SB 5956 has passed, SBRs are finally coming to WA.

[8ball]

Thanks to Randy for his hard work! First suppressors, now SBR. Buy that man a beer!

 

[freestoneangler]

Excuse my ignorance on this, but what constitutes a short barreled rifle? Are we talking factory designed barrel lengths or user modified? Was not getting this law through going to potentially require special licensing? I see someone responded this does not affect shotguns... so a Mossburg 500 with the factory short barrel is ok?

 

[8ball]

Excuse my ignorance on this, but what constitutes a short barreled rifle? Are we talking factory designed barrel lengths or user modified? Was not getting this law through going to potentially require special licensing? I see someone responded this does not affect shotguns... so a Mossburg 500 with the factory short barrel is ok?

SBR per the federal definition under NFA is any rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches, or an overall length shorter than 26 inches. It doesn't matter whether it is factory or user modified AFAIK. There are a ton of technicalities around the topic of NFA weapons, but that's the basic gist of it.

Not sure about the Mossberg. There are some factory short shotgun type weapons that aren't covered under NFA, because technically they aren't shotguns, because they don't have a buttstock. Same thing for AR pistols. Neither of these are NFA weapons and I believe they are already legal in WA.

Two examples:

 

[coop44]

I have not much use for them, but it's good to see any expansion of rights.

 

[James 61]

Anybody know when this goes into effect?

 

[Nwcid]

That is BAD information there. ANY shotgun with barrel(s) under 18" in length IS an NFA firearm.

Depending on how the pictured gun was made would depend on if it was an AOW or SBS. AOW and SBS can look exactly the same so the only way to tell is how they were made and registered, http://www.atf.gov/files/publications/download/p/atf-p-5320-8/atf-p-5320-8-chapter-2.pdf

 

[GunRightsCoalition]

That is BAD information there. ANY shotgun with barrel(s) under 18" in length IS an NFA firearm.

Depending on how the pictured gun was made would depend on if it was an AOW or SBS. AOW and SBS can look exactly the same so the only way to tell is how they were made and registered, http://www.atf.gov/files/publications/download/p/atf-p-5320-8/atf-p-5320-8-chapter-2.pdf

That is my understanding as well. It is however legal in WA as long as it was built and registered as an AOW. Not as an SBS though. (If I'm correct it still needs the tax either way)

 

[Nwcid]

That is my understanding as well. It is however legal in WA as long as it was built and registered as an AOW. Not as an SBS though. (If I'm correct it still needs the tax either way)

AOW is legal in WA, but is still an NFA item which needs to be properly registered. The only difference between AOW and all other NFA items is it only requires a $5 transfer tax.

I will try to do it this evening, but I wrote an NFA FAQ for another board. It does include links to all the actual laws but I condense them in plain talk so they are easy to read. I will see if I can get it stickied (is that a real word).

 

[William Nightingale]

My thanks also to Randy and all who helped pass the legislature so we could have suppressors and SBR rifles. I am looking at http://leg.wa.gov this may be a good place to see what the status of these bills are I think all you need is the bill number.

 

[William Nightingale]

I am guessing the picture of that short-barreled shotgun which is considered to be a pistol is probably legal in Washington as it is not a rifle. I See those for sale but Wades in Bellevue. Seems like it would be hard to hang onto one firing!

 

[Swedish K]

That is BAD information there. ANY shotgun with barrel(s) under 18" in length IS an NFA firearm.

Depending on how the pictured gun was made would depend on if it was an AOW or SBS. AOW and SBS can look exactly the same so the only way to tell is how they were made and registered, http://www.atf.gov/files/publications/download/p/atf-p-5320-8/atf-p-5320-8-chapter-2.pdf

with the exception of actual pistols like the Judge or thunder 5 that shoot .45LC and 410 (some versions of the thunder 5 would also shoot 45/70 but no actual gain over 45LC

 

[GunRightsCoalition]

I am guessing the picture of that short-barreled shotgun which is considered to be a pistol is probably legal in Washington as it is not a rifle. I See those for sale but Wades in Bellevue. Seems like it would be hard to hang onto one firing!

Depends on if it was originally manufactured that way or not.

Note: Editing this as the way it is manufactured only applies to it being an SBS. As NWCID points out it is not considered a pistol regardless.

 

[Nwcid]

I am guessing the picture of that short-barreled shotgun which is considered to be a pistol is probably legal in Washington as it is not a rifle. I See those for sale but Wades in Bellevue. Seems like it would be hard to hang onto one firing!

That is NOT a pistol, no matter how it was built. It can ONLY be an AOW or an SBS legally (depending now how it was built. BOTH are NFA items requiring proper registration.

It is NOT "probably legal in WA", it either is or isn't. IF it is an SBS it is illegal in WA, IF it is an AOW then it is legal with the proper paperwork.

 

[William Nightingale]

That is NOT a pistol, no matter how it was built. It can ONLY be an AOW or an SBS legally (depending now how it was built. BOTH are NFA items requiring proper registration.

It is NOT "probably legal in WA", it either is or isn't. IF it is an SBS it is illegal in WA, IF it is an AOW then it is legal with the proper paperwork.

Yep, you're right about that. So what does AOW stand for?

 

[Nwcid]

with the exception of actual pistols like the Judge or thunder 5 that shoot .45LC and 410 (some versions of the thunder 5 would also shoot 45/70 but no actual gain over 45LC

Yes, but those are NOT considered shotguns and the reason being is they are rifled. IF they were smoothbore then they would either be AOW or SBS depending now how they are built. To legally be a shotgun it HAS to have smooth bore(s)

http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/27/478.11
Shotgun. A weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder, and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.

 

[Nwcid]

Yep, you're right about that. So what does AOW stand for?

Any Other Weapon, http://www.atf.gov/files/publications/download/p/atf-p-5320-8/atf-p-5320-8-chapter-2.pdf

 

[William Nightingale]

Well, I think the gov has to sign the bill into law. Then somehow law enforcement has to learn about it so they're not out arresting us new SBR owners. I mean new SBR owners AFTER we are convinced it is safe to own them w/o breaking the law. Interesting process I am just learning about. I'll just keep an eye on here. When it is safe I am sure there will be notification on here. Looking forward to it and many thanks to people who worked to get this enacted!

 

[GunRightsCoalition]

Yes, but those are NOT considered shotguns and the reason being is they are rifled. IF they were smoothbore then they would either be AOW or SBS depending now how they are built. To legally be a shotgun it HAS to have smooth bore(s)

http://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/27/478.11
Shotgun. A weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder, and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.

I think size would also play a factor as well since the judge is less than 1/2"

 

[GunRightsCoalition]

Well, I think the gov has to sign the bill into law. Then somehow law enforcement has to learn about it so they're not out arresting us new SBR owners. I mean new SBR owners AFTER we are convinced it is safe to own them w/o breaking the law. Interesting process I am just learning about. I'll just keep an eye on here. When it is safe I am sure there will be notification on here. Looking forward to it and many thanks to people who worked to get this enacted!

The Governor probably will not sign it into law. He probably will not veto it either. He will likely sit on it until the time ends at which time it will become law anyway.

 

[Nwcid]

I think size would also play a factor as well since the judge is less than 1/2"

Nope, all based on having rifling. There are some old .38 caliber, and probably some .44/.45 revolvers that were originally built with smooth bores and by definition ARE AOW. IIRC there are some variances for some of these so they are exempt from NFA.

Right from the NFA link above,
Also included in the "any other weapon" definition are pistols and revolvers having smooth bore barrels