TexasCHLforum.com

PUCKER wrote:OK, quick question for pistol grip shotguns (with no shoulder stock) - then what is it legally defined as? Reason I ask is that I have a Mossberg 500 12 gage shotgun with a shoulder stock and from time to time I unbolt that and put on the pistol grip (no shoulder stock then)....just curious if that changes the definition of "what" it is...specifically, does that have any implications with Texas law? As in - does the classification change from long gun/rifle to ________ and now is there a different set of rules for carry?

Texas law doesn't define "rifle" or "shotgun". The only definitions I can find are in PC 46.01 where it defines "firearm", "firearm silencer", "handgun", "machine gun", "short barrel firearm" and "zip gun". Either way, the gun you're describing would be a "firearm" under Texas law.

It's also not a handgun because handguns have to have a rifled barrel.

No, it's a legal title I firearm, but it wouldn't meet the definition of a "shotgun" as per federal law because without a shoulder stock it's not "intended to be fired from the shoulder."

18 USC 921(a)(5): The term "shotgun" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of an explosive to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.

And if it's not a shotgun or rifle as defined in 18 USC 921, then an FFL may not transfer the firearm to someone under 21.

18 USC 922(b): It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or deliver— (1) any firearm or ammunition to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than eighteen years of age, and, if the firearm, or ammunition is other than a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or rifle, to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age.

Mike from Texas wrote:This "scary tactical weapon" category is applied to shotguns with a pistol grip as well.

"Shotguns" that only have a rear pistol grip but don't have a shoulder stock don't meet the legal definition of a shotgun in federal law. Federal law says that you must be 21 to purchase a firearm from an FFL unless the firearm is a rifle or a shotgun. So because said firearm doesn't meet the legal definition of a shotgun (no matter whether everyone who looks at the gun would call it a shotgun or not), an FFL can't sell it to someone under 21. From what I've read, the BATFE has gotten tough on FFLs with this lately.

Now if you're talking about shotguns with a shoulder stock and a rear pistol grip, then yes, there is no law preventing them from selling such a gun to anyone 18 or over.