Quote:
Originally Posted by vt_shooter
According to the feds, the gun mentioned by the OP would appear to be a rifle:
18 U.S. Code § 921 - Definitions
(a) As used in this chapter—
Paragraph a(5) The term “shotgun” means a weapon 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 an explosive to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.
Paragraph a(7) The term “rifle” means a weapon 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 an explosive to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.
If you want to stay out of trouble with a given state in a rifle vs. shotgun issue, you'd want to read that state's definitions.
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So, let's add some more confusion to the topic. Let's say I have a .357 lever action rifle. Let's say I have some .357 snake loads (which I do have). According to the Fed definition, if taken literally, when I shoot the snake loads in my lever action rifle, it becomes a lever action shotgun???
In spite of "definitions", (and in spite of bureaucrats), a little common sense goes a long way. If a gun is designed to shoot shotgun shells, it is a shotgun. If a gun is designed to shoot rifle cartridges, it is a rifle. I know one thing for sure. I have hunted deer in Illinois since 1993, with a shotgun that has a rifled barrel. It is still a shotgun.