Is ATF Going To Make Pistols, Based On Rifles, NFA Items Because of Weight?

[Elderberry]

Ammoland by John Crump 10/27/2020

The law office of Wiley Rein caused a stir on the internet by releasing a client alert where they theorized the ATF might move to make AK pistols and AR pistols NFA items.

Firearms are generally not importable under 18 USC 922(l). However, there is an exception for importable guns in 18 USC 925(d)(3), for any firearm that is (1) not an NFA firearm, (2) not a military surplus firearm, and (3) meets the “sporting purposes” test; however, ATF chooses to define that test? There is not a clear definition.

The ATF has always stated that pistols derived from rifles meet the standard for “sporting purposes.” Now, mere weeks before the election, the rogue agency has reversed course and has taken the position that these guns are “too long” or “too heavy” to meet the sporting purpose test.

    According to the ATF, these guns fail the test because the manufacturers did not design them for the user to fire them from one hand.

The gun control act (GCA) defines a “handgun” in 18 USC 921(a)(29) as a firearm with a “short stock” that the manufacturer designed for the user to fire with one hand. If a gun is not a “handgun” or a “rifle” (921)(a)(7) or a “shotgun” (921)(a)(5), then it is just a “firearm” (921)(a)(3) under the GCA. The ATF considers stripped AR-15 lowers as only firearms. So even if ATF thinks an AR or AK pistol isn’t a “handgun,” it would still be a “firearm” under the GCA. This reclassification doesn’t affect the pistol under the GCA.
The problem is the National Firearms Act (NFA).

The NFA defines what constitutes an NFA “firearm” in 26 USC 5845. This definition is separate from a GCA firearm. The only conceivable NFA classification into which an AK or AR pistol could fall is “any other weapon” (AOW).

    An AOW is defined as: “any weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person from which a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosive, … Such term shall not include a pistol ….”

    The NFA does not define what is and isn’t a pistol. The ATF defines a pistol in 27 CFR 478.11 as “A weapon originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile … when held in one hand….”

The ATF uses the GCA definition of a “handgun” for the NFA term “pistol.” This definition means that the firearm manufacturer did not design it to fire it with one hand.
ATF is now saying that pistols based on rifles weigh too much or are too long to be fired with one hand.

More: https://www.ammoland.com/2020/10/atf-to-make-pistols-based-on-rifles-nfa-items/#axzz6c9FUasHw

[Elderberry]

ATF Continues Rogue Assault on Common Pistols, Rule of Law

NRA-ILA 11/2/2020

https://www.nraila.org/articles/20201102/atf-continues-rogue-assault-on-common-pistols-rule-of-law

Rogue elements of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are continuing their assault on certain types of commonly-owned semi-automatic pistols. According to the law firm Wiley, ATF has developed a new interpretation of “handgun” that threatens to curtail the supply of foreign-manufactured pistols and could put many law-abiding gun owners in legal jeopardy.

Now, ATF appears to be attempting to limit the importation of certain large frame pistols.

Under federal law (18 U.S.C. 922(I)) it is unlawful “for any person, other than a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector, who does not reside in any State to receive any firearms unless such receipt is for lawful sporting purposes.” Further, 18 U.S.C. 925(d)(3) provides that “The Attorney General shall authorize a firearm or ammunition to be imported or brought into the United States or any possession thereof if the firearm… is generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes.” Therefore, in most circumstances, in order to import a firearm into the U.S. the firearm must be “readily adaptable to sporting purposes.”

It is important to note that the “sporting purposes test” predates the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. The Heller decision made clear Americans have an individual right to keep and bear arms for “lawful purposes, such as self-defense.” Given the Court’s emphasis on Americans’ right to access arms for a variety of lawful purposes, including self-defense, the continued validity of the “sporting purposes test” is dubious.

Even more dangerous Is how ATF’s recent reinterpretation of the “handgun” definition may affect millions of law-abiding gun owners. In recent years, the AR-15 and other intermediate cartridge semi-automatic pistols have become increasingly popular. If ATF were to apply a version of their new subjective interpretation of the “handgun” definition to these firearms the agency could find that these common pistols are not “handguns.”

Such an interpretation could place these common pistols under NFA regulation as “Any Other Weapon” (AOW). AOWs are required to be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Possessing an unregistered AOW is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment in federal prison.

More at link.

My son has 2 pistols that could be affected;  A Zastava PAP M92 and an AR-15 300 Blackout pistol.