Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 454
right does not extend to every firearm. See United States v. Miller,
307 U.S. 174 (1939).
II. WHAT FIREARMS DOES THE NFA REGULATE?
A. Short-barreled rifles and shotguns
In order to be legal, short-barreled shotguns and rifles must be
registered, and a tax must be paid on the firearm. What is a shortbarreled shotgun? Under both federal and Texas law, short-barreled
shotguns have one or more barrels less than 18 inches in length, and
the overall length of the shotgun is less than 26 inches. What is a
short-barreled rifle? It is any rifle with one or more barrels less than
16 inches in length, and the overall length of the rifle is less than
26 inches. See 27 CFR § 478.11 and Tex. Penal Code § 46.01(10).
Short-barreled shotguns and rifles may be purchased from an FFL
that deals in NFA items. Also, short-barreled firearms are very
popular for individuals to build and/or modify on their own. This is
legal if the person has properly registered the firearm to be modified
into a short-barreled firearm with the ATF and paid the tax before it
is modified. Once approved, a person may alter or produce a shortbarreled firearm and must engrave legally required information on
the receiver of the firearm such as manufacturer, location, etc. See
discussion later in this Chapter for detailed requirements.
B. Stabilizing braces
The most common type of rifle that is manufactured or modified
into a short-barreled rifle (“SBR”) is the AR-style sporting rifle.
The AR can also be manufactured as a pistol. An AR-style SBR
and an AR-style pistol appear very similar. The key difference
between the two is that the SBR has a shoulder stock and the
pistol does not. However, the AR pistol will have a “buffer tube”
What Is The National Firearms Act? | 443
