As our rights are slowly chipped away, new gun owners are left to make decisions based upon what’s left after the anti-gun lobby has had their share. Thankfully, NFA firearms classified as Short Barreled Rifles are NOT banned in the state of Connecticut, nor are suppressors or transferable machine guns. Some states such as NY and NJ explicitly carve out certain NFA items as banned. See this NFA Ban State list made by National Gun Trusts here. So… does this mean that I can buy a MK-18 off the shelf? No, not exactly…
Gun owners in Connecticut have to navigate a maze of state and federal laws to conclude what may/may not be legal for them to build… Starting with what we know, what centerfire rifles can we have in CT? Manual action, featureless, fixed mag, take your pick! If it’s CT-compliant, there is an avenue to SBR it.
Manual action? With or without a detachable magazine? Yes, you can SBR that firearm. There are no manual action “assault rifles”, you can do as you wish with it in CT and that of course means getting a SBR tax stamp is on the table. Everyone is in love with their short tactical lever-guns, or 10” .300 blackout bolt actions right now. Things such as The Fix by Q have made their way to our state already, you may have even spotted one in the wild.
Featureless semi-automatic rifles? Per the Connecticut Assault Weapons Ban (see our intro article here), Semi-automatic centerfire rifles are restricted to a minimum overall length (tip to butt, fully extended stock) of 30”. According to Fightlite’s website, the SCR has an OAL of 37.75”… you can do that math! However, the definition of a pistol in Connecticut includes any firearms with a barrel length of less than 12”. As an SCR is intended to be fired from the shoulder, a 9” SCR is certainly a rifle… and a pistol… or worse, an Other by state definition. But, a 10.5 ” pin-and-weld to 12” as a featureless rifle is an option!
Fixed magazine semi-automatic rifles? The same 30” OAL rule applies to all rifles… which would math out to about a 12.5” barrel on an AR platform measured fully-extended. Fixed magazine pistols are starting to make their way to the local market as well, with a <12” barrel length being a legal option. And while you could SBR a fixed mag pistol technically, you would not be able to use a stock without risking illegal classification as an “Other”.
While it’s been rather doom and gloom on the state and national stage recently… life finds a way, we can have our SBRs. Note: when you submit your Form 1, include the relevant sections of law so that the ATF knows that you’re building a legal firearm. There has been some variety amongst examiners, but they’ve been slowly warming up to our weird needs.
Arcana Arms is here for all of your NFA needs!
Electronic Fingerprinting/Passport Photo Package: $125
NFA Transfer: $50
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