button. But unfortunately, I know the regulations and try not to break them intentionally. So, UPS or FedEx… overnight with a large pistol will be a couple times more costly.
For the 5320.20… I do those each fiscal year for the states I will travel to or have previously. If I think I’m going somewhere different for work (trainings or SW border temporary posting), I’ll put it in as soon as I know.
Worst case, now that we are in the post SC decision… two pins and pistol lower. That was my intent when the amnesty happened (kept a brace for that predicted lower build), because I think we all knew it wasn’t going to hold water. All of the pistols I registered were going to be SBRed as I got the time/money.
I mean, I’d love it if the NFA was dropped. But with my job, following the rules is sort of a given. I’m not kissing my career goodbye for unregistered NFA items… especially with the chance of one or two of them potentially being used off duty.
Shouldering a pistol brace is not using an sbr. Its still a pistol via the written law. There are no loopholes, only laws thst arent worded the way certain people want them to be after the fact.
Bullpups are also a “loophole” based on the intent but no one gives a shit because the entire premise is BS
