under 18" shotgun barrels; when do they become illegal?

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Hypothetical:

Suppose I bought a shotgun from another dude here at ODT who advertised it as being a home defense shotgun that had been cut down from a long sporting length 28 inch modified choke barrel to be an 18 inch cylinder bore only barrel.

Suppose I took his word that it was 18 inches and put it in my safe for years. I moved to another part of the country the seller got old and died. SO, NO RETURNS, NO UNDOING THE DEAL W/HIM.

After 10 years from the date I acquired it, I pull it out of my safe and decide to measure the barrel. IT's only 17 1/2 inches! (From closed bolt breechface to edge of muzzle.)


WHAT WOULD I DO ??


Give the barrel to a friend to keep at his home until he can sell it. He will be authorized to sell it at fair market value to any legal purchaser, and he can keep half the money and I'll take the other half.


Then I'll use my half of the money, plus some more money of my own, to shop around for a used barrel for this make and model shotgun that's over 18 inches.

Yeah, I'll end up having more money in this gun than I should have and it wouldn't be a very good bargain. However, that's better than being in possession of an unlawful, unregistered, short-barreled shotgun which can earn you 10 years in prison and tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

 

[spencer60]

Who would he sell it to?

Unlike a lot of AR folks who have an SBR'd lower as a catch-all, that's pretty uncommon for a shotgun.

If it was a Rem 870 or Mossberg 500 you could always buy a 'shockwave' so that it would be legal on that I guess, but it seems like a lot of trouble to go to to 'save' an $80 barrel. Just deactivate it and call it a lesson leaned... next time carry a tape measure with you.

If you have a shotgun barrel that is less than 18 in and was not made that way it was cut down when does it become illegal to own?
Is it like a suppressor? Not illegal until you actually mount?
I am speaking of a factory Barrel that has been cut down but not installed. Is it illegal to have in your possession?
Just one of those curiosity things that popped out of nowhere don't worry I don't have a barrel under 19 in

Not sure what you mean by 'like a suppressor' here... and illegal suppressor is illegal weather it's mounted on a gun or not.

I'd tend to agree with the folks that say it's not illegal if you don't have anything that it can be used with. It can hardly be a SBS is there's no 'shotgun' to attach it to.

 

[sniper22]

Its only illegal if you get caught

 

[BIKER13]

ever notice how the criminals dont say a lot about illegal weapons

 

[sniper22]

ever notice how the criminals dont say a lot about illegal weapons

And when one is used in a crime, no one days anything about it then either...

 

[rumrunner55]

I believe shotguns have the stipulation of “AND” when it comes to OAL of 26” AND 18” barrel for it to remain legal vs the “either” or “or”

 

[steviesterno]

I believe shotguns have the stipulation of “AND” when it comes to OAL of 26” AND 18” barrel for it to remain legal vs the “either” or “or”

Shotguns do. Firearms/other do not. Depends how it’s originally sold

 

[gh1950]

There is a letter from ATF from several years ago that addresses this issue. I have no idea how you would find it.

There is a very small set of gunsmiths who convert double barrel shotguns to double rifles. Two ways to do this, use a sleeves (liners) or cut the barrels off at the receiver and create a monobloc into which new barrels are inserted.

The second method creates for a period short barreled shotgun.

BATF said that if the operation of cutting the barrels and installing new barrels was completed in one day, it was technically a violation but it would not prosecute. Due to the work involved in regulating the barrels this is not practical in most cases. Basically their reasoning was as long as the gunsmith was "hands on" it was a process and nothing had been created.

Otherwise, the preferred solution was to take the frame (which typically includes the trigger and firing mechanism) off premises until the new barrels are installed. From this response, I think it's safe to infer if you have in your possession at one location all the components to assemble a shotgun that can use the barrels, you have a short barreled shotgun.

One interesting footnote to this discussion about converting shotguns to rifles is that the "once a shotgun" or "once a rifle" rule does not apply, and 16" rifle barrels can be installed on the shotgun receiver/monoblock to create a 16" barreled double rifle.

 

[Talos]

What I don't understand is why anything gun related would be illegal at all since "shall not be infringed."

Has anyone being charged ever brought this up in court? Like what is the excuse that is given as to why it's illegal when it's already a right that can not be taken away?

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

Miller v. United States.
U.S. Supreme Court, 1939.

that was the appeal of a criminal conviction for having an unregistered sawed- off shotgun (shotgun with the barrel less than 18 inches).

In a pretty sloppy and poorly reasoned opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that this was not a violation of the second amendment! The 2A didn't cover such guns!