750.222 Definitions.
(I) “Short-barreled shotgun” means a shotgun having 1 or more barrels less than 18 inches in length or a weapon made from a shotgun, whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise, if the weapon as modified has an overall length of less than 26 inches.
In order for a weapon to be a SBS it must first be a shotgun, i.e., “I) “Short-barreled shotgun” means a shotgun . . . .” Is an AOW a shotgun? A shotgun is defined as
750.222 (h) “Shotgun” 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 shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single function of the trigger.
A shotgun is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder. An AOW “shotgun” has no shoulder stock and has never had a shoulder stock, thus it is not designed to be fired from the shoulder, and thus it is not a shotgun as defined. Not being a shotgun it cannot be a SBS by definition. It is an AOW and Michigan has no law on AOWs, which is to say Michigan residents are Free in this regard.
There is some dispute that an AOW must be safety inspected as a pistol. A “Pistol” means a loaded or unloaded firearm that is 30 inches or less in length, or a loaded or unloaded firearm that by its construction and appearance conceals itself as a firearm. An AOW is a firearm 30 inches or less in length. I believe that it must be presented for safety inspection.
If you do so, take your approved Form 1 showing that the firearm is an AOW, not an SBS. I can also post an ATF letter on legal possession of the super shorty in Michigan. I would take both to the PD as well as Deb Smith’s phone number at MSP, because that is the person the PD will contact. Also if you have an approved Form 1, it means the Chief of the Department has already signed off and will look silly if they don’t inspect it as a pistol. My 2 cents.