I have a question and am looking for your opinions on this. I have a line of AR recievers and plan on buying several and registering them all as handguns. My question is...To get the MI pistol designation do the pistols have to be "complete" to qualify or can the later be built into MI pistols. I have looked but can't find any firm answer in the law on this so I put it to the forum.
Thoughts?
How would you get the rifle shorter than 30" and still have a stock on it?
You're original question is sort of combining ATF and Michigan laws. The lower doesn't receive Michigan Pistol designation until it is a rifle less than 30" and more than 26" long.
However, if it is to be constructed as a pistol IAW ATF rules, then it has to be registered as an actual pistol before construction. Otherwise you'd be in possession of a short barreled rifle once it was constructed but prior to registration.
So if you're putting a 16" barrel on the lower, assemble it, measure it, and then register it.
If you're putting less than a 16" barrel on the lower, register it as a pistol and then assemble it.