I'm not telling anyone to do an illegal act
I know the guys that went to court, I was in court with them, and them won?
when the BATF has been in my shop, they classified firearms as how they worked at the time they handled them, if modified, while IN there hands, and that is what defines the firearm in there class?
this too is s FACT, as I knew it when I sold guns and had to follow regs to do so, for 10+ yrs!
AN AR is Not something than can be easily and FAST In field, broken down to remove the gas tube
BY using this example, you can also then say a GUY can just remove the plug of a shotgun at will and then put it BACK if they see a game warden?
if you wanted to NO
and then the issue would be to PROVE The person was doing such!

NOW if a guy was caught with an AR and had all the parts in his possession, I can see your side,
But if they didn;t(as my friends didn;t)
I cannot see how the firearm can be said to be SEMI AUTO< if it didn;t fit the definition of the classification of a SEMI AUTO
By BATF rules
if it HAS to be manual worked to load a second round it is NOT SEMI AUTO!
NOT trying to argue here, just stating what I know to be true

I will BET you never came across a person hunting with a gas tubed removed AR 15 in your 30 yrs of a game warden, , YES or NO?

as like I said, its DUMB thing to do, and onl;y reaosn I can see anyone really wanting to is to be a smart ass and , the 3 people I knew did so to prove a point, and they won!
they went looking for trouble and found it, yet were 100% in the right at the end
I see NO reason to ever do so
so I am NOT saying its something to do, nor,am I saying every court will find on your side if you do
going to court can be a gamble??
but legally as far as I know a modified gun that ONLY functions in the state its in, is considered what it is by the state it is in!
per BATF rules!
and even if I am correct, in the rule and regulations hand book, it describes a semi auto as a gun that self loads, , so a AR< without a gas tube, will NOT do as such! as it has been modified to NOT work as such!

to each there own, I could again care less?