Quoted:With the exception of an SBR, the issue is not how its built or marked. The issue is its definition.
28.421(c) "Firearm" means any weapon which will, is designed to, or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by action of an explosive.
28.421(i) "Pistol" means a loaded or unloaded firearm that is 26 inches or less in length, or a loaded or unloaded firearm that by its construction and appearance conceals it as a firearm.
MCL 750.222 (i) "Rifle" means a firearm 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 the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.
MCL 750.222 (k) "Short barreled rifle" means a rifle having 1 or more barrels less than 16 inches in length or a weapon made from a rifle, whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise, if the weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches.
Using AR’s as an example.
A pistol is one with no stock and OAL of 26 inches or less. Barrel length is irrelevant as long as its OAL is 26 inches or less. Pistols are registered under Michigan law.
A rifle is one with a stock and at least a barrel 16 inches in length and an OAL of more than 26 inches. Rifles of this class are not registered under Michigan law.
A SBR is one with a stock and barrel less than 16 inches OR one made from a rifle and an OAL of less than 26 inches. Need a Form 1 first to make. Need to register under the Pistol registration statute if OAL is 26 inches or less.
A firearm is one with no stock with an OAL of more than 26 inches. Firearms of this class are not registered under Michigan law.
Dont overlook this build option. For example, an AR lower with Sig Brace and 12 inch BBL and vertical front grip has an OAL of 27+ inches. It is not a pistol, not a rifle, not an SBR and not an AOW.
Its just a firearm. No registration or Form 1.
A sig brace is not a stock.
Add a vertical front grip to a handgun, however, and you have made an AOW. Need a Form 1 first to make.
The federal definition of handgun and pistol are as follows:
“Handgun” is defined under Federal law to mean, in part, a firearm which has a short stock and
is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand…. 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(29).
Under an implementing regulation of the National Firearms Act (NFA), 27 C.F.R. § 479.11,
“pistol” is defined as:
… a weapon originally designed, made, and intended to fire a projectile (bullet) from one or
more barrels when held in one hand, and having (a) a chamber(s) as an integral part(s) of, or
permanently aligned with, the bore(s); and (b) a short stock designed to be gripped by one hand
and at an angle to and extending below the line of the bore(s).
State law provides more definition of a pistol than federal and that is the one to comply with.
Others may freely comment if they differ about this.
See these links
MSP on SBRsAdding vertical grip to a handgun is an AOW