Hi, I'm firearms attorney Gilbert Ambler, and I'm back today to talk about those other firearms and specifically things like the Mossberg Shockwave or the Remington tack. 14 things that fire shotgun shells, firearms that fire shotgun shells, but are neither shotguns nor short barreled shotguns. And I've got two pieces of advice that I'm going to give you right at the outset, and you will circle around. We'll reach these conclusions as we talk about the law today. But the two pieces of advice I want to give you at the outset are if you own a shock white wave style weapon like the Mossburg Shockwave or the Remington Tech 14, number one, in most states, you should not be carrying it in your vehicle. And you certainly should not be carrying it in your vehicle under the auspices of a concealed handgun or a concealed weapons permit because it should not be a concealed weapon.

And again, I'll help you understand why this is true under the law. And secondly, if you possess one of these weapons, my advice, even though the pistol brace rule has been vacated and hopefully will stay vacated, my advice to you is that you should not be putting a brace on that weapon. And again, we're going to talk about the law and why I think that is true. But before we dive into that, if you have not yet subscribed to this channel, what are you waiting for? Hit that subscribe button, like comment with your thoughts, share with your friends. That way you and your friends can keep getting this important Second Amendment related content. Alright, now, for those of you that are unfamiliar with the weapons I'm talking about when I say a Mossberg shockwave or a Remington Tack 14, we are talking about weapons that fire shotgun shells have a barrel length that is under 18 inches and an overall length that is slightly over 26 inches.

And we're going to talk about the definitions of why this matters. It matters because the National Firearms Act and the National Firearms Act, the NFA, as we're going to refer to, it restricts a certain category of weapons and they restrict several different firearms that the appropriate category or the relevant category that we're talking about today is short barrel shotgun. And the NFA says that it is an NFA weapon if you have a shotgun that has a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length, or a weapon made from a shotgun, if such weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length. So why does this matter to you? Well, if you've got grandpa's shotgun and it's got a 24 inch barrel and its overall length is 26 inches, and you want to cut the barrel down because you think it looks cool to a measly 14 inches, you will be making NFA controlled item.

And if you don't have the appropriate tax stamp to make it, which would come via a Form one, and again, there's all sorts of other requirements, once you do get that tax stamp, then you have to have prior permission before you move it across state lines. There's rules on who can possess it and other people that are not. It's not registered to, and I put registered in quotations because a lot of times when we talk about registration for firearms, it's not a real registration. It is a real registration when it comes to the NFA. So again, that is the definition. These shockwave weapons, they've got barrels under 18 inches on overall length over 26 inches, but they are not short barreled shotguns, and they are not short barreled shotgun because the term shotgun is also a defined term. And even though these items fire shotgun shells, they don't fit the definition of a shotgun.

Here's the definition of a shotgun. A shotgun means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned or made or remade to use the energy of an explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore, either a number of projectiles or a single projectile for each pull of the trigger. That's the relevant definition that we need to know when it comes to shotgun. The reason these shockwave style weapons are not shotguns is because they've got a unique grip design that would make it very, very uncomfortable to put the firearm up against your shoulder. They are very clearly not designed to be fired from the shoulder, and because they're not designed to be fired from the shoulder, they fall outside the definition of a shotgun. There is, however, another category of NFA controlled weapon that we need to be worried about whether they would fall into, and that other category is what is termed any other weapon.

This is somewhat of a broad category, and I'll read you the definition of any other weapon. But what you need to know and focus on going into this definition is that we're looking for a concealable weapon. This is the definition of any other weapon in the NFA, the term any other weapon means. Any weapon or device capable of being concealed on the person from which a shot can be discharged through the energy of an explosive, a pistol or a revolver, having a barrel with a smooth board designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell weapons with a combination shotgun and rifle barrels of 12 inches or more, less than 18 inches in length from which a single discharge can be made from either barrel without manual reloading and it carries on. But the important part of this definition, and what I want you to focus on is that any other weapon is a weapon that is not a pistol, not a revolver.

And both pistols and revolvers are designed to be intended to be fired from one hand and have rifle bores. So a weapon that is not a pistol or a revolver, but is capable of being concealed. Once again, these shockwaves fall outside of the definition of any other weapon, not due to the plain terms of the definition, but because the A TF has determined that a weapon that is greater than 26 inches in overall length is not a concealable weapon. Because these shockwave shotguns and shockwave style weapons have an overall length of typically 26 and a quarter inches or slightly more than 26 inches. A TF doesn't consider them to be any other weapons. So let's do a quick recap. These items are not shotguns because they're not designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder. They are not pistols because they are not designed to be fired from one hand.

Think about it. They're typically pump weapons, so you've got to pump a weapon between every round and they are not any other weapons because of their overall length being over 26 inches. So what are they? Well, ATF says they are simply gun control firearms, which that's a lot of legal background to bring us to my conclusions, which are, you should not be putting a brace on these items even though ATF says the braces are currently legal. Well, a TF doesn't say the courts say braces are currently legal because the ATFs rule has been vacated. Why should you not put a brace on it? Well, keep in mind the braces are designed and intended to facilitate firing a heavy weapon with one hand. Remember, braces not designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder, designed and intended to facilitate one hand firing here. However, this item is not designed and intended to be fired from one hand.

Very, very clear that it is not designed and intended to be fired from one hand. So then what is the purpose of the brace if it is only to facilitate one hand firing? So my advice is you start to muddy the waters if you're going to put a brace on a shockwave style weapon. The other piece of advice I gave you at the beginning of this video is don't carry in reliance on a concealed weapons permit. I'll tell you in the states, I regularly practice Pennsylvania and Virginia in both states. It would be a bad idea to rely on a concealed weapons permit for the purposes of carrying a shockwave. And Virginia, your concealed handgun permit is specific to handguns. Remember, this is not a handgun. It's not designed and intended to be fired with one hand. This is also up in Pennsylvania. We do our license to carry firearms in Pennsylvania does technically cover short barreled shotguns.

But again, this is not a shotgun because it's not designed and intended to be fired from the shoulder. And I understand I'm applying a federal definition to a state statute here. I get it, there's complications, but in general, you should not be relying on a concealed weapons permit to conceal carry one of these firearms. Each state might have its own nuances, but the bigger problem is A TF has said that these items, due to their design and the fact that they are over 26 inches are not concealable. But A TF has indicated if someone is concealing it, they might reverse their opinion on the legality of these items. So we don't want to be in reliance on a concealed weapons permit and concealed carrying these or vehicle carrying them with reliance on the concealed weapons permit. Finally, how could the A TF come against these items in the future?

Well, one way is, again, they could determine that even that 26 and a quarter inch length, it's still a concealable weapon. If lots of people are carrying them in their vehicles, carrying them concealed and reliance on a concealed weapons permit, that would be a concern in the future with DATF. The other thing they could potentially do is deemed them a destructive device. A destructive device is yet another category of the NFA and a destructive device includes any weapon. And again, I'll go back to the definition here. A destructive device includes any weapon by whatever name known, which will or which may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than one half inch in diameter except a shotgun or shotgun shell, which the secretary finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for a sporting purpose. So the question is, how could the A TF turn a destructive device definition against you? Well, it's clearly not a shotgun, but it does use a shotgun shell. However, if the Attorney General would find that the use of the shotgun shell in the shockwave is not for a sporting purpose and the shockwave has a bore of over a half inch, which it absolutely does, then we would be into destructive device territory. I certainly hope that never comes to fruition. If you enjoyed this content, go ahead, hit that subscribe button for us. Until next time.

Credit: Gilbert Ambler