Huntsville man finds out his antique shotgun/pistol illegal under 1934 law

I have always wanted one of those.
I have looked a few times at them, but probably will never get one. I do have one of those Serbu Super Shorties in 12 guage and quickly discovered that the recoil is absolutely ferocious and it shoots about two feet higher than you think it should. I guess I don't need more stuff that really has no practical value: but I have always thought the Auto Burglar was very cool looking.
I knew someone that had one that got it pretty much under the same kind of circumstances: it was just something passed down through the family. I advised him that it was almost certainly an unregistered NFA weapon: he had no idea about this sort of thing.
 
> Huntsville man finds out his antique shotgun/pistol illegal under 1934 law

Interesting.....I just joined your group and I have an H&R "Handy Gun", .410 (see picture).
When my Dad passed away back in 2001, my Mom gave it over to me. The story of the gun goes that my Grandfather, won it in a bet, in a beer bar, in Oregon.
I did the right thing (probably not the smart thing) I registered it with California DOJ. As I did a couple of other pistols I got from my Father. The Handy gun was registered as a relic / curio (I have the paperwork to prove it).
Just this afternoon, was getting some of my guns together for a weekend shooting trip to the desert this coming weekend. I called DOJ (the number on my registration paperwork and asked about taking it out to shoot it in the desert (If I were stopped on the road with it). They transferred me around until I got the VM of a lady in permits and licenses..........I did not leave a VM, read this thread looking for advice. It is back in my safe and will not be taken out of my house.
 

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Believe it or not, most BATFE agents are not JBTs or mindless robocops, but that is a tough law to enforce with any charity. The law simply does not allow for what they did. Everything will work out because they went an extra mile to do the right thing, but I cannot help wondering if they were more concerned with adverse publicity than with trying for real justice.

Jim
 
Way back in the 1960's I picked up a Ithica 20ga Auto/Burglar gun....I was in California then, and there was a gun store and gun smith every few miles in Los Angeles at that time. (Think I paid about $100 for it).

Other than silencers and full auto, nobody much cared much about what you had.

In the 1970's a "friend" borrowed my Ithica, got a DUI and had it in the car...bye bye gun, otherwise I would probably still have it.

It was a perfect gun if you had a pocket on your door to put it in. Easy to get to if you needed it. I think I settled on #5 buckshot for it.
 
whats the law about black powder then? i know someone that bought one from a gun shop and nothing was said. dbl barrel , 12 inches of steel and the oal was 24inches. the only thing the shop said is if you shoot it the valuim wood go down on it.it has that gold pictures thing going on it !
 
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What about the "Howdah" pistols Cabelas sells? They're black powder dbl shotgun pistol things. Are they legal because they're black powder?
 
ATF

I don't buy it. My old auto burglar is illegal. Numerous calls to ATF over a number of years cannot help. Maybe I should call Hyche.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Black powder guns are exempt from NFA rules.
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Muzzleloading guns are exempt. Cartridges are cartridges, regardless of powder type. Unless you push the projectile into the weapon from the same end it will exit from, it is not a muzzleloader. The "inline" guns get a little fuzzy.
 
Just to throw this info out, in Alabama, as far as I am aware, SBR and SBS are currently prohibited by state law, so that's probably why this was not ever considered by the concerned parties.
 
I think a 1:400 twist would be best...
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HA! I love it!

My FFL just got a visit from the ATF. They called ahead of time. Normally they do not but so many shops are going out of business they hate to show up and have the store be empty (I guess they'll probably come to your home in that case to take your books). Anyway, the FFL was not pleased about the visit. They had no cause, just a random check.

But he said it went really well. He keeps very good records and they ATF guy was plenty satisfied. The funny part was this ATF guy said something like, "Yeah, I'm not going to rake you over the coals. If you were managed by other agent in the office, we'd be here for days going through these boxes" Apparently they are supposed to check the last 100 transfers. Thoroughly. This guy did half a dozen of them and wrapped up in a couple hours.
 
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