AR Pistol laws

[Wildbillhiccup]

What are the latest AR pistol laws and also concerning a brace in az?. I know this changes every other month, just trying to stay current.
Thanks

[JRR]

What are the latest AR pistol laws and also concerning a brace in az?. I know this changes every other month, just trying to stay current.
Thanks

I am not a lawyer and all that, but from I understand there are no laws specific to AZ related to pistol braces. AZ sticks pretty closely to just requiring compliance to federal law for most things. So, braced ARs are no different from any other pistol in AZ.

An AR pistol is either made from a stripped lower receiver that wasn't ever "turned" into a rifle, or an AR that was purchased as a pistol. This all comes from the ATF opinion letters that state an original pistol can be turned into a rifle and back again without issue. An original rifle cannot be turned into a pistol at any time, your only option is SBR. Frustrating and unintuitive for sure, but it's why I'm always wary of buying a stripped lower from someone if it was disassembled from a full firearm (who knows if it was bought as a rifle originally on the 4473)?

Vertical foregrips (90 degrees) are generally prohibited on pistols without going the AOW route. This being said, there are certain exceptions for non rifles with OAL at 26" and above that the law is silent on and therefore there are no restrictions on it (Franklin Armory XO-26 is an example). These are "Other" and neither a pistol or a rifle.

Braces add a lot of confusion to this, especially folding braces. With a stock, traditionally you measure OAL with an adjustable stock in the furthest out position. For a brace, current guidance is that it's in the shortest configuration (all the way in or folded) because a brace doesn't contribute to length of pull (because it's a pistol). Braces being so "close" to stocks easily confuse newer AR owners into thinking they can just add a foregrip because of OAL, or a stock because "it's so close to my brace".

Best we can hope for is that brace proliferation knocks out SBR requirements in the NFA. Sadly I don't see that happening (and there are already rulemaking efforts at the federal level to effectively ban braces).

[ZanieZonie]

Interesting

[Wildbillhiccup]

On the other hand, this may be a opportunity to get a free NFA stamp. I am on the fence about the whole thing.

[LesDeplorables]

What are the latest AR pistol laws and also concerning a brace in az?. I know this changes every other month, just trying to stay current.
Thanks

I've been watching this online. Mostly on youtube. Be careful what you believe as there is much confusion out there. I saw a lawyer looking at this the other day and the wording of the new proposed rules make it so vague, that even a pistol with a bare buffer tube could or might be considered shoulderable and therefore a stock? Others claim that it would not. I would be careful and error on being legal on this one. I see a couple outfits have bufferless 9mm uppers now. That would be handy for anyone with a 9mm. No buffer to argue about. BCA is one outfit.

I would really do some research on this one in the upcoming month and not take anyone's word for anything.

[Wildbillhiccup]

I've been watching this online. Mostly on youtube. Be careful what you believe as there is much confusion out there. I saw a lawyer looking at this the other day and the wording of the new proposed rules make it so vague, that even a pistol with a bare buffer tube could or might be considered shoulderable and therefore a stock? Others claim that it would not. I would be careful and error on being legal on this one. I see a couple outfits have bufferless 9mm uppers now. That would be handy for anyone with a 9mm. No buffer to argue about. BCA is one outfit.

I would really do some research on this one in the upcoming month and not take anyone's word for anything.

Citing that the buffer tube is a stock will never fly, its crucial to to function of the gun. For that matter and going down that rabbit hole, one could say you can shoulder any handgun, thus making a Glock illegal as well...