LLS. Department of Justice

 

Bureau oi Alcohol- Tobaeoo.
Firearms and Explosives

 

stemnreurgney istot 


JUN 25 till?
to. asses. Blakely

Dear Mr. EIaltely:

On February ti. little you 1wrote to the Firearms Technology Branch oi'the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco. Firearms and Explosives inquiring about the legality ofa
small section or" string intended [or use as a means for increasing the cycling rate of a
semiautomatic ri?e. We responded on September 3i]. EGEH. in that letter we stated:

In 1996. FTE examined and classi?ed a 14-inch long shoestring with a loop at
each end. The string was attached to the cocking handle ofa semiautomatic ri?e
and was looped around the trigger and attached to the shooter?s ?nger. The
device caused the weapon to ?re repeatedly until finger pressure was released
from the string- Because this item was designed and intended to conyert a
semiautomatic ri?e into a machinegun, FTB determined that it was a machincgun
as de?ned in 16 USE. 5345fh}. {Emphasis in original].

Upon further review. we have dctemined that the siting by itself is not a machineguit,
whether or not there are loops tied on the ends- However, when the string is added to a
semiautomatic ?rearm as you proposed in order to increase the cycling rate of that ri?e,
the result is a firearm that ?res automatically and consequently would he classi?ed as a
ntaehinegurt. To the extent that prior ATE classi?cation letters are inconsistent with this
letter1 they are hereby overruled.

We hope that this clari tics our position. Should you have any questions, please do not
hesitate to contact us-

Sincerely,

?ag} Mi? 3/
Richard asquez

Acting Chief. Firearms Technology Branch