"home made" full auto machine guns legal in the 9th Circuit?

[submaniac]

Home made fully automatic machine guns apparently are legal in the 9th circuit.

I just found this case, which sez it al. the FOPA which criminalizes possession of a machine gun is beyond the authoruty of congress to enact.

would be cool, but cali bans it.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1173761.html

[gunsmith]

!? IDK, machine guns are legal to own with the right paperwork here in NV & there are plenty of machinist here that have the know how-you would think there would be more machine guns if legal.

[bohoki]

well the feds seem to have authority over marijuana made in and for use only in CA

[Wolverine]

Home made fully automatic machine guns apparently are legal in the 9th circuit.

I just found this case, which sez it al. the FOPA which criminalizes possession of a machine gun is beyond the authoruty of congress to enact.

would be cool, but cali bans it.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1173761.html

Thanks for the link. Very interesting read. I wonder why the US didn't appeal this to SCOTUS?

Updated: Thanks to Kharn below we found that the US did appeal this decision to SCOTUS and won on remand in light of Raich. So "no homebrew machine guns for you, peasant"

[cmaynes]

This seems similar to the bill that Montana was working on that would allow Montana manufactured guns to be exempt from ATF reporting- It will be interesting to see where it goes, but one would think simply becoming a Class III manufacturer would have made the guys life a whole lot less anxious.

[Librarian]

Thanks for the link. Very interesting read. I wonder why the US didn't appeal this to SCOTUS?

Because

We reverse Stewart's conviction for machinegun possession under section 922(o) as an unlawful extension of Congress's commerce power and affirm his conviction for possession of firearms by a felon.

they got to keep the conviction, and an appeal to SCOTUS might have drawn some attention to machine guns.

Similarly, United States v. Rock Island Armory, Inc., 773 F.Supp. 117 (C.D.Ill. 1991) will never be appealed (well, cannot be any more, but was not) because the opinion was

registration of machineguns made and possessed after that date no longer serves any revenue purpose, and such registration requirements are invalid.

In United States District Court, Central District of Illinois, it's legal to manufacture machine guns and one need not register them.

[safewaysecurity]

Lol. So we should all move to Illinois and start building full auto AKs.

[Mr_Monkeywrench]

[gunsandrockets]

Holy crap!

[Kharn]

The Government appealed Stewart the same term as Raich. Supreme Court held Stewart, granted Raich cert, went through the motions and found that growing pot in your backyard does affect interstate commerce. Stewart was GVR'ed with "reconsider in light of Raich", the Circuit Court reexamined the issue and home-built MGs were found to affect interstate commerce as you could have bought an out-of-state MG, thus 922(o) was legit.

[dantodd]

The Government appealed Stewart the same term as Raich. Supreme Court held Stewart, granted Raich cert, went through the motions and found that growing pot in your backyard does affect interstate commerce. Stewart was GVR'ed with "reconsider in light of Raich", the Circuit Court reexamined the issue and home-built MGs were found to affect interstate commerce as you could have bought an out-of-state MG, thus 922(o) was legit.

My google-fu must be weak. Can you post the opinion? thanks.

[Write Winger]

Who knew Illinois of all places you could build a FA gun... talk about enemy territory.

[Kharn]

My google-fu must be weak. Can you post the opinion? thanks.

The summary was from memory, but I bet the case has a Wikipedia page.

[ChuangTzu]

Who knew Illinois of all places you could build a FA gun... talk about enemy territory.

Except doing so is against IL state law. Can't even have a SBR in IL...

[Wolverine]

The Government appealed Stewart the same term as Raich. Supreme Court held Stewart, granted Raich cert, went through the motions and found that growing pot in your backyard does affect interstate commerce. Stewart was GVR'ed with "reconsider in light of Raich", the Circuit Court reexamined the issue and home-built MGs were found to affect interstate commerce as you could have bought an out-of-state MG, thus 922(o) was legit.

Thanks Kharn. I found the docket on the SCOTUS website. Case Number is 04-617. The subsequent 9th Circuit opinion upholding 922(o) can be found at http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastor...df?openelement