“Section 5821 of the National Firearms Act (NFA or Act) levies a tax of $200 per unit upon anyone ‘making’ a ‘firearm’ as that term is defined in the Act. Neither pistols nor rifles with barrels 16 inches long or longer are firearms within the NFA definition, but rifles with barrels less than 16 inches long, known as short-barreled rifles, are. This case presents the question whether a gun manufacturer ‘makes’ a short-barreled rifle when it packages as a unit a pistol together with a kit containing a shoulder stock and a 21-inch barrel,permitting the pistol’s conversion into an unregulated long-barreled rifle, or, if the pistol’s barrel is left on the gun, a short-barreled rifle that is regulated.”
“We hold that the statutory language may not be construed to require payment of the tax under these facts.”
