The #OneLess movement is a thing. Maybe. For a couple folks, at least, who think destroying their own AR-15s will somehow prevent a psycho killer (qu’est-ce que c’est?) from getting one. Or, more likely, it’s just about sending a virtue signaling message. Except when it’s sending an “I’m a Federal felon message,” which is exactly what Scott Pappalardo did . . .
Oooh so close, too. Unfortunately, in Pappalardo’s #OneLess (which should be #OneFewer, I recon) video, he chooses to cut through the barrel of his old-school, Vietnam-era-M16-looking AR.
It went from rocking a ~20-inch barrel to, well . . .
Something considerably shorter than the National Firearm Act’s 16-inch minimum. As we all know, a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16 inches is Federally classified as a “short barreled rifle” or “SBR,” and must be registered with the Federal government after paying a $200 tax and receiving fingerprinted and background-checked approval.
Making an SBR without prior approval, as Pappalardo did, is a Federal felony. A big one, too. Maximum penalty? Something like 15 years in prison, $260,000 in fines, and a loss of one’s Second Amendment and other rights (should The Man go after him for the 10-year, $10,000 gun-related NFA violation and the tax evasion violation, both of which technically happened).
Obviously he won’t be prosecuted. Just like David Gregory, he was on the wrong side of the law but the “right” side of the anti-gun politics. It would be interesting if the proverbial book was thrown at Pappalardo, though, as I expect both the Left and the Right would be up in arms over it. So to speak. And getting both sides to agree on the inanity of the NFA? Priceless.