Friday, August 06, 2010
NFA weapons are: machine guns, sound suppressors (a.k.a. silencers), short barreled shotguns, short barreled rifles, destructive devices and "any other weapons". A machine gun is any gun that can fire more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger, or a receiver of a machine gun, or a combination of parts for assembling a machine gun, or a part or set of parts for converting a gun into a machine gun. A silencer is any device for muffling the gunshot of a portable firearm, or any part exclusively designed or intended for such a device (see discussion below). A short barreled shotgun is any shotgun (shoulder fired, smooth bore) with a barrel of less than 18" or an overall length of less than 26", or any weapon made from a shotgun falling into the same length parameters. A short barreled rifle is a rifle (shoulder fired, rifled bore) with a barrel length of less than 16", or an overall length of less than 26", or any weapon made from a rifle falling into the same length parameters (like a pistol made from a rifle). In measuring barrel length you do it from the closed breech to the muzzle, see 27 CFR sec. 179.11. To measure overall length do so along, "the distance between the extreme ends of the weapon measured along a line parallel to the center line of the bore." 27 CFR sec. 179.11. On a folding stock weapon you measure with the stock extended, provided the stock is not readily detachable, and the weapon is meant to be fired from the shoulder. A destructive device (DD) is a explosive, incendiary or poison gas weapon, or any firearm with a bore over 1/2", with exceptions for sporting shotguns, among other things (see discussion below). Any other weapons (AOW's) are a number of things; smooth bore pistols, any pistol with more than one grip,(but see below) gadget type guns (cane gun, pen gun) and shoulder fired weapons with both rifled and smooth bore barrels between 12" and 18", that must be manually reloaded (see discussion below). These definitions are simplified, to see if a specific gun is a title 1 or 2 firearm one needs to refer to the specific definition under the statute(s), and possibly consult with the Technology Branch of ATF. There is also case law on the issue of whether a specific item falls into one of these categories.
-There is no tax on transfers to anyone of a weapon that is unserviceable. Making a weapon unserviceable means it is permanently altered so that it cannot work, and is not readily restorable. For example a gun can be made unserviceable by welding the chamber closed, and welding the barrel to the receiver or frame. An unserviceable weapon is sometimes called a DEWAT, for DE-activated WAr Trophy (see below).
