So I was just given this old gun ...

alanint · 06-10-2009, 10:19 AM

To be clear, an UNREGISTERED short barrel rifle may be unlawful, but one that is registered and manufactured in accordance with ATF guidelines is legal to own.

The grinding off of stock lugs decades ago was done mostly out of ignorance of the laws in place.

PhilOhio · 06-10-2009, 12:23 PM

Postino,

Yes, minor publicity was given to this "grind-em-up" requirement in the 1950s. And by ATF.

Alanint,

It was most certainly not done "out of ignorance". It was done because the law, and ATF, said so. Thousands and thousands of Luger owners, almost all of them, substituted their own judgement and ignored it. Very few did otherwise. I'm not sure whether the literal law covering it actually survives today. It may. But the fact that ATF would be unable to show a record of any significant level of enforcement during the last 50 years would make it more or less a dead letter and probably not successfully prosecutable.

And remember, all C96 pattern Mauser pistols and all military Inglis pistols with shoulder stock mounting provision have been exempted. As a matter of legal consistency, this should be extended to cover all pre-1946 Lugers of any barrel length and model. There is no valid public interest argument to the contrary.

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06-10-2009, 10:19 AM	#1
alanint User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Marco Island, Florida Posts: 4,867 Thanks: 1,685 Thanked 1,917 Times in 1,193 Posts	To be clear, an UNREGISTERED short barrel rifle may be unlawful, but one that is registered and manufactured in accordance with ATF guidelines is legal to own. The grinding off of stock lugs decades ago was done mostly out of ignorance of the laws in place.

06-10-2009, 12:23 PM	#2
PhilOhio User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 145 Thanks: 5 Thanked 17 Times in 14 Posts	Postino, Yes, minor publicity was given to this "grind-em-up" requirement in the 1950s. And by ATF. Alanint, It was most certainly not done "out of ignorance". It was done because the law, and ATF, said so. Thousands and thousands of Luger owners, almost all of them, substituted their own judgement and ignored it. Very few did otherwise. I'm not sure whether the literal law covering it actually survives today. It may. But the fact that ATF would be unable to show a record of any significant level of enforcement during the last 50 years would make it more or less a dead letter and probably not successfully prosecutable. And remember, all C96 pattern Mauser pistols and all military Inglis pistols with shoulder stock mounting provision have been exempted. As a matter of legal consistency, this should be extended to cover all pre-1946 Lugers of any barrel length and model. There is no valid public interest argument to the contrary.