Carbines

United States

Carbines without a stock and not originally manufactured as a rifle are not classified as rifles or short barreled rifles. A carbine manufactured under 26 in (660 mm) in length without a forward vertical grip will be a pistol and, state law notwithstanding, can be carried concealed without creating an unregistered Any Other Weapon (AOW); an example of this type of carbine is an AR-15–style pistol. A nearly identical carbine with an overall length of 26 in (660 mm) or greater is simply an unclassified firearm under Title I of the Gun Control Act of 1968, as the AOW catch-all only applies to firearms under 26 in (660 mm) or that are disguised as another object (like a cane gun). However, adding a vertical foregrip to a pistol — including a carbine classified as a pistol — would make it an illegal unregistered AOW, to add one legally requires registering the pistol/carbine with the ATF using a Form 1 application, or the quicker way is to take the pistol to a licensed NFA manufacturer that has a Type 07 or Type 10 Federal Firearms License with a class 2 SOT status, who can install and properly register it. Additionally, a modification to a carbine classified as a pistol intending to allow it to be fired from the shoulder (adding a buttstock) and bypass the regulation of short-barreled rifles is considered the unlawful possession and manufacture of an unregistered short-barreled rifle, adding a buttstock to a pistol or carbine requires it to be registered as an SBR using the same process described for making a pistol into an AOW.