Quote History Quoted:
Pistol > Rifle > Pistol. Configured as a pistol it's a pistol as long as it was a pistol first.
Pistol > Short Barrel Rifle > Pistol? This hasn't been answered by the ATF. That doesn't mean it's illegal to have it configured as a pistol, that just means that maybe it's still considered an SBR or maybe it's considered a pistol.
Make sense? (Obviously it's idiotic, but I mean...is that clear?)
View Quote
To expand on this you have to have an idea of where ATF is coming from.
You have to look back in the past and see how things have changed with the TC case and then the 2011-4 ruling.
Everything I have seen officially from the ATF states a number of things.
1) It is pretty clear that as long as a firearm starts life as a pistol, pistol > rifle > pistol is ok and having all the parts to do so does NOT make one have illegal possession of a SBR
2) Configuring a SBR with 16+" barrel and AOL 26+" removes the SBR from purview of the NFA and can therefore be taken across state lines or sold outside of the rules and regs of the NFA
3) IF maintaining possession, and the configuration in #2 is temporary, no new SBR is made when returning to a configuration under the purview of the NFA as a SBR
It's not a hard stretch to argue that pistol > SBR > pistol should be legal by pistol > rifle > SBR > rifle > pistol ... BUT you may be making that argument in court as there (to my knowledge) has never been an official OK from the ATF
And ATF has always taken the stance of more restrictive not less
It comes down to the last step. Is going from rifle to pistol allowed if a SBR has been made in the middle.
Cases can be made on both sides: 1) A pistol can NOT be created from a rifle, and SBRing the original pistol has perm changed the firearm to a rifle. 2) If creating a title 1 "rifle" from a pistol does NOT perm change its status to a rifle, then creating a title 2 "rifle" shouldn't either
Unfortunately, I think this is going to have to be decided in court, so it's up to the individual to decide if it's worth the risk