How Do "Modular Handguns" Exist?

Okay, I'm going to describe a firearm:

This gun has a separate upper and lower component. The upper contains the barrel, the breech, the locking assembly, and the firing pin assembly. The sights mount on top and are removable. You can mount a red dot on the upper.

The lower component has the grip, the detachable magazine, a safety, and a subassembly with a removable unified fire control group.

Is this gun a Sig P320? Or is it an AR-15 with a CMC trigger?

How do "modular handguns" exist under the current interpretations of our various gun control laws? It's "not-a-gun" because... the "firearm" is a removable trigger assembly?

I guess the better question is... how come a manufacturer hasn't made a "modular AR chassis system" that's basically exactly a CMC trigger with a serial number plate?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JRV

Okay, I'm going to describe a firearm:

This gun has a separate upper and lower component. The upper contains the barrel, the breech, the locking assembly, and the firing pin assembly. The sights mount on top and are removable. You can mount a red dot on the upper.

The lower component has the grip, the detachable magazine, a safety, and a subassembly with a removable unified fire control group.

Is this gun a Sig P320? Or is it an AR-15 with a CMC trigger?

How do "modular handguns" exist under the current interpretations of our various gun control laws? It's "not-a-gun" because... the "firearm" is a removable trigger assembly?

I guess the better question is... how come a manufacturer hasn't made a "modular AR chassis system" that's basically exactly a CMC trigger with a serial number plate?

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Because CMC and cassette type trigger suck.

ATF hasn't shot their dog yet.

More seriously, as much shit as the ATF gets for their apparently arbitrary classifications, they're faced with a difficult job with modern designs and legal frameworks. Everything is easy until it's your job.

Modular handgun chassis are truly the heart of the pistol. They include both the fire control part, frame rails, and takedown lever holes.

A CMC trigger and similar cassette triggers are just that: triggers. They do not contain the other parts of the gun.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by john c

Modular handgun chassis are truly the heart of the pistol. They include both the fire control part, frame rails, and takedown lever holes.

A CMC trigger and similar cassette triggers are just that: triggers. They do not contain the other parts of the gun.

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That’s what I was going to say - I think the rails are what tips it over into a firearm.