The CBP supervisor I asked was very definite about my 870 pump with the 12.5" barrel.
He said, "US citizen or not that gun
isn't coming into the United States".
Neither of us had a
pdf but I didn't see much latitude for leniency between the veins in those bulging eyes.
Too bad because that gun would have been a perfect thick brush slug gun for hunting deer in Maine where I was headed at the time. It's sad that the behavior of criminals decides what guns the law abiding can carry. Short barreled guns are good for other things than robbing banks. They're very handy in thick brush where shooting ranges are short & they don't hang up in the brush like Pinocchio barreled guns do.
**I accept your version but for the sake of discussion I also noted the phrase
"to fire through a smooth bore" in the pdf quote.
I was thinking the rifling (I'm assuming, perhaps erroneously, that the barrel in your slug gun is rifled) might make it a short barreled rifle thus reducing the minimum length to 16".
You
NEVER assume anything at the USA/CDN border. There are a lot of similarities between the two countries and a lot of differences as well. It's
"the stuff I didn't know" that can get you locked up. Always check things out
BEFORE attempting the crossing. US citizens crossing into Canada with handguns in their vehicles have wound up in the border post calaboose while things were straightened out. CBSA (Canadian border guards) have thin tolerances for anything involving guns.
It seems that the formula:
shotgun + hacksaw blade = short barreled shotgun
is lost on American lawmakers. If the crooks want a short barreled gun they'll make one.