I also heard you can get five years for using an NFA item in a non-justifiable homicide (ie, defensive shooting). For that reason alone, I wouldn't use one for defense (and that Serbu Super Shorty sure would be a nice all-purpose truck/HD shotgun).
It has been brought up before on another site concerning the use of suppressors (which we just got in WA) and AOW's (which we have).
If you want to look into it some more, a few posts above I provided a
cite and a PDF explanation/review of the law with case law to back it up.
Short version is
Any firearm used in a crime of violence = 5 years in addition to original sentence (not positive about this in practice, but that's what the law says...)
SBR/SBS used in a crime of violence = 10 years in addition to original sentence
Machine gun, Destructive Device, or Silencer = 30 years in addition to original sentence
18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)
EDIT: if anyone has contradictory information (cited legal sources and case law etc.) I would be very interested in hearing it. I'm not too happy about finding this law myself and would love hear that it has been nullified by case law.
"the best suppression you can get with a service caliber weapon would be a 9mm,"
Are you saying that a 9mm can be suppressed to a lower decibel than a .40 or .45?
Of the firearms I've heard fired suppressed, 9mm was quieter than both .40 and .45
JustinJ:
As far as I can tell, if it is a 100%, no doubt about it, clear cut self defense case, it doesn't matter if you use a .22 or a mortar (or a suppressed mortar, since we're talking about suppressors). It doesn't matter if it's CCW or a HD gun. The problem is when you don't have such a clear cut case. I don't know many people who would want to risk an additional 30 years in prison to use a suppressor for SD.