https://www.ammoland.com/2021/06/short- ... lated-nfa/

The article states it was the ineptitude and sloppy thinking of a MN legislator who, wishing to protect deer hunters in his state, urged inclusion of the word "rifle" in relation to barrel length. The article's author kind of lost me with that assertion, but in reading the original document, I do not see any provision preventing the assembly of an SBR or requirement for a tax stamp if it is not then put up for sale.


"To provide for the taxation of manufacturers, importers, and dealers in certain
[Public, No. 474.] firearms and machine guns, to tax the sale or other disposal of such weapons, and to restrict importation and regulate interstate transportation thereof. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the...."

https://ia802705.us.archive.org/26/item ... 4_text.pdf

?

There are a couple of issues with this guys story

#1 the gangsters during the 1920s/30's most certainly cut down their rifles. It is well known that Clyde Barrow cut down his BAR (both the barrel and the stock) and many gangsters preferred the Thompson SMG, which came with a 10.5" barrel and easily removable buttstock, although it was already included in the list of regulated guns due to its full auto ability.

Ask yourself this: why would a gangster cut down the barrel on their shotgun, but not their rifle?? Concealment and getting the weapon in and out of the get-away cars was the issue.

#2 rifle originally meant a musket with a rifled barrel, the word carbine was first used by the Germans in the 19th century, and it wasn't used because the barrel was short (the original K98 had a barrel length of 23.6") it was referring to the men who carried the gun.
I don't think it was these politicians who redefined rifle/carbine and SBRs by their legislation...I'll bet the gun world was already using terms for shorter barreled rifles (Carbines) before this legislation was proposed. It may very well have been Winchester who made the distinction when they offered the model of 1892 in barrel lengths as short as 14" which they referred to as "carbines" and as long as 30" which they referred to as a "musket" ...the ones in between they called rifles...


some reading

https://www.themeateater.com/hunt/firea ... -and-clyde

https://yougotttaconsiderthesource.blog ... w-bar.html

https://tincanbandit.blogspot.com/2020/ ... terms.html

Can’t really add more than what he just said. They were easier to move about thru Model A doors and hid well under trench coats that were fashionable at the time.

hmmm, okay. I guess that's a valid point conceptually. But, I don't recall SBR's being much in Gangster vogue, unless one lumps in the aforementioned tommy guns and the famous shortened BAR... but as Case noted, those were already addressed in the machine gun proscription.

So, what about my question whether the 1934 GCA prohibits the private assembly of an SBR (without a stamp) as long as it isn't put up for sale?

1934 NFA? Yes. Otherwise 95% of owners of NFA items would not have paid for stamps.

Also note that the definition of “firearm” in the quoted part of the NFA above is a different definition than “firearm” in the GCA.

gotcha. thankeuws