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  • Gatling gun and definitions

    From shannon@mail.com@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 2 10:35:50 2018
    Ok, a friend and I were walking around a gun show today, and the subject of
    ATF rulings came up. Among them were Gatling guns. After a rather interesting conversation on Gatling guns and calibers, the question came up as to wether a hand cranked Gatling is a rifle or something else, per the ATF. My comment was that it isn't a rifle, as it can't be shouldered, and doesn't even have a stock.
    It isn't a machine gun, obviously isn't a pistol, not a shotgun for the same reason it isn't a rifle, so does it fall into some other oddball category?

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  • From Frank <"frank@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 2 18:13:07 2018
    On 12/2/2018 5:35 AM, shannon@mail.com wrote:
    # Ok, a friend and I were walking around a gun show today, and the subject of
    # ATF rulings came up. Among them were Gatling guns. After a rather interesting
    # conversation on Gatling guns and calibers, the question came up as to wether a
    # hand cranked Gatling is a rifle or something else, per the ATF. My comment was
    # that it isn't a rifle, as it can't be shouldered, and doesn't even have a stock.
    # It isn't a machine gun, obviously isn't a pistol, not a shotgun for the same # reason it isn't a rifle, so does it fall into some other oddball category?
    #

    I googled your question and it is a little vague but a machine gun is
    defined by the ATF as a gun that gives multiple shots with a single
    trigger pull so it looks like a Gatling gun is a machine gun.

    [MODERATOR: Except historically the ATF has said "Gatling gun"
    has been exempted too.
    https://www.atf.gov/file/83561/download
    ]

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  • From Simeon Nevel@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 2 20:55:25 2018
    shannon@mail.com wrote in news:pu0ci5$vbr$1@news.albasani.net:

    # Ok, a friend and I were walking around a gun show today, and the
    # subject of ATF rulings came up. Among them were Gatling guns. After
    # a rather interesting conversation on Gatling guns and calibers, the
    # question came up as to wether a hand cranked Gatling is a rifle or
    # something else, per the ATF. My comment was that it isn't a rifle, as
    # it can't be shouldered, and doesn't even have a stock. It isn't a
    # machine gun, obviously isn't a pistol, not a shotgun for the same
    # reason it isn't a rifle, so does it fall into some other oddball
    # category?
    #

    Would it be categorized as some sort of "destructive device"?

    Simeon

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  • From Frank@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 2 20:55:26 2018
    On 12/2/2018 1:13 PM, Frank wrote:
    # On 12/2/2018 5:35 AM, shannon@mail.com wrote:
    # # Ok, a friend and I were walking around a gun show today, and the subject of # # ATF rulings came up. Among them were Gatling guns. After a rather interesting
    # # conversation on Gatling guns and calibers, the question came up as to wether a
    # # hand cranked Gatling is a rifle or something else, per the ATF. My comment was
    # # that it isn't a rifle, as it can't be shouldered, and doesn't even have a stock.
    # # It isn't a machine gun, obviously isn't a pistol, not a shotgun for the same
    # # reason it isn't a rifle, so does it fall into some other oddball category? # #
    #
    # I googled your question and it is a little vague but a machine gun is
    # defined by the ATF as a gun that gives multiple shots with a single
    # trigger pull so it looks like a Gatling gun is a machine gun.
    #
    # [MODERATOR: Except historically the ATF has said "Gatling gun"
    # has been exempted too.
    # https://www.atf.gov/file/83561/download
    # ]
    #

    Maybe that is the case except I note that was put out 14 years ago and
    things do change. I would doubt that the ATF was concerned that a
    Gatling gun would ever be used in an illicit shooting but who knows.

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  • From Ralph Mowery@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 2 23:08:31 2018
    In article <pu1grs$8cl$1@news.albasani.net>,
    snevel+usenet@silvilagus.com says...
    #
    # # Ok, a friend and I were walking around a gun show today, and the
    # # subject of ATF rulings came up. Among them were Gatling guns. After
    # # a rather interesting conversation on Gatling guns and calibers, the
    # # question came up as to wether a hand cranked Gatling is a rifle or
    # # something else, per the ATF. My comment was that it isn't a rifle, as
    # # it can't be shouldered, and doesn't even have a stock. It isn't a
    # # machine gun, obviously isn't a pistol, not a shotgun for the same
    # # reason it isn't a rifle, so does it fall into some other oddball
    # # category?
    # #
    #
    # Would it be categorized as some sort of "destructive device"?


    Many years ago I saw two of the AR-15 type simiautos side by side. They
    were mounted on something that had a crank on it and as you turned the
    crank the triggers would be pulled . Guess that this would have been
    similar to a Gatling gun. Each one fired only once per trigger pull.

    At the time there was a sign on the device that it was ATF leagal
    without any paper work.

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  • From Juergen Nieveler@21:1/5 to All on Mon Dec 3 11:05:35 2018
    On 02.12.2018 19:13, Frank wrote:
    # I googled your question and it is a little vague but a machine gun is
    # defined by the ATF as a gun that gives multiple shots with a single
    # trigger pull so it looks like a Gatling gun is a machine gun.

    Except that a hand-cranked Gatling doesn't have a trigger that you
    "pull" - as you turn the crank, the hammer gets pulled back and then
    released again without being held back by any retaining mechanism.

    Also, it's only ever one barrel fired at a time. "Multiple shots with
    one trigger pull" also would apply if you had a dual-barrel shotgun
    rigged to fire both barrels at the same time - although that clearly
    isn't a machine gun.

    Gatlings are one of those edge cases that drive lawmakers mad...

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