Oops
When those that enforce the law don’t know the law, it’s amusing. The ATF, in an FAQ, gets some gun laws wrong with respect to short barreled shotguns. Wouldn’t be a big deal, after all, what’s a couple of inches? The issue is that they’ll put you in jail for 10 years for violating the law they got wrong. David Hardy provides some interesting history on why shotguns are must be 18 inches and rifles must be 16 inches:
The 16 inch limit only applies to rifles (because after WWII the government found to its embarassment that it had sold loads of M-1 carbines, as surplus, with 16 1/4 barrels). Shotguns with barrels under 18″ have been subject to NFA registration since the statute was enacted in 1934.
I always wondered about that.
October 2nd, 2006 at 8:26 am
So in fact short-barreled long arms, at least if the bore is rifled, do have a verified military use. Too bad Miller’s lawyers were never given the opportunity to seek discovery regarding shotcarbines.