New lower assembled into pistol ONLY while out of state

[EseGuey]

I'm a CA resident, and my lower is brand new. It's for a very specific platform of gun, one that would be prohibitively expensive to build via PPT. I'm well aware that CA only allows lowers to be DROS'd as a subcategory of "Rifle." This is not the n'th question of "how do I build an AR pistol in CA?"

Question:

• If I buy a brand new stripped lower in CA, can I travel out of state and build it into a pistol only for the duration of my trip, as long as I strip it back down before returning to CA?

• Can I, without owning a CA-registered pistol lower, possess all of the necessary parts to do so?
  • If "constructive possession" is pertinent on a state and/or federal basis, can it be mitigated by also possessing/travelling with a CA-registered pistol lower?

Thank you

[enorbit3]

[ronlglock]

There is nothing magical about a stripped lower versus a "built" lower. The mysterious change happens when an upper is attached. And a receiver or frame can be DROSed as a pistol to LE -- they are roster exempt.

An SBR is defined as having a barrel less than sixteen inches in length or an overall length of less than twenty-six inches. So if your rifle (which by definition your weapon is) meets this criteria, you are screwed in any state.

With that said, most states don't register firearms and AR pistols are legal in many states. So no one is going know that your pistol is really an SBR unless you do something stupid. BUT, in one way or another, I'm pretty sure you WILL be breaking the law in all 50 states once you attach a pistol upper.

[saki302]

If I remember correctly, you can switch back and forth from a legal pistol to a legal rifle variation out of state if the receiver started as a pistol.

But not in CA.

But I'm sure someone who knows the law better will chime in.

[enorbit3]

Once you put a stock on a pistol and you dont have a tax stamp, you’ve created a sbr and opened a can of worms

[G-forceJunkie]

I don't have an answer, but I know it has nothing todo with California laws as they are not relivent in other states. So your issues are Federal and the state you plan on assembling a pistol in.

[JaredKaragen]

not if said pistol has a 16+ inch barrel first...... etc.

pistols can go to and from historically; but not rifles as that makes an SBR class.

[enorbit3]

Jared, you're correct.

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/can-i-lawfully-make-pistol-rifle-without-registering-firearm

[Quiet]

CA has it's own SBR/SBS laws which are stricter than the Federal laws.

A firearm that is made from a rifle and has a barrel length of less than 16" or an overall length of less than 26" is a SBR. [PC 17170(c)]

A "handgun" can also be classified as a SBR/SBS if it meets the CA definition of a SBR/SBS. [PC 16640(b) and 16530(b)]

Which means...

If the receiver was DROS'd/registered as a "rifle" and it is made into a pistol, then the resulting firearm is an illegal SBR (weapon made from a rifle).

If the receiver was DROS'd/registered as a "pistol" and it is made into a rifle, then the resulting firearm is now a rifle.
If that rifle is then made into a pistol, then the resulting firearm would result in an illegal SBR (weapon made from a rifle) because it was legally a rifle before it was made into a "pistol".



Penal Code 16530
(a) As used in this part, the terms “firearm capable of being concealed upon the person,” “pistol,” and “revolver” apply to and include any device designed to be used as a weapon, from which is expelled a projectile by the force of any explosion, or other form of combustion, and that has a barrel less than 16 inches in length. These terms also include any device that has a barrel 16 inches or more in length which is designed to be interchanged with a barrel less than 16 inches in length.
(b) Nothing shall prevent a device defined as a “firearm capable of being concealed upon the person,” “pistol,” or “revolver” from also being found to be a short-barreled rifle or a short-barreled shotgun.

Penal Code 17170
As used in this part, “short-barreled rifle” means any of the following:
(a) A rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length.
(b) A rifle with an overall length of less than 26 inches.
(c) Any weapon made from a rifle (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if that weapon, as modified, has an overall length of less than 26 inches or a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length.
(d) Any device that may be readily restored to fire a fixed cartridge which, when so restored, is a device defined in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive.
(e) Any part, or combination of parts, designed and intended to convert a device into a device defined in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, or any combination of parts from which a device defined in subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, may be readily assembled if those parts are in the possession or under the control of the same person.

[M1NM]

The whole rifle/pistol "clarification/confusion" came about from the Thompson Contender being able to be easily built and rebuilt into many different configurations.
A pistol is designed to be fired with one hand. A stock for shouldering makes it an SBR if the barrel is under 16" (there is no length limit where a pistol becomes a rifle). A 27" long gun with an 18" barrel and no way to shoulder it is still a pistol. If you put a forward grip on a pistol it is no longer designed to be fired with one hand and is an SBR. The Feds are trying to push anything with a barrel less than 16" an OL under 26" and a length of pull over 13" as an SBR.