I suppose this had to come up sooner or later…
(Reuters) – A federal judge has dismissed charges against a Kansas man for possessing a machine gun, saying prosecutors failed to establish that a federal ban on owning such weapons is constitutional.
The decision by U.S. District Judge John Broomes in Wichita on Wednesday appeared to mark the first time a court has held that banning machine guns is unconstitutional after the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 issued a landmark ruling that expanded gun rights.
In that ruling, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court established a new test for assessing firearms laws, saying restrictions must be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
The Supreme Court clarified that standard in June as it upheld a ban on people subject to domestic violence restraining orders having guns, saying a modern firearms restriction needs only a “historical analogue,” not a “historical twin,” to be valid.
Broomes, an appointee of Republican then-President Donald Trump, said prosecutors in Tamori Morgan’s case failed to identify such a historical analogue to support charging him with violating the machine gun ban.
The U.S. Department of Justice can appeal the decision, which the gun safety group Everytown Law in a statement called “extreme and reckless.” Prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment. Morgan’s lawyer declined to comment.
I’m not going to say that I have no use for a machine gun. A little fun switch on my Uzi, and a Negev for my future fortified home, could come in handy someday. But ‘need’ is never a determining factor when it comes to this sort of thing.
Do I think this is the opening burst in a long slog towards repealing the NFA? No, I do not. Why? Because no matter what the legal status of something is, there’s just too much of an uphill battle with the non-gun public. It’s nice to think public opinion doesn’t matter in these issues and only the legal merits are whats important….but the minute a serious challenge is mounted, the media will be full of nonstop chatter about ‘silencers’ and machine guns becoming ‘readily available’. Never mind that anyone with a machine gun will tell you that theyre an expensive beast to feed.
However, I will follow this episode with some interest to see how far it gets, and what reasoning is bandied about, before it gets cut down by other courts.
This might get interesting.
ll I want to know is did the man get his toys back?
No. They will still be considered contraband and civilly seized. The feds just can’t prosecute HIM — and him alone — for not making them legally with the Form 1 and tax payment.
It’s going to take more than this to make new civilian-market machine guns legal again. Currently this decision only applies to Morgan — and even if it is not appealed and the charges reinstated (the BATFE would be stupid to risk that) it doesn’t help anyone else. Suspect he would be charged again if he makes any further unregistered MGs, with BATFE et al hoping for a different judge in that event.
The Chevron overturning puts the Reagan Ban in real jeopardy and may open the manufacture of new toys to the market as the Chicago Gun Registration ban was overturned that started the current change in rulings
I’m not holding my breath but it would be cool to buy an SBR with a giggle switch and an M240b to mount in the back of my truck technical style.
I think a full auto 10/22 would by both wildly fun and somewhat practical. Swap stocks and barrels to make a rifle, a PDW, a submachinegun, etc…and still be affordable to shoot.
I want a 10.5. in fixie a la HEAT. Full auto would be way cooler.
In Fact, Fully Automatic Weapons have always been ‘Legal’. The 1934 NFA is a Tax Law. It is all the other ‘laws’ at the state and federal level, especially the ones that require “Permits” of any sort to Buy, Own or Carry ANY Weapon, that are totally Non-Constitutional. As are all forms of “Background Checks” which are De Facto ‘Registration’ of a Weapon.
Remember, the Original Version of the 1934 NFA was a Gun Ban, but that wasn’t going to Pass the Con-gress. Oh, and that “Not Relevant Anymore” Gun Control Lobby did in fact Endorse the NFA as passed.
Back in the day one could purchase a full auto Thompson/Colt (technically Auto Ordnance I guess) at the local hardware store. They really didn’t sell all that well until WWII mainly due to nobody had much money except the rumrunners. With all the Glock switches out there maybe it’s time to raid the old lady’s 401k and pick me up that Thompson. She was warned to protect her password.
Daddy likes.
https://dealernfa.com/shop/auto-ordnance-cr-m1928ac-thompson-a0134662/
The most popular gun among Seattle pubescent gangers is glock with full auto chip and happy stick….finding hundreds of 9mm cases at the latest shootings and cops sharing the perps had these things. But no machine gun accountability other than confisc during arrest.
A recent shooting here locally reports 180 rounds were fired, looks like I may need to put more ammo in the truck.
A Federal judge who supports voters AND the law?
The Wokes will try to Crucify him!
We don’t have to hope for a repeal of the NFA. I’d be happy with the Hughes Amendment being ruled unconstitutional at this point. Then maybe reclassify suppressors and short barrel weapons as Any Other Weapons.
Yes! Repeal the Hughes amendment.
It will require some carefully crafted lawsuits to dismantle the NFA. Recall that the Miller case was crafted by the enemy to set a precedent that the NFA was Constitutional: a bad defendant, no legal representation, a US Attorney who went venue-shopping for a friendly judge…
The worst thing we can do at this point is rush to court with a bad case that gives the feds the chance to set a post-Bruen precedent regarding the NFA. We need plaintiffs like Heller and McDonald with squeaky clean records who can articulate their standing without being in criminal possession of an MG and looking at serious jail time. The Thompson-Center case (clarifying that it is legal to go from pistol to rifle and then back to pistol while remaining an ordinary Title I firearm rather than becoming an NFA-regulated SBR) is another example: file the form to make an MG legally (as a licensed manufacturer) and then sue for having to do so.
Making SBRs/SBSs and suppressors into AOWs wouldn’t help us much, if at all. Still subject to the same NFA regulations, just with a $5 transfer tax rather than a $200 one. Short barrel weapons should be reclassified as pistols, and suppressors should simply be unregulated. If Trump is sworn-in in January and the Republicans have control of Congress, these are possible goals. If the Democrats are running things then not only will there be no such reform of the laws, but there will quite likely be an attempt to outright ban the possession of short barrel weapons and suppressors. They’ve already attempted this in more than one state.
“All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void.” Marbury vs. Madison, 5 US (2 Cranch) 137, 174, 176, (1803)
“Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them.” Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 US 436 p. 491.