hypothetical short barrel shotgun

[dogtown tom]

ballardw
...Randy was "requested" to cut the barrel(s) to less than 16 inches by a purchaser. IIRC, it was later determined the actual length was 16.25in after cutting.....

And?
The minimum length of a Title I shotgun barrel is 18". Whether it was 16" or 16.25" is irrelevant as both would be considered a SBS.

 

[dogtown tom]

44 AMP

SOME of the same rules apply, but not all of them. WHEN the short barrel is installed on a receiver, NFA item, check. Required to be registered (and tax paid) in order for legal ownership, check. But then things split more than a bit.

It's nitpicky, but a short barrel installed on a receiver isn't necessarily a SBS or NFA firearm. The Remington TAC14 and Mossberg Shockwave are example that are not NFA firearms. Both have 14" barrels.

A barrel of less than 18" installed on a receiver with a shoulder stock is a SBS. As is any shotgun with any length barrel and an OAL of less than 26".

machine gun status takes precedence over all other features.

Absolutely true.

As to the Randy Weaver matter, there are lots of stories about what happened, with differing details, and none of them, including the sworn testimony at the trial are proven beyond doubt.

The story I heard, and consider most plausible, is that Weaver cut the barrels to legal length (18" or possibly 18.25"). The guy who wanted the barrels cut (and bought the guns after Weaver cut them) was an ATF informant, and that when he delivered the guns to the ATF agents running the case, the guns were measured and came up 1/4" short of the legal overall length. The entire matter resulting from that was horribly and tragically mishandled by the ATF and the FBI and Weaver's son and wife, and a US Marshal died as a result. Also remember that after the prosecutor literally walked out of court and quit during the trial, the Govt settled with Weaver, paying a bunch of money and "admitted no wrong doing".

This.

I believe Weaver was recorded by the FBI as offering to supply an informant several sawed off shotguns per week. Whether sawed off or not, thats engaging in the business of dealing in firearms without an FFL.

I have no doubt that Randy Weaver was engaged in illegal activity. He shared responsibility for the deaths of his wife and child with the FBI. In an interview years later he said as much.