Update — August 14, 2026
Separately from this bill, a federal court struck down NFA registration for suppressors, SBRs and SBSs on August 5, 2026 in Silencer Shop Foundation v. ATF — but only for the parties to that case, and AOWs were not part of it. Our process at the shop is unchanged. Read our current breakdown of where the law actually stands →
There’s a bill in Congress aimed at removing the “any other weapon” category from the National Firearms Act, and since I deal with NFA paperwork for a living, I figured it deserved a plain-English writeup. I’m Lance Rankin, owner of Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. We’re a Type 07 FFL and SOT, which means suppressors, AOWs, and the rest of the NFA world cross my counter regularly.
What an AOW actually is
“Any other weapon” is the NFA’s catch-all bucket. Broadly, it covers concealable firearms that don’t fit the normal categories: smoothbore pistols built to fire shotgun shells (rifled-barrel guns like the Taurus Judge are excluded), certain combination rifle-shotgun guns with barrels between 12 and 18 inches, and the one that trips up modern shooters, a pistol with a vertical foregrip added. A pistol is legally a one-handed firearm, so bolting a vertical grip to the front changes its classification and quietly turns an accessory swap into a federal felony if you haven’t filed the paperwork first.
One oddity of the category: transferring an AOW carries a $5 tax instead of the standard tax that has applied to most NFA items. The stamp is cheap. The registration, the wait, and the legal exposure for getting it wrong are the real costs.
What the bill would do
Representative Chip Roy of Texas introduced the “No Backdoor Gun Control Act” along with several House co-sponsors. It would strip AOWs out of the NFA’s definition of a firearm entirely, which ends ATF authority over the category. It would treat prior AOW owners as satisfying any state licensing requirements that reference the NFA, and it would require the Department of Justice to destroy the existing AOW registration records.
The name isn’t accidental. Supporters, including Gun Owners of America, worry that if short-barreled rifles and shotguns ever come out of the NFA, the ATF could lean on the vague AOW catch-all to regulate the same guns through the back door. This bill is meant to close that route in advance.
My take from behind the counter
The AOW category is the strangest corner of the NFA, and I say that as someone who profits from processing NFA transfers. Nobody can give me a straight public-safety argument for why a vertical foregrip transforms a legal pistol into a registered federal item while an angled foregrip doesn’t. Rules that hinge on distinctions that fine mostly manufacture accidental felons out of people who thought they were buying a grip. So I’m sympathetic to the bill.
I’d also temper expectations. Bills that trim the NFA get introduced most sessions and most of them die in committee. This one is worth watching, not worth planning around.
Where things stand
As of this writing, the No Backdoor Gun Control Act is introduced, not passed, and nothing about AOW law has changed. If you own or want anything NFA-regulated, follow the current rules to the letter until the day they actually change. If you’re unsure whether a configuration you’re considering creates an AOW or an SBR, ask before you build it. That conversation is free; the alternative isn’t. Here’s a primer on what an FFL dealer does if the licensing side is new to you.
We handle NFA transfers and paperwork here at the shop, and I’m happy to answer configuration questions even if you didn’t buy the gun from me. Email [email protected] or call 817-393-4000. Check the bill’s current status before relying on anything above, and remember this is a gunsmith’s commentary, not legal advice.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
