Still, only a suggestion from the ATF.
Can the ATF just arbitrarily ban a specific weapon, or class of weapons from importation without legislation? If so, where is the line drawn when it comes to that authority? The Saiga 12 wouldn’t even qualify to be classified as an “assault weapon”, even if the 1994 ban were still in place. To have those shotguns in a configuration that would be consistent with ‘military style’ weapons, a good bit of work is required on the part of the end user. Machine work and a few hundred dollars worth of parts need to be purchased and installed/replaced to give it a true pistol grip and other features, for example. This is commonly known as a “Saiga conversion”.
Might have to get me a 2nd Saiga 12, just in case. I’m NOT liking the sound of this......