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I think that another interesting question regards constructive possession. Say you and a friend go to the gun range to shoot your ARs. You bring your various short uppers and have one mounted on your NFA registered SBR. Your buddy, who has a non-NFA lower, uses >16" barrels on his rifle. In that instance, you have a pile of uppers which, if added to his firearm, would constitute a federal crime. Presuming that you are actively using one of your short barrel uppers at any given time, would the presence of uppers which, if added to your friend's AR be illegal, constitute constructive possession for your friend under any circumstances?

I ask because while I have no interest in SBRs, I love my cans and a situation in which a fellow shooter has a threaded barrel rifle or pistol while I use a can or take the can off of my weapon to mess with/use a holster with my normal barrel/clean/ et c. scares me. The three scenarios that I can envision are a.) as long as somebody has a stamp for the NFA items, the authorities need to actually see another person illegally using the NFA item to constitute a violation of the NFA b.) having "more items than you can use" in addition to folks around you who could, if they so chose, use one of your uppers with their non-NFA receiver may under certain circumstances constitute constructive possession or c.) with cans the discussion is irrelevant because the can, not the gun, is the NFA item.

In a similar vein, what if you have a pistol with a Pic rail and a vertical foregrip (VFG)? Does that always constitute constructive possession of an AOW (any other weapon)? If you have a pistol and a rifle with Pic rails and a VFG, is that alright? If so, does the VFG need to be attached to the rifle so long as the pistol is in your immediate possession (which becomes truly awkward if both weapons are, say, in your safe)?

I raise the questions as a thought experiment, and to demonstrate how the interpretation of even seemingly clear statutes can very rapidly become subjective and confusing.