BATFE has reneged on its previous stance regarding “stabilizing braces” for AR-style handguns. Now ATF says that using such a brace as a shoulder stock on a pistol so equipped “constitutes a ‘redesign’ of the device because a possessor has changed the very function of the item.”

Does that mean if you fire a long gun one-handed and without its buttstock against your shoulder, you have illegally “redesigned” it into a handgun?

ATF goes on to say that “Any individual letters stating otherwise are contrary to the plain language of the NFA, misapply Federal law, and are hereby revoked. Any person who intends to use a handgun stabilizing brace as a shoulder stock on a pistol (having a rifled barrel under 16 inches in length or a smooth bore firearm with a barrel under 18 inches in length) must first file an ATF Form 1 and pay the applicable tax because the resulting firearm will be subject to all provisions of the NFA.”

So, you’re perfectly fine and legal with such a device on your pistol, unless you shoulder it, when it becomes a short barreled rifle. And then it reverts back to pistol status again when you un-shoulder it. Well, at least the burden of proof is on them. And what if you shoulder it but don’t fire it, so that you’re not “using” it?