FRONT GRIP ON PISTOLS LEGAL NOW or NOT

[AL MOUNT]

I have just gotten a Kel-Tec PLR-16 in .223 and I love it.

Is it now legal to have a front pistol grip on a pistol since the AWB is no more???

A barrel shroud is available from Kel-Tec, therefore would a front pistol grip also be legal now....



Below is wording from the AWB that is no longer in effect.


Semi-automatic pistols with detachable magazines and two or more of the following:

Magazine that attaches outside the pistol grip
Threaded barrel to attach barrel extender, flash suppressor, handgrip, or silencer
Barrel shroud that can be used as a hand-hold
Unloaded weight of 50 oz or more
A semi-automatic version of an automatic firearm



I googeled this question and was still cornfused....

I therefore decided it would be wise to tap into this...

"Vast wealth of information"....... to seek enlightenment...

[southernshooter]

I am almost positive it is still ILLEGAL. When you put a front pistol grip on a handgun you are manufacturing a short barreled rifle which is illegal. ATF defines a handgun as a firearm that only needs one hand to operate when you put a vertical foregrip on it you are making a gun that uses both hand to fire


Here is ATF's ruling on it
http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/041006-vert_grip.htm

[bdfinst]

What about the AR and AK pistols that are nothing more than short barreled rifles without a buttstock?

[southernshooter]

As long it don't have a buttstock it is a basic pistol. If you wanted to put a vertical foregrip or buttstock on a pistol you would have to put a 16 inch or longer barrel, other wise you would have to go thru ATF's AOW sh%$. The AR and AK(Krinovs) are perfectly legal pistol. But it would be illegal to put a buttstock or foregrip on them. Since the reciever is regestered as a pistol.

[Mark]

I believe a pistol with a vertical grip falls into the category "any other weapon". There is confusion in my mind about the wording here, but my interpretation is you need a special permit.
Mark

[AL MOUNT]

Originally Posted by southernshooter

I am almost positive it is still ILLEGAL.

If almost was the rule, Id'a been dead 40 years ago.

Kel-Tec sells a front fore grip for the PLR-16 pistols 9.2 in. barrel that has a Picatinney rail on the bottom,

other sites sell front pistol grips that will fit on a picatenny rail.

I am still cornfused...







Before forearm addition...

[southernshooter]

They would say the picatiny rail is for mounting a flashlight, laser, or bi-pod
The link I posted from ATF says it is still illegal

[Mark]

Horizontal grips are legal. Vertical grips are the sticking point.

Rem. XP100, TC Contender, The RRA line of 9MM and 5.56 line of AR pistols, etc., are all examples of legal pistols with horizontal forearms.
If you put a vertical forearm on the rail, this is where things get muddy.
Mark

[AL MOUNT]

Asked this question to a gun store manager/former LEO in mid-Mo.....

"Kel-Tec sells a front forend for their the PLR-16 with a picatinny rai

at the 6 o'clock position for mounting other accessories.

Question is...since the AWB no longer is law,
would it be legal to put a pistol grip on that front forend rail ? "

This is his answer.....I just got it a few minutes ago

"Yes.....you are allowed to do so.
Since the Brady Bill II is defunct.....this is all legal.
BUT....when a firearm is SOLD as a longgun......i.e. Rem. 870.......you cannot make the barrel less than 18 "in.
and ADD a pistol grip only.
All long guns MUST have barrels remain the length they are sold
OR no less than 16" in. on a rifle, 18"in. on a shotgun.

All other prior Brady-Bill restraints are lifted.
Flash-hiders/Ok. Bayonets/Ok HiCap. mags /Ok Bombs/NOT OK! 0 "

[JeffKnox]

Forgive me for tagging on an old thread, but if someone is doing research into this issue and finds this thread in a search, I want to be sure that they have clear and accurate information.
Attaching a forward pistol grip to any handgun makes that handgun an "Any Other Weapon" strictly regulated by the ATF. To legally attach the forward pistol grip you would have to file paperwork and pay a $200 tax. There have even been cases of people being prosecuted - and convicted - for merely having a pistol grip which could be attached to the front of a handgun, even though they never actually mated the two.
ATF got in trouble recently for prosecuting such cases, but that doesn't mean they won't still try to do it, especially if you don't have some other gun the fore-grip can be legally attached to.
It's all just crazy and ATF is notoriously capricious about enforcement.
Jeff Knox
www.FirearmsCoalition.org
http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/20...fore-grip.html

[AL MOUNT]

Thanks for answering a 3 1/2 old thread.

Still have the PLR-16, but I took the front grip off.

Thanks again for replying to an old thread,

Al

[ofitg]

OK, now I'm confused. Is the semiauto Thompson 1927A5 pistol classified as AOW?



It has a vertical foregrip. Just a few minutes ago, I found one advertised on that gun auction site "which cannot be named here".


UPDATE - I think I found the answer - the 1927A5 had a 13 inch barrel, giving it an overall length of 26 inches - supposedly, this overall length made it exempt from AOW status

[3/2 STA SS]

JUST DONT ADD THE STOCK- and you will be good to go.

[Dirty]

All Im gonna say, is that as long as you're not out waving it around like an FNG, it's kinda hard to say what might get mounted on that rail at any given time...just like there is no crime in keeping a QD vertical grip in the center console of your car...just sayin...

[piratesover40]

Originally Posted by bdfinst

What about the AR and AK pistols that are nothing more than short barreled rifles without a buttstock?

No the receivers on the pistols are either marked pistol or are regestered pistol from the mfg. My AR pistol was marked pistol cal. multi. A rifle iis alwas a rifle and can not br anything else. To put a stock on a pistol you have to form 1 it and SBR it. The same if you want to add a front grip. Unless the end wording of the now dead AWB says otherwise. The only exception to the rule was Thompson Contender which got special treatment from the ATF. So add at your own risk. JMHO.

[InfiniteArms]

SBR and AOW are regulated by the NFA of 1934 which is still in effect. Regardless of what wording was in the AWB it expiring did not change anything.

Pistol + Stock = SBR
Pistol + Forward grip = AOW

A receiver does NOT need to be "marked" pistol. Any receiver that has not had a barrel installed is not yet a rifle or pistol and can be built into either. Once a barrel is installed it is the a rifle or pistol forever.

Originally Posted by ofitg

UPDATE - I think I found the answer - the 1927A5 had a 13 inch barrel, giving it an overall length of 26 inches - supposedly, this overall length made it exempt from AOW status

Correct. Read this ruling letter from ATF.

[permafrost]

May get you the Darwin award anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11fcg543Jow

[tymbrewolf]

Has anyone ever mounted a forend strap to a hunting pistol with a forend. I am thinking of something similar to a a mossberg tactical forend strap or even small single point sling to wrap around my wrist attached only to the forend. I picked up a kid's notebook today with a small 6" loop on a quick buckle and thought this would really improve my grip on a hunting hand gun... It shouldn't be a vertical grip as it is not a solid vertically attached appendage is my thinking. Thanks

[tymbrewolf]

I guess these are legal if someone sells something like this already???

http://www.shottist.com/charger.htm

[Big Shrek]

Originally Posted by tymbrewolf

I guess these are legal if someone sells something like this already???

http://www.shottist.com/charger.htm

Heck, folks usually just use one leg of the bipod to hold onto them

[Big Shrek]

Originally Posted by ofitg

OK, now I'm confused. Is the semiauto Thompson 1927A5 pistol classified as AOW?



It has a vertical foregrip. Just a few minutes ago, I found one advertised on that gun auction site "which cannot be named here".


UPDATE - I think I found the answer - the 1927A5 had a 13 inch barrel, giving it an overall length of 26 inches - supposedly, this overall length made it exempt from AOW status

Probably grandfathered in...it is a Curio & Relic, so may fit under an FFL03...
best to check with your local BATF office...in a roundabout way

[StoneChimney]

That gun is currently manufactured, not C&R. The reason it is not classified as an AOW was explained correctly, in green, in the post you quoted.

Otherwise, a pistol with a vertical forward grip is an NFA firearm.

[deadin]

Just because a gun is a C&R doesn't change its NFA status. They still need all of the paperwork and tax stamps. They just can be transfered between FFL03s.

[armenjs802]

Well good for know. Will be grandfathered, but once AWB passes, Hope not but some thing will change for sure. what can't tell U least some will go through all Firearms industry will take a dive.