The US Constitution, as amended by the ATF:

Article 1 – The Legislative Branch
Section 1 – The Legislature
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Article 1 – The Legislative Branch
Section 7 – Revenue Bills, Legislative Process, Presidential Veto
All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Bills originating in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives become law immediately, the House and Senate not having a say, and such bills not being subject to veto by the President.

(Italicized text added by ATF fiat.)

I always wondered how the ATF was going to deal with Franklin Armory’s Reformation. That’s the firearm which bypassed existing law by creative design. It appears to be a short-barreled rifle, but — while it has lands — it isn’t rifled; the lands are straight.

But it isn’t a shotgun because it isn’t a smoothbore. Nor is it an Any Other Weapon because it isn’t really concealable, nor does it fit any of the other AOW definitions. Franklin Armory came up with something not envisioned by the crafters of the NFA or Gun Control Act of ’68.

A normal person, yet who for some odd reason does think government should regulate firearms, might think, “Well heck; that’s like a law specifically addressing animal- or wind-powered transport, and along comes the motor car. We need Congress to pass a new law for new gadget.”

Normal people don’t work at the ATF.

Frankly, I expected the ATF to declare it to be concealable and thus an NFA Any Other Weapon, just as they declared bump-fire stocks to be machineguns, bypassing unconstitutionally bypassing Congress. But they’re on a roll now, so…

Without any enabling legislation whatsoever, the ATF has invented out whole cloth a brand new, non-NFA class of firearms.

The GCA/SBS: Gun Control Act Short-Barreled Shotgun.

The ATP Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) has examined the Reformation firearm for purposes of classification under the applicable provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) and the National Firearms Act (NFA). During this examination, FATD determined that the straight lands and grooves incorporated into the barrel design of the Reformation do not impart a spin onto a projectile when fired through the barrel. Consequently, the Reformation is not a “rifle” as that term is defined in the GCA and NFA. 1 Moreover, because the Reformation is not chambered for shotgun shells, it is not a shotgun as defined in the NFA.2 Given these determinations, the Reformation is classified as a shotgun that is subject only to the provisions of the GCA (i.e., it is not a weapon subject to the provisions of the NFA).3

Under the provisions of the GCA, if a Reformation firearm is equipped with a barrel that is less than 18-inches in overall length, that firearm is classified to be a short-barreled shotgun (SBS).4 When a Reformation is configured as a GCNSBS, specific provisions of the GCA apply to the transfer of that firearm from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FPL) to a non-licensee, and to the transport of that firearm by a non-licensee in interstate or foreign commerce.

A whole new class, with whole new rules. They don’t even have forms to address this unlawful, unconstitutional Frankensteinian firearm fiat. Therefore, all sales have been ordered stopped.

Under the GCA, a non-NFA firearm would be subject to just the already burdensome rules: bound book, prohibited persons, background checks, et cetera. No NFA tax stamp.

The GCA/SBS will require special permission — somehow differing from the NFA tax stamp — from the US Attorney General (tell me again how Trump was going to save the Second with his appointees?) not just to purchase, but even to transport your own firearm across state lines.

Hey, why not? The EPA seized power to regulate carbon dioxide. At least they did it by classify exhalations — plant food — as a pollutant, an existing class in existing law.

The ATF is the third chamber of Congress. There is no Constitution.

[Permission to republish this article is granted so long as it is not edited, and the author and The Zelman Partisans are credited.]

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