ATF: Shotgun with a pistol grip is not a shotgun

Bill, if the 17 is a typo, it was made by BATF&E in the original referenced documents. In John R. Spencer's October 2010 finding, I believe the governing factor was an overall length in excess of 26-inches, not a barrel under 18.
 
What is a Title 1 Firearm?


Title 1 firearms are long guns (rifles and shotguns), handguns, silencer, and firearm frames or receivers.
Title 1 is generally called the Gun Control Act, (18 U.S.C. sec. 921 et seq.).
Most NFA weapons are also Title 1 firearms.
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Title I of the Gun Control Act of 1968 lists everything considered a firearm. This included most NFA firearms at the time. Because of a legal case in 1968, the National Firearm Act of 1934 had to be changed and this "amendment" became Title II of the Gun Control Act of 1968. This dealt only with provisions involving NFA items, including adding the newly defined Destructive Device.

As a result of all this mumbo-jumbo, the term Title I has become used with common, everyday firearms and Title II has become used with NFA items.
 
A shotgun with an 18"bbl and over, with an added pistol grip,but still over 26" can't technically be a Title I shotgun because it's not "designed to be fired from the shoulder".
It can't be an AOW because it's not a combination shotgun/rifle, and it doesn't have a barrel between 12 and 18" or a length under 26". It's not a "weapon made from a shotgun" because it's often coming from the factory in that manner.
So it ends up being a "pistol" per GCA. Only if the OAL or barrel is cut below threshold,does it become an AOW.

Of course if ATF Tech Branch gets peeved with this recent fussing over shorty shotguns and trying avoid Title II taxation, they could just shove them all under the DD label like the USAS/Striker 12s ,since the bores are over .50". The sporting purposes clause interpretation by the AG's office is the only thing that keeps everyone's 32 gauge or larger shotgun from being a Title II DD.
 
So it ends up being a "pistol" per GCA.
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No, it doesn't. It does not meet the definition of a pistol either.

Pistol. A weapon originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or more barrels when held in one hand, and having (a) a chamber(s) as an integral part(s) of, or permanently aligned with, the bore(s); and (b) a short stock designed to be gripped by one hand and at an angle to and extending below the line of the bore(s).
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So it is just a generic "firearm" without a specific definition. Another example of why it cannot be a pistol and/or handgun is you can attach a vertical foregrip to it and it stays a non-NFA firearm. Attach a vertical foregrip to a pistol and it becomes an AOW.


We are lucky ATF doesn't classify it a Destructive Device.
 
I bought my 870 strictly for home defense it came with a factory grip

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I bought my 870 strictly for home defense it came with a factory grip
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The issue is not with a fore-grip, either factory or after market. It is with the Cruiser types that do not have a rear stock, only a pistol type grip. The controversy as I understand it, is that An ATF official apparently advised that a Shotgun with a barrel length of 17" and an overall length of 26.25" fell under CGA, not NFA and is neither a Rifle or a Shotgun. Rather it is classified under the broad heading of "any other Weapon."

The 17" barrel is what is in question.
 
The issue is not with a fore-grip, either factory or after market. It is with the Cruiser types that do not have a rear stock, only a pistol type grip.
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The gun is right next to me but I don't have a tape measure to measure OAL. With the rear stock folded it is essentially a shotgun without a rear stock

EDITI took some measurements, length with stock folded is 29 inches, barrel length seems to be the shortest legal length 18 inches



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The 17" barrel is what is in question.
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The 17" barrel is a mistake, typo, boo-boo, error. Minimum barrel length for a non-NFA shotgun is 18".

Remember, this is the group that classified a shoestring to be a machinegun. I got a letter to prove it.
 
Hkmp5sd,

That makes two. Thanks for sharing the letter.
I'd like to see how the shoestring trick actually works.
If a shoestring 14" long, looped at each end is sold as a gun part, apparently ATF would consider it contraband. I wonder if these ATF opinions ever get retracted and corrected or amended.
 
Hkmp5sd,

I notice the date stamp of 2007 on the clarification letter.

The attempt to clarify the original opinion is reassuring to the extent that I can legally posses shoestrings.

The clarification as it is worded however is specific only regarding shoestrings. It might have been more meaningful if the clarification addressed "any" device. a bungee cord, a lever, etc. to enhance cycling of the firearm, the exception being the use of one's finger to pull a trigger.
 
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