Oct 18, 2016 · However, a 12 gauge pump action with a pistol grip instead of a shoulder stock and a barrel shorter than 18″ is an AOW***, provided it didn’t start its life as a shotgun.

Mar 6, 2019 · However, the rapid growth of the pistol stabilizing brace (PSB) market has created more questions than anyone has answers. Such as, “when is a PSB actually a stock” and “when does installing a foregrip on a pistol create an ‘Any Other Weapon’ (AOW)”?

May 4, 2006 · Therefore, if individuals install a vertical fore grip on a handgun, they are “making” a firearm requiring registration with ATF’s NFA Branch. Making an unregistered “AOW” is punishable by a fine and 10 years’ imprisonment.

Jan 23, 2020 · To lawfully add a vertical fore grip to a handgun, a person must submit an ATF Form 1, Application to Make and Register a Firearm along with a fingerprint card bearing the applicant’s fingerprints, a photograph, and $200 making tax.

Many gun owners and even gun manufacturers took full advantage of this loophole by attaching vertical foregrips to AR-style pistols and Mossberg Shockwave-style firearms with an overall length of over 26 inches. The result: a weapon that would only be classified as a firearm and would not require any federal registration.

Oct 21, 2020 · By adding an additional grip, you have made the handgun into a weapon that is now intended to be held with both hands, which would then classify the weapon as an AOW. So if you decide to mount a vertical grip, you would have to register the firearm as an AOW.

A pistol or revolver having a barrel with a smooth bore designed or redesigned to fire a fixed shotgun shell; Addition of a vertical handgrip to a pistol or revolver;

Apr 18, 2014 · Something weird happens in the fourth configuration: Adding a second vertical grip turns it into an NFA-regulated firearm called an “Any Other Weapon” (AOW), and would be a felony if the receiver were not already registered as an AOW.

Dec 22, 2014 · However, in a 2010 guidance letter from the ATF’s Firearms Technology Branch, we see that the addition of an angled fore-grip, specifically the Magpul AFG, would not make a pistol an AOW.

Feb 17, 2025 · If it’s intended to be fired with one hand, with a grip below the line of the bore, it’s a pistol. If the gun has been modified so that it’s intended to be shot with two hands, such as with the addition of a vertical grip, it’s an AOW.