THE TAURUS JUDGE
Illegal to Carry in Oklahoma?
Recently I received an e-mail from a subscriber who said that he was told by a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) that if he carried a "Judge" loaded with .410 shot shells he would(could) be arrested for carrying a "sawed-off" shotgun. He wanted my opinion on that.
This is not the first time I had heard of such a thing. I have talked about this with other Concealed Carry Instructors and received mixed opinions. Some feel that it is indeed illegal, some are convinced it is not.
I have my own opinions on this subject. However, I am not an attorney. I am just a gun instructor. To get a legal opinion it is best to seek out a licensed attorney in this field.
Though I'm not a lawyer, I have found, on page 28 of the November 2010 revision of the Oklahoma Self Defense Act Lawbook is the following verbiage: (you can get the most recent SDA Lawbook in a .pdf at
http://guninstructor.net/SDA_Lawbook_NOV_2010.pdf)
Title 21, 1289.18
"SAWED-OFF SHOTGUN AND SAWED-OFF RIFLE DEFINED-VIOLATIONS-PENALTIES
A. "Sawed-off shotgun" shall mean any firearm capable of discharging a series of projectiles of any material which may reasonably be expected to be able to cause lethal injury, with a barrel or barrels less than eighteen (18) inches in length, and using either gunpowder, gas or any means of rocket propulsion.
B. "Sawed-off rifle" shall mean any rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than sixteen (16) inches in length or any weapon made from a rifle (whether by alteration, modification, or otherwise) if such a weapon as modified has an overall length of less than twenty-six (26) inches in length, including the stock portion.
C. Every person who has in his possession or under his immediate control a sawed-off shotgun or a sawed-off rifle, whether concealed or not, shall upon conviction be guilty of a felony for the possession of such device, and shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a period not to exceed two (2) years, or both such fine and imprisonment.
D. It is a defense to prosecution under this section, if the approved application form that authorized the making or transfer of the particular firearm to the defendant, which indicates the registration of the firearm to said defendant pursuant to the National Firearm's Act, is introduced."
Looking at the definition in "A", you can see where an LEO might get the idea that a Taurus Judge loaded with .410 might fit that definition. But so would a Bond Arms 45/.410 Derringer. And so would any pistol loaded with shotshells (oftentimes called "snakeshot). In reality, this could apply to any handgun loaded with such ammo. If taken that way, that definition regulated ammo rather than guns. Was that the intent? This gun instructor doesn't think so.
Looking at "D", it seems to me, as non-attorney gun instructor, that if we buy a firearm that comes into question, and have gone through the paperwork deemed necessary according to the National Firearms Act... that is a valid defense. So, to me, that means that if you bought the gun from a dealer and filled out the required forms, and all was approved in accordance with the Federal Law that dictates such a transaction, that gun is OK.
Of course, that means that if we buy such a gun in a personal transaction, that doesn't require such paperwork, we cannot use that as a defense.
What is the Legislative Intent?
On page 16 of the SDA Lawbook, under Title 21 1290.25, Legislative Intent, it says:
"The Oklahoma Self-Defense Act shall be liberally construed to carry out the constitutional right to bear arms for self-defense and self-protection."
To me, this means that a ruling should lean toward leniency if found to be contradictory, or if found to fall in a "gray" area. So this gun instructor's belief is that the law was written to allow as much as reasonably possible and not intended to be "tightly" regulated.
Other definitions
Title 21, 1283 F
"For purposes of this section, "sawed-off shotgun or rifle" shall mean any shotgun or rifle which has been shortened to any length."
and Title 21, 1289.5 Definitions for Firearms Act
"Shotguns" as used in the Oklahoma Firearms Act of 1971, Sections 1289.1 through 1289.17 of this title shall mean any firearm capable of discharging a series of projectiles of any material which may reasonably be expected to cause lethal injury, with a barrel or barrels more than eighteen (18) inches in length, and using either gunpowder, gas or any means of rocket propulsion, but not to include any weapon so designed with a barrel less that eighteen inches in length. In addition, any "shotgun" capable of firing single projectiles but primarily designed to fire multiple projectiles as "shot" will be regarded as a "shotgun".
"Pistols" as used in the Oklahoma Firearms Act of 1971, Sections 1289.1 through 1289.17 of this title, shall mean any firearm capable of discharging a projectile composed of any material which may reasonably be expected to be able to cause lethal injury, with a barrel length or barrels less than sixteen (16) inches in length and using either gunpowder, gas or any means of rocket propulsion, but not to include flare guns, underwater fishing guns or blank pistols."
These definitions are useful to me as a person who speaks the English language because they show a more complete understanding of the terms shotgun and pistol. A shotgun is clearly different than a pistol. In the English language, it is also reasonable to believe that the term "saw-off" indicates that the item in question has been shortened.
Of course, most of us will not "saw-off" our Taurus Judge. And when you look at an unaltered Taurus Judge it better fits the definition of a "Pistol". You have to use quite a bit of imagination to envision a Taurus Judge as a shotgun, sawed-off or otherwise.
To me, as an English speaking gun instructor, not an attorney, Law Enforcement Officer, or Officer of the Court, it seems reasonable to conclude that a Taurus Judge is not a sawed-off shotgun. It never was a shotgun, to begin with. It's a pistol which fits the definition of Title 21, 1290.2 2 (page 1 of the SDA Lawbook)
"2. Pistol means any derringer, revolver or semiautomatic firearm which:
a. has an overall length of less than sixteen (16) inches and is able to be fully concealed from detection and view.
b. is capable of discharging a projectile composed of any material which may reasonably be expected to be able to cause lethal injury.
c. is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand, and
d. uses either gunpowder, gas or any means of rocket propulsion to discharge the projectile."
I asked D.A. Tim Harris if he had an opinion on this. He's not working on such a case and is plenty busy with other matters of concern, but he did take time to answer. Here's what he said in an e-mail.
"It may be a concern but without doing extensive legal research it doesn't seem practical to apply the law with such a technical interpretation. The section D you quoted provides a defense and the definition of a pistol cited seems to fairly resolve the question. While I can't give you or any private citizen legal advice your opinion seems to be well grounded. In areas of the law that are not written exactly on point, we can only hope for a common sense and reasonable interpretation to be applied. God bless. Happy New Year. Tim Harris"
When I contacted Taurus, I was told, "We can't comment on that", was then transferred to a voice-mail recording, where I left my name and number. I have also posed the question by e-mail on their site and by letter. As of today, two weeks later, I have not heard anything back.
A good friend Nick, had better luck getting an opinion from someone at Taurus:
"Don, I talked to a lady at Taurus Customer Service. She said that first, if it was considered a shot gun it would be illegal to sell in the US because of the barrel length, and second, it is listed as a revolver under it's nomemclature with the Federal Goverment."
My thinking on this is, if a person who gets charged with carrying a sawed-off shotgun, when actually carrying a Taurus Judge, they may be able to successfully defend such a charge. And if you bought the Taurus Judge from a licensed FFL gun dealer and can provide the paperwork showing that you met all the requirements of the Federal Firearms Act, I believe your chances are even better.
But as you know, I've not made any secret of the fact that I am not an attorney. And I understand that each case is decided on it's own merits. I know that judges, District Attorneys, and juries may differ from area to area and from individual to individual.
When It Comes down To It
As far as I know, this issue has never stood the test of a court case, so there is no history to look at. But, as it stands now, I would not be reluctant to carry my Taurus Judge, if I felt the yearning.
I'd be interested in hearing any other information, whether it supports my opinion or not. And if I find out anything else on this, I'll make it known in this newsletter.
NOTE: I received an e-mail from a friend, Mike, about the Judge not being smooth bore, like a shotgun. Since Oklahoma Law didn't mention anything about smooth bore or rifling in it's definitions, I didn't research that as a point of argument. But thinking about it, anything that helps define the gun in this kind of situation, would probably help.
Good ole' Bob, of Bob's Guns, sent me a link to get a .pdf copy of the "ATF National Firearms Act Handbook". Thanks Bob. Therein I found this definition for a Shotgun.
2.1.1 Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder and designed to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of projectiles or a single projectile for each pull of the trigger.
That's gotta' help in an argument. If the Judge is a sawed-off shotgun, would not that mean, by AFT (Federal) definition, that it must be smooth bore? Yes, this non-attorney thinks so.
Don
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