Luigi Franchi SPAS: A Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun from Italy

[Gunreference1]

https://special-ops.org/luigi-franchi-spas-shotgun/?fbclid=IwAR2vefNlc3mKw7QuiqbmVW8xqJBaIU8QIT4jPyRM Wg9MhM0Panp34g6E_6A

Steve

[1 Patriot-of-many]

Didn't the ATF arbitrarily rule them destructive devices somehow.......12 gauge shotgun destructive device but other 12 gauge shotguns not destructive device.......

[Nobeard]

Didn't the ATF arbitrarily rule them destructive devices somehow.......12 gauge shotgun destructive device but other 12 gauge shotguns not destructive device.......

Pretty sure this one wasn't on that list. You might be thinking about the Street Sweeper, Striker and Daewoo USAS-12.
Back in 1994, The ATF decided those didn't meet the 2nd Amendment's (non-existent) 'sporting purposes' clause.
Secretary of Treasury Lloyd Bentsen declared them to be a destructive device by royal decree.
The owners were given a limited time to file the paperwork for a free tax stamp on their previously legal weapons or risk become felons.
Lawyers have a term for this.... :think2:
de facto?
ex post facto?
fucking crack hoe?
Sorry, didn't mean to bring up Kamala

Anyway, purchasing one of them now requires all the NFA headache and paperwork plus a $200 transfer fee.

[tank_monkey]

Didn't the ATF arbitrarily rule them destructive devices somehow.......12 gauge shotgun destructive device but other 12 gauge shotguns not destructive device.......

NO. The SPAS was never on that list.

US Treasury Secretary at the time Lloyd Bentsen (D) from Texas, under pressure from Handgun Control Inc (later changed to the Brady Gun Safety Group, et al) declared several shotguns to be destructive devices, utilized a RARE and never utilized phrase from GCA that allows the Sec of the Treasury to declare ANY centerfire Firearm with ammunition that measures 0.5 inches or larger to be a Destructive Device unilaterally. Now the 12 gauge shotgun was NEVER intended to be considered for this rule. It was for centerfire ROUNDS like 20mm etc. But this was the insanity of the gun controllers. They stretch the definitions SO MUCH to grab everything they can.

The shotguns that were banned were

Cobray Street Sweeper
Striker 12 rotary Shotgun
Glibert Arms /Daewoo USAS Shotgun

The brady group wanted the Mossberg 500 put on the list because the morons saw the Mossberg once in a bullpup stock and freaked out, but even idiot Bentsen understood that to ban the Mossberg 500 shotgun was a bridge too far, even for the gun banners.

Those of us who HAD these shotguns were allowed to register them as D.D.s and keep them (for the most part). and they were banned.

I had a Class III dealer friend who told me that it was easier to get and buy the FULL AUTO version of the USAS 12 than the SEMI AUTO version, since the Semi auto version was banned but the FULL auto version was not (since it was originally in a different category according to the ATF)

Rant off. Coming from a guy who had TWO of the banned guns.