This entire mess has come about by the ATF becoming a victim of their own damn creation. For literally decades any shotgun, and I mean ANY SHOTGUN with a barrel less than 16" long would land you in prison on Federal gun charges..... And now, all of a sudden they come up with this whole "overall length" business. That supposedly has always been, "on the books"..... But no one has ever heard of. Or taken advantage of..... Until now.
For literally decades, putting a rifle stock on a rifled barreled weapon with a barrel length under 16", would land you in prison on the same Federal gun charges..... And now all of a sudden you have all of these idiotic "braces", that are attached to, "AR-15 Pistols".... That no one is using for a wrist brace as they were supposedly designed.
They all look like shoulder stocks. They all act like shoulder stocks. And EVERYBODY who owns one USES it as a shoulder stock....... Which the ATF say's you're not supposed to do. However if you do, they will, "sort of look the other way", and not arrest you if the gun was originally built and tagged as a "pistol".... Which in itself is ridiculous.
It's easier to figure out the tax codes from the IRS, than it is to try and sort out this complete cluster-"F". It has now gotten to the point if they were to make any changes in this entire mess, no one would be able to sort it out, and understand what's legal, and what isn't. There are simply too many cracks to fall into.
I would advise ANYONE who wants one of these things, (14" barreled "firearm", "shotgun", "AOW"), or whatever you want to tag it with, to buy it from the factory, (Remington / Mossberg), and LEAVE IT THE WAY IT CAME FROM THE BOX. Do not alter it, add anything, or change anything. Because if you do, you could very well find yourself sailing into uncharted legal territory, that would require Clarence Darrow to return from the dead, in order to sort out.
Now you can call me paranoid. And maybe I am a little. Or even more than just a little. But there is something about the term, "Federal prison sentence" that just scares the living hell out of me. And remember, any and all of these Federal 3 letter agencies, (ATF, IRS, FBI, DEA), have the power of God, and can destroy your life with the stroke of a pen. And if they are wrong, they can simply walk away without so much as a, "We're sorry".