I have a sawed off 12 gauge that I once used for western re-enactments made on the order of the gun supposedly carried by Doc Holliday on a lanyard attached to a swivel eye on the top of the rib. It measures 18.5 inches from muzzle to breach and is overall 26.75 inches with the stock cut and sanded to a "semi" pisto grip that is shaped more like the early flintlock or dueling pistols grips than a modern pistol grip. My group used to display and perform at local gun shows every now and again and I would always have this little sawed off displayed on our table. It never failed that at least one "customer" would look and gaze and mentally measure the piece before asking if they could "look at it." I usually responded by simply saying yes and handing them a flexible steel tape measure and admitting that I had them identified already!!! ATF was at each show, and they never failed to look at this gun. I told one of them once that I had wanted to cut it off even shorter but was unsure as to the licensing requirement. He told me that I could do so as long as I registered it with through the ATF and paid the tax on it, which he said was only $5.00. At another show I told the same story to another ATF agent and was told that I could NOT get it registered if I cut it shorter because it was not manufactured in that fashion. I didn't care enough to research it further, but it just goes to show you that you can get a different story from every ATF affiliate you speak with. I may get industrious enough to actually research it one day and if it is in fact only a $5.00 tax, I think I will do it.
