When is an AK a handgun?

[supton]

MIL gets "The News-Times" newspaper, and on pg A3 of Friday December 25, 2009, top/left, is an article that caught my attention.

Leonard Embody, 37, was carrying this AK-47-type handgun around Radnor Lake State Park, in Nashville, Tenn., last Sunday. Embody was detained by park rangers because his weapon looked like a rifle, but he was released without charges after the weapon was identified and Embody showed his handgun carry permit. The state legislature passed a law earlier this year allowing people with handgun permits to carry their weapons in parks.

So: who's trying to CC one of these?

Oh: found the link, with more details.

 

[EddieCoyle]

A champion of the Second Amendment is vowing to exercise his constitutional rights by parading around Bicentennial Mall with a loaded AK-47 assault pistol slung across his back, but even fellow gun advocates are denouncing his behavior as a foolish publicity stunt.

If this guy is really pro-2A, he's doing it wrong.

He's acting like someone that wants to get the 'carry-in-public-parks' law overturned.

Also, why does his 'assault pistol' have an orange tip?:

 

[dwarven1]

When it's a Draco.

 

[Twigg]

“It’s a pistol, and he has a right-to-carry permit,” police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford says

Hmmm, "right-to-carry permit" Call me crazy but this just sounds so wrong.

Either it is a right or it isnt.

 

[FalArAk]

The guy is an idiot.

 

[buketduder]

As long as was within the law..which i guess he was..that's cool..

 

[fbirdquik6]

The guy is an idiot.

Agreed.

 

[drumenigma]

If this guy is really pro-2A, he's doing it wrong.

He's acting like someone that wants to get the 'carry-in-public-parks' law overturned.

Also, why does his 'assault pistol' have an orange tip?:

Embody capped the tip of his pistol’s muzzle orange, a sign commonly used to show the weapon’s actually a toy.

That is a really odd thing to do. Sounds a little sketchy. It sounds like he almost wanted it to appear like a airsoft gun or something.

 

[supton]

I agree on the orange tip, unless if the barrel is filled with cement and rendered inoperable. Pretty stupid. And, while desensitizing the public to open carry is a good thing, doing it with an AK is over the top. No photo of him is given, but I have to wonder if he's some scruffy looking guy.

I still can't get over how this is considered a "handgun". I guess a pistol grip and the manufacturer calling it thus makes it so? If that's the case, then why are 12g pumps with handgrips considered handguns too?

 

[dcmdon]

If it doesn't have a stock, then its a handgun.

There are loads of short barreled AR handguns you can buy. Then if you register it as a SBR you can put a stock on it legally. Its much easier than trying to shorten a rifle.

Don

p.s. just a heads up to any CT people with ideas. Any semiautomatic handgun that has certain evil features is an assault weapon and is banned. This would not be legal in CT. One of the factors is weight.

See here for details: http://www.jud.ct.gov/JI/criminal/glossary/assaultweapon.htm

 

[dwarven1]

If that's the case, then why are 12g pumps with handgrips considered handguns too?

According to my Michigan customers, 12 GA shotguns with pistol grips and an overall length less than 30" (or some arbitrary number in that range) ARE considered pistols and need to be purchased as such up there. Surprised me when I heard about it.

 

[whitey]

What about those Ewbank shorty ak pistols?