Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our mission here is to give you the reality of federal short barrel rifle charges - not the sanitized version you find on government websites, not the oversimplified summaries other law firms paste together, but the actual truth about how these prosecutions work and who really gets caught in them. What most people discover too late is that the National Firearms Act created a regulatory maze so complex that the ATF itself has issued contradictory guidance over the years. And the consequence of that confusion falls entirely on you - the gun owner who thought they understood the rules.
Federal short barrel rifle charges carry up to 10 years in federal prison and fines reaching $250,000. Those numbers appear on every government website. What those websites fail to mention is that federal prosecutors maintain a conviction rate exceeding 90 percent. By the time charges are filed against you, the government has already assembled its case, already reviewed your purchase records, already traced your 4473 forms. The trial is often ceremony. The outcome was decided before you hired a lawyer.
The people who end up facing these charges are rarely the criminals the law was designed to stop. The National Firearms Act passed in 1934 targeted gangsters with Tommy guns and sawed-off shotguns. Nine decades later, the same statute catches hobbyists who miscounted barrel inches on an AR-15 build. As Todd Spodek has explained to countless clients over the years, the gap between who this law was meant for and who it actually prosecutes could not be wider.
What Federal Law Actually Says About Barrel Length
Heres the thing about short barrel rifle law that trips people up. The definition seems simple untill you actually try to apply it. Under 26 U.S.C. Section 5845, a short-barreled rifle is any rifle with a barrel less then 16 inches, or any rifle with an overall length under 26 inches. Two numbers. Sixteen and twenty-six.
But those two numbers create endless complications in practice. The ATF measures barrel length from the closed bolt face to the end of the barrel. Your measurement from the chamber might be different. The overall length measurement includes the stock - but what if you have a collapsible stock? Do you measure it extended or collapsed? What about pistol braces that blur the line between rifle and pistol completly? What about muzzle devices that may or may not count toward barrel length depending on how they are attached?
These questions do not have consistent answers. The ATF has issued guidance, then revised it, then contradicted its own revisions. Your local gun shop might tell you one thing. An online forum says something different. The actual federal agents who enforce this law sometimes disagree with each other about what specific configurations qualify. And heres were it gets truly dangerous - the burden of understanding all this complexity falls entirely on you. Ignorance of the law is not a defense. You could do hours of research, consult multiple sources, beleive your completly compliant, and still find yourself facing federal charges becuase one measurement was off by a fraction of an inch.
The $200 tax stamp requirement that has defined NFA ownership for decades is actualy going away as of January 1, 2026. But do not let that give you false comfort. The elimination of the tax stamp does not amnesty past violations. If you have possessed an unregistered SBR at any point, that violation exists regardless of what happens to the tax stamp going forward. The clock does not reset. The government can still prosecute you for conduct that occurred years ago, even if the same conduct would be legal tomorrow.
The Constructive Possession Trap
Let that sink in for a moment. You can be charged with possessing an unregistered short barrel rifle that was never assembled. Never fired. Never existed as a complete weapon. The parts were sitting in your safe, your closet, your garage - and that is enough for federal prosecution.
This is constructive possession, and it is one of the most dangerous legal doctrines facing gun owners today. Under this concept, you possess an NFA firearm if you own the components required to assemble it, even if those components have never been put together. Own an AR-15 lower reciever and a short upper that is not attached to anything? You could be charged. Have a rifle stock and a pistol that could theoreticaly accept it? You could be charged. The weapon does not need to exist in physical form. The mere potential for its assembly creates criminal liability.
The courts look at intent and capability when evaluating constructive possession claims. If your collection of parts suggests you could readily assemble an unregistered NFA firearm - and you have no lawful configuration for those parts - prosecutors will argue you effectivly possessed the weapon. It does not matter that it existed only in potential. Your criminal liability is real and immediate.
OK so how do you protect yourself from constructive possession claims? The legal strategy that emerged from the 1992 Supreme Court case Thompson/Center Arms gives some guidance. In that case, the Court found that when parts could be assembled into either a legal configuration or an illegal one, the ambiguity should resolve in the defendants favor. But heres the kicker - that protection only works if you actualy have a legal use for those parts. If you own a short barrel that only fits one reciever, and that reciever has no legal configuration, constructive possession applies with full force.
Think about what this means for gun enthusiasts who collect parts. Who buy components on sale. Who accumulate building blocks for future projects they might never complete. Every purchase creates potential liability. The more parts you own, the more legaly vulnerable you become. It is a paradox that would make Kafka proud - law abiding behavior, buying things through legal channels, creates criminal exposure. The hobby that brings you joy becomes the trap that destroys your life.
Why the Pistol Brace Victory Did Not Save Anyone
In 2023, the ATF issued a rule that reclassified pistols with stabilizing braces as short-barreled rifles. Millions of gun owners who had purchased completly legal firearms suddenly faced a choice: register as an SBR, remove the brace, or become federal felons overnight. The outcry was immediate and massive. Gun rights organizations filed lawsuits in every circuit. The Second Amendment community united like never before.
And the courts agreed with them. The Eighth Circuit and Texas federal court found the rule arbitrary and capricious. By July 2025, the rule was effectivly dead - the DOJ dismissed its appeal in Mock v. Bondi, and the pistol brace rule was officialy vacated nationwide. Victory for gun owners, right?
Not exactly. Heres were the system reveals its true nature. In documents filed in ongoing prosecutions, the government made what defense attorneys called a "truly breathtaking" claim. Despite the rule being vacated, the ATF asserts it can still prosecute using the underlying statute. Their exact words in court filings: "Because the rule reflects ATFs best understanding of the statute, those determinations will naturaly tend to look substantially like the determinations that would follow from applying the clear framework outlined in the rule."
Read that again carefully. The rule was struck down as illegal by multiple federal courts. And the ATF says they can still enforce its logic anyway. The chief of ATFs Firearm Industry Programs Branch even admitted in a January 2025 email that their public statements were "overbroad." But in the same breath, they claimed ongoing prosecution authority. The agency lost in court and declared itself the winner anyway.
This means gun owners who relied on court rulings to protect them may still face prosecution. You cannot argue you followed the law if the agency says the law means what the struck-down rule said it meant. The ground beneath you is always shifting, and the agency that creates the confusion profits from your uncertainty.
What Prosecution Actually Looks Like
Lets be clear about what you are facing if federal charges come down. A federal firearms prosecution is not like state court. The resources are different. The conviction rates are different. The entire experience is different than anything you have encountered in the justice system before. Most people have no idea what they are walking into.
Federal prosecutors do not bring cases they expect to lose. They have years to investigate before you ever know you are a target. They build files on potential defendants long before any indictment drops. By the time you learn you are being charged, they have already traced your purchase history through credit card records. They have pulled 4473 forms from every dealer you have ever bought from. They have probably interviewed people who sold you parts, maybe even people you have talked to at ranges or shows. The case against you was assembled in secret, over months or years, while you had no idea anything was happening.
The conviction rate in federal court exceeds 90 percent. Think about what that means for your odds. Nine out of every ten defendants are convicted. And many of those apparent "acquittals" are actualy plea bargains to lesser charges that still destroy lives. If you go to actual trial in federal court, your odds are even worse. The government has unlimited resources. You have whatever your savings can buy, plus whatever debt you can take on. This is not a fair fight by any measurement.
In United States v. Rush, decided by the Seventh Circuit in 2025, Jamond Rush was charged with possessing an unregistered NFA firearm - an AR-15 with a 7.5-inch barrel. He entered a conditional guilty plea, preserving his right to appeal on constitutional grounds. His sentence: 30 months federal prison. Not the ten year maximum - but 30 months is still two and a half years of your life. Gone. For a barrel measurement that was 8.5 inches too short. For a configuration error that harmed no one.
Sentencing guidelines say a defendant with no prior record and one firearm might recieve 15 to 21 months in custody. That is the best case scenario for a first offender. If you have any criminal history, if there is any aggravating factor, if the prosecution adds additional charges - those numbers climb fast. A defendant with a single prior drug or violence conviction faces 70 to 87 months for the same offense. Almost six years in a federal penitentiary.
And prison is just the begining of the punishment. Upon conviction, you permanantly lose your right to possess firearms. You are a felon for life. Security clearances are revoked immediately. Professional licenses - medical, legal, financial - face review and likely suspension. Employment barriers follow you forever. Housing discrimination becomes legal against you. The punishment extends far beyond whatever sentence the judge pronounces. It follows you until you die.
Who Actually Gets Charged
Sound familiar? If you are reading this, you probably thought SBR prosecutions targeted dangerous criminals. Gang members with sawed-off shotguns. Drug dealers packing illegal arsenals. The reality is much more disturbing than that comfortable assumption.
In April 2025, the Second Amendment Foundation reported that ATF was "targeting old men in rural Missouri" for NFA violations. Not inner-city gang activity. Not cartel weapons trafficking. Elderly collectors. Hobbyists who have owned guns for decades. People who probly did not even know the configurations in their safes had become illegal through regulatory changes they never heard about.
This is the truth about federal firearms enforcement that nobody wants to discuss. They go where the convictions are easy. A gang member with an illegal weapon fights back, has resources, creates difficulties, generates bad publicity if things go wrong. An old man in rural Missouri panics, cooperates, probably cannot afford extended litigation, accepts a plea deal quickly. Which prosecution looks better on an agents performance record? Which one is more likely to result in conviction without the mess of a trial? The answer is obvious and cynical.
The Brad Simpson case from October 2024 shows another pattern entirely. Simpson, the husband of a missing Texas woman, faced federal SBR charges discovered during the investigation into his wife's disappearance. Once you are on law enforcement's radar for anything, they find everything. A charge that might never have been brought becomes leverage in a larger case. The SBR violation is a tool for pressure, not a priority for public safety.
In Beaumont, Texas, a man brought a short-barreled rifle to the South Texas State Fair in November 2024. He recieved a 2-year federal sentence for that decision. The visibility of the offense - a public event, a state fair - guaranteed prosecution. The same weapon kept at home might have generated a warning or no action at all. At a fair, it generated federal prison time. Location and visibility determine prosecution more than danger or intent.
A college student in Georgia made headlines in May 2025 for 3D printing firearms as what he thought was an educational project. Even educational and hobbyist projects trigger federal prosecution. The technology that makes gun building accessable also makes federal liability accessable. Every new advancement in manufacturing creates new ways to accidentally commit felonies that carry decade-long sentences.
How Defense Actually Works in These Cases
At Spodek Law Group, we have handled federal firearms cases for years. What defense attorneys know - that the public does not understand - is that these cases are not hopeless despite the statistics. The 90 percent conviction rate does not mean every defendant goes to prison for the maximum. It means you need strategy, not surrender. You need experienced counsel, not panic.
The knowledge defense matters more then most people realize in NFA prosecutions. Under 26 U.S.C. Section 5861, possession of an unregistered NFA firearm requires knowledge. The prosecution must prove you knew the weapon was there and knew what it was. This creates real openings for skilled defense.
Did you know the barrel was under 16 inches? Could you be expected to measure it precisely when even ATF agents sometimes get it wrong? Were you relying on the seller's representations about the firearm's legality? Did ATF's own confusing and contradictory guidance lead you to beleive your configuration was legal? These questions matter enormously at trial. They matter in plea negotiations. They matter in determining whether charges get filed in the first place.
Fourth Amendment challenges remain powerfull tools in federal firearms cases. How did ATF learn about your firearm? If there was an illegal search - and ATF has a documented history of pushing legal boundries - suppression of evidence might gut their case entirely. Warrant applications require probable cause based on reliable information. Confidential informants must be vetted and reliable. Every link in the chain is a potential weakness that skilled defense counsel can exploit.
The Thompson/Center ruling established that ambiguity in the NFA favors defendants under the rule of lenity. When parts can be assembled into legal or illegal configurations, courts must resolve doubt in favor of the accused. This is especialy relevant for constructive possession cases. If your parts had a lawfull use - any lawfull use at all - the prosecution faces an uphill battle proving criminal intent beyond reasonable doubt.
As Todd Spodek often reminds clients, the government has resources but they do not have unlimited attention. They want efficient convictions that close quickly. A defendant who presents complex legal problems, who will fight every motion, who will make the prosecution work for every inch of progress - that defendant often sees better offers. Not becuase the government feels generous, but becuase extended litigation costs them time and resources they would rather spend elsewhere.
What You Need To Do Right Now
Heres the reality you must face. If you are reading this at 11pm wondering wheather that rifle in your closet could be a problem, the answer is: maybe. And maybe is terrifying when ten years prison is on the table and the conviction rate exceeds 90 percent.
The system is not designed for fairness. It is designed for convictions. The ATF enforces laws so complex that their own agents disagree about them. Prosecutors bring cases they expect to win, and they usualy do win them. The consequences of a federal firearms conviction follow you forever - not just prison, but lifetime prohibition, career destruction, family devastation, social stigma that never fades.
But you have options. You have rights. And you have time - maybe not much, but some. The decisions you make in the next 48 hours often determine the next 20 years of your life. What you say to law enforcement, what you do with evidence, who you talk to about your situation - all of it matters more than you can possibly understand right now.
At Spodek Law Group, we fight federal firearms cases with everything we have. We understand the NFA inside and out, we understand ATF enforcement patterns, we understand how to find weaknesses in prosecutions that seem airtight to everyone else. We are not interested in billable hours for their own sake. We are interested in outcomes that protect your freedom.
Call us at 212-300-5196. Not becuase we will tell you everything is fine - it might not be. But becuase understanding your situation is the first step toward defending yourself effectively. The government had years to build their case against you in secret. You need to start building yours now, today, before another hour passes.
The clock started ticking the moment you realized something might be wrong. Do not let it run out.
