Just Added A Mossberg 590 Shockwave To The Collection

[David (OHGO)]

I was out for a car trip enjoying the nice weather today and stopped by a gun store down in Defiance Ohio called Hammers Tactical. I saw an ad online the night before and they had a Mossberg 590 Shockwave for sale in the store. After a quick email to ensure it was okay for Ohio residents to buy them after the hoopla that's been following them online I figured I'd give it a shot.


Long story short, walked right in, paid, of course, did the paperwork and walked right back out with it. No ATF agents or anything was awaiting me upon leaving so I figured that was a good sign.


Just got back with it and can't wait to take it out to shoot this weekend. Looks like a lot of fun for sure.

 

[~ZENAS~]

Haven't seen anything official from other Prosecutors, but I have had some FFL dealers inquire about it. I come down on the side that since Ohio law doesn't define "shotgun" that we should use the definition that Federal Code uses, since that would be the commonly understood meaning in this context. As such, this should not be a "shotgun" under the Revised Code for the purposes of the definition of a "short barreled shotgun" in the dangerous ordnance definition. Be cautioned though, because I have talked informally to other prosecutors who ignore that and think a "shotgun" is a shotgun regardless of whether it is designed to be shouldered. To me, this would then mean any smooth barreled pistol designed to shoot bird shot would be a short barreled shotgun, which is absurd. But don't expect the ATF to beat down your door because they've already approved it. What you have to worry about is local prosecutors applying (or misapplying) Ohio law to charge you with a state crime of possessing an unregistered dangerous ordnance. I THINK you'll be fine, but like I said, I haven't seen anything official from Ohio yet. 


Anyway, enjoy it. I'm sure it will be fun to shoot and make a good home defense gun. I like having the stock on my defense shotgun, but wouldn't hesitate for one minute to grab one of these.

 

[David (OHGO)]

Yeah, seems to be a lot of questions regarding the legality of it still, at the very least a lot of confusion. Lots of people throwing ORC's around but no real clear answer or guidelines about the thing yet. Figured the worst that could happen is having to return it (or I guess jail time could be worse )


Took it out to the range today, got a lot of funny looks from people for sure. I thought the recoil would be terrible on it, but it wasn't at all. Keeping the hand inside the fore-end strap must be key to controlling the recoil on it.

 

[David (OHGO)]

It's one cool looking gun there David. I do have some concerns regarding the legality of it in ohio and hope that those get cleared up real soon once and for all. 

 

[~ZENAS~]

The only real ambiguity is that Ohio doesn't define the term "shotgun". It simply says a shotgun with a barrel less than 18" or with an overall length of less than 26" is a dangerous ordnance. Since they don't define "shotgun", the issue is whether or not this is a shotgun. Under federal law, the definition of shotgun specifically states that a shotgun is a gun that was designed to be shouldered. Since this was never designed from the manufacturer to have a shoulder stock, the feds have said it is not a shotgun. But since Ohio doesn't have such a definition, the ambiguity is whether Ohio courts will follow the federal definition or use one of their own. I personally think using a different definition is problematic for a number of reasons, but who knows what courts will do.