Quote History Quoted:
State law has always been my main concern with the “pistol brace” stuff. At least two bad scenarios there beyond “gun muggle”’cops:
1. State law defines SBR the same or similar to federal, but state cop/prosecutor/judge interprets in differently or applies it differently to someone who actually uses it as a stock. Which they are absolutely allowed to do. “Dual sovereignty” says they don’t have to follow federal interpretations. And, in any case, on the federal level there are merely flip-flopping ATF letters - not even a court decision that might be “persuasive.”
2. State law language has actual differences in the definition, which would make it easier to define a “pistol brace” as a stock.
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Quote History Quoted:State law has always been my main concern with the “pistol brace” stuff. At least two bad scenarios there beyond “gun muggle”’cops:
1. State law defines SBR the same or similar to federal, but state cop/prosecutor/judge interprets in differently or applies it differently to someone who actually uses it as a stock. Which they are absolutely allowed to do. “Dual sovereignty” says they don’t have to follow federal interpretations. And, in any case, on the federal level there are merely flip-flopping ATF letters - not even a court decision that might be “persuasive.”
2. State law language has actual differences in the definition, which would make it easier to define a “pistol brace” as a stock.
That's the bitch of the whole thing. The state statute itself defines SBR in about the same way as NFA, but doesn't address pistol braces at all. I doubt there's any case law since this kind of thing rarely or never comes up. Most of my street experience has consisted of drivers telling me "I have a gun in the car" followed by me saying "Okay, just leave it put away until we're done" or randos interrupting my lunch to tell me about their no-paperwork 14" barrel SBS or filing down the firing pin of a Nylon 66, followed by "YAYAYAYAY JEFFREY IS TALKING BUT I AM NOT LISTENING!"
(Or an asstard of a chief who thought that he didn't need any paperwork for his SBS because he was a chief of police, in addition to being an asstard.)
There's certainly no state-level equivalent to BATFE here to whom one might write a letter. I might have asked them for clarification about my chief on my way out the door if there were.
I think I can guess how this would end (BATFE guidance being persuasive since there's nothing else available) if it ended up in a state court here, but it would be expensive and painful to get there.