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Legality of a VFG placed at the 9 o’clock position on an AR pistol Login/Join 
Oriental Redneck
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NFA or non-NFA?


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Posts: 30961 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: September 04, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Frangas non Flectes
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That would be a horizontal foregrip. And dumb. But hey, so is the law, so I guess they equalize.


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Posts: 18997 | Location: Sonoran Desert | Registered: February 10, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oriental Redneck
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I know what it would be called. Question is, would it now be non-NFA, or is it still NFA?


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Posts: 30961 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: September 04, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Spread the Disease
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I would say it is NFA. I tried to find a written ATF definition of a VFG and found this:

https://www.atf.gov/file/97256/download

quote:
ATF has long held that by installing a vertical fore grip on a handgun, the handgun is no longer designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand. Therefore, if individuals install a vertical fore grip on a handgun, they are “making” a firearm requiring registration with ATF’s NFA Branch.


I don't see how a HFG would function any differently. Of course, that's a bit of a silly way to define how a pistol is "designed" to be held and fired, also. Hell, you could also argue that a forend on an AR pistol fulfills the same purpose.


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Posts: 18646 | Location: New Mexico | Registered: October 14, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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That said, it also says specifically a “vertical fore grip”. A horizontal fore grip is not a vertical fore grip. You can make the claim that an angled foregrip performs the same function described in the highlighted red section, but they have taken to be legal, so why wouldn’t a horizontal grip be legal? Heck, even vertical grips a few degrees short of 90 seem to be considered legal.
 
Posts: 3861 | Location: South FL | Registered: February 09, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Staring back
from the abyss
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As I understand it, the grip cannot be 90 degrees from the bore axis. Anything else is legal...or at least I hope so (not that I'm too concerned with getting hauled in around these parts).

Even if mounted horizontally, a true "vertical" grip would still be 90 degrees to the bore axis and, thusly, illegal.

* Not a lawyer.


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Posts: 22697 | Location: Montana | Registered: November 01, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Dies Irae
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Guessing if the grip could be deployed to a vertical position, it would be construed as intent. Probably also if you had (say) an Accu-Shot monopod; something neither named nor specifically intended as a grip.
 
Posts: 5902 | Location: Fort Heathen, Texas | Registered: February 25, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
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quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
As I understand it, the grip cannot be 90 degrees from the bore axis. Anything else is legal...or at least I hope so (not that I'm too concerned with getting hauled in around these parts).

Even if mounted horizontally, a true "vertical" grip would still be 90 degrees to the bore axis and, thusly, illegal.

* Not a lawyer.


This is my understanding as well.

90 degrees to the bore = bad according to the ATF, with no mention of where it's oriented on the clock face being a factor.
 
Posts: 35189 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oriental Redneck
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Of course, this topic never crossed my mind, until I saw some yahoo on YT yesterday claiming non-NFA on a horizontally attached VFG on an AR pistol. And, we all know YTers are expert on all things.


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Posts: 30961 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: September 04, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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Makes me think of the Sten, with its side-mounted magazine




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Posts: 18504 | Location: Spring, TX | Registered: July 11, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Freethinker
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Not that I have any intention of doing it, but I wonder how this* would be viewed. It’s pictured and can be locked in the forward 45 degree position, but also at 90° to the mount. Legal in one, illegal in the other? Illegal, period, because it can be rotated to 90 degrees?





* https://accu-shot.com/shop/accessories/bt27/




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Posts: 49513 | Location: 10,150 Feet Above Sea Level in Commirado | Registered: April 04, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Sigforum K9 handler
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Where’s the Parks and Rec meme?


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Posts: 38468 | Location: Logical | Registered: September 12, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
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Posts: 35189 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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