IN MO: An AR pistol can have any length, no stock. I built mine with a 10.5" barrel with a 25 1/2" overall length. I cannot ever use a forward grip legally - no issue with that, it's not a major accuracy producer anyway. I used a pistol buffer tube to sidestep any issues.
Under current laws - and they have historically been getting better, not worse in MO and nationwide - I can treat it just the same as any other pistol. That means CCW, having it loaded concealed in the front seat, etc. Some regard for time and place should be common sense, as a lot of that is really academic. But the point is, I don't need an annual renewal to possess the pistol when crossing state lines, and under MO law as a CCW carrier I can also Open Carry it. No, I wouldn't take it to a downtown Chipotles in KC. An SBR might be illegal as the "R" in SBR means "Rifle" and there are very specific laws pertaining to them. Words have meaning.
I don't have to apply for a trust, spend $200 for an investigation, and make my pistol permanently classed a rifle. I can use that pistol in another build, if the laws were changed, and keep it (and if they ban AR's entirely I'd wait for the dust to clear before saying what the results would be. Nobody knows the future.)
The AR pistol is no less lethal than an SBR, and for what it does, no less accurate, as it's largely used under 100m and can certainly hold onto an 18MOA target at those close ranges. Which is why I used mine for two seasons for MO deer, firearms and pistol. You can't use an SBR as a pistol limiting it to one and one only. I got extra days hunting - with a much more powerful weapon than a pistol caliber handgun, which means it's also more ethical in my way of thinking.
You don't need a brace to use it - and from what I have read in the "letter," it doesn't raise issues of the buffer being used as a stock - as is. The issue with ATF regulations is that they are considered law because Congress didn't want to be burdened with arguments over Constitutionality or near trivial technical discussions. There is a request for a complete copy of ALL ATF decisions from letters and questions, tho - about 30 file cabinets. And there is the danger of those acting as the ATF and telling you exactly what their deliberately confusing and unclear language means. The ATF rules isn't in the business of telling you what your freedoms are. They are in the business of enforcement. When the FIOA request is forced into compliance, there will be significant changes, and things will have to be cleared up.
As for their changing regs, be advised - based on the NFA of '34, there is now a bill to cut out the tax revenue collection on silencers and make them completely legal and Federally unregulated. This continues the trend we've seen in areas like CCW - from a few legal states to most having shall issue. Now many states permit the use of silencers hunting, which is something largely required in many European countries, with sales at the hardware store level.
Better to exercise your freedoms - we didn't get from just a few states with CCW because we held back and wondered if the laws would change again. Same with the AR - there was an AWB, for the most part, the AR is now part and parcel of what we use as a hunting and sporting rifle. Just the same as all those milsurps our grand dads and fathers bought to hunt with in the 40's and 50's. My first rifle was an HK91 and I only hunted with it, too. Holding back only lets them win, build an AR pistol where legal and we all gain.
