Weird AW Question

[SBOldMan]

12276.1. (a) Notwithstanding Section 12276, "assault weapon" shall also mean any of the following:

(1) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has the capacity to
accept a detachable magazine and any one of the following:
(A) A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action
of the weapon.
(B) A thumbhole stock.
(C) A folding or telescoping stock.
(D) A grenade launcher or flare launcher.
(E) A flash suppressor.
(F) A forward pistol grip.

(2) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has a fixed magazine
with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.

(3) A semiautomatic, centerfire rifle that has an overall length
of less than 30 inches.


So here is a scenario-
You own preban 30rd magazines and have 0 evil features...all is good.
But according to point 2, if you then fix/permanently attach that thirty round mag onto the rifle it is now an assault weapon? Is that correct? Does that seem strange?

[LAK Supply]

So here is a scenario-
You own preban 30rd magazines and have 0 evil features...all is good.
But according to point 2, if you then fix/permanently attach that thirty round mag onto the rifle it is now an assault weapon? Is that correct? Does that seem strange?

You can use your detachable magazines on an AR with 0 scary-looking features.... no pistol grip, collapsible stock, "flash hider," etc.

If you are scary-looking feature free you can use your mags legally. This would mean no flash hider and the use of a U-15 stock/MM grip, etc. in place of a pistol grip.

[bwiese]

Correct. Don't fix a mag holding over 10rds to a semiauto centerfire rifle.

[ke6guj]

So here is a scenario-
You own preban 30rd magazines and have 0 evil features...all is good.
But according to point 2, if you then fix/permanently attach that thirty round mag onto the rifle it is now an assault weapon? Is that correct? Does that seem strange?

Exactly, two identical rifles with zero evil features. With 30-round detachable mag, not an AW. With a 30-round fixed mag, it is an AW.

Most likely they were trying to include those SKS's with 20 and 30-round fixed mags into the AW definition, otherwise those evil SKS's with the fixed "banana clips" would have been legal.

[double_action]

But I think what oldman is pointing out is that if you lock in a 30 round magazine, it becomes an AW.

So stick a 30 round magazine in a A2 stocked, no flash hider, prince50 equipped, monsterman griped, AR and lock the mag in, you have an AW.


Yes, it's weird, and doesn't make sense . . .

[ohsmily]

Though all our AW laws are stupid and not necessarily logical, this one makes sense within the rubric of the AW laws. Think about it...you can't transfer, import, give, lend high capacity ammunition feeding devices. So, if you had a rifle, that wasn't otherwise an assault weapon by feature, that had a 10+ round magazine on it, that gun would either A) be impossible to transfer because of the mag feeding device, OR B) if it was allowed to be transferred, it would be an exception to the magazine law. Also, the gun would then inherently hold more than 10 rounds whereas your detachable magazine rifle only has 10+ if you had the mags before the ban.

This prevents any semi-auto, centerfire, non tube mag gun from having it, including a featureless SKS: you can't affix one of those 20 round fixed mags to it.

It isn't that weird. It is also old news; eight years old.

[adamsreeftank]

You are looking for logic in the wrong place.

[mymonkeyman]

Nothing about AW laws makes sense. That's because they are all smoke and mirrors to make people think they are banning fully automatic guns which are already effectively banned (esp. in California). Of course, you have to pass an actual statute even if you mislead about its contents, so it ends up being a random assortment of stupid crap designed to harass legal gun owners. Fixed 11+ round magazines at least makes more sense than flare launchers (CA AW ban) or bayonet lugs (expired Fed AW ban).

[dfletcher]

So here is a scenario-
You own preban 30rd magazines and have 0 evil features...all is good.
But according to point 2, if you then fix/permanently attach that thirty round mag onto the rifle it is now an assault weapon? Is that correct? Does that seem strange?

Yes, that's correct and it does seem strange - that the "don't like guns" crowd would prefer we use 20 round detach mags in an M1A instead of a fixed 20 round mag in the same rifle. I mean, would you rather have some schmo shooting at you with a fixed or detach mag? Easy answer.

But as was explained to me, the "no +10 fixed round mags" was put in place as a compromise when the gun getters realized they couldn't ban or confiscate all hi cap mags. I suppose ideally they wanted to ban all high cap mags, restrict fixed mags to 10 rounds or fewer. Under that scenario I suppose no +10 fixed mags make sense. In a mix with "preban +10s are OK, you're right, makes no "tactical" sense.