ATF to Change Pistol Definition

The Department of Justice is proposing to amend the regulations relating to machine guns, destructive devices, and certain other firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA) for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to clarify the definition of the term ‘‘pistol’’ and to define more clearly exceptions to the ‘‘pistol’’ definition.

According to Federal documents, the added language is necessary to clarify that certain weapons, including any weapon disguised to look like an item other than a firearm or any gun that fires more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger, are not pistols and are classified as ‘‘any other weapon’’ under the NFA.

This notice seeks to amend the regulation that defines ‘‘pistol’’ to restore language that was inadvertently removed in 1988 and insert language that more clearly defines exceptions to the ‘‘pistol’’ definition.

The language added to the regulation is necessary to clarify that certain weapons, including weapons disguised to look like items other than firearms, are not pistols and are classified as ‘‘any other weapon’’ under the NFA and subject to that Act’s requirements.

This proposed rule does not impose any new reporting or recordkeeping requirements under the Paperwork Reduction Act. Public Participation ATF is requesting comments on the proposed regulations from all interested persons. ATF is also specifically requesting comments on the clarity of this proposed rule and how it could be made easier to understand.

To read the full document, CLICK HERE

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