Readily restored
Gun Law News has the skinny on an interesting (and full of shit) court opinion. In part:
Along came MKS Specialties who got a hold of some cut up M-14 receivers (perfectly legal). They take that scrap metal (of a certain, politically incorrect history and shape), weld together functional receivers, add a few parts and produce a semiautomatic firearm.
The BATFE jumped in and said the MKS M-14 is an NFA weapon by virtue of how they interpret the law. Under civil asset forfeiture law, they grabbed an MKS M-14 owned by William K. Alverson.
The BATFE claimed that, because the M-14 was originally designed to shoot automatically, the MKS M-14 was an NFA weapon.
Alverson responded with an expert who testified that it would take six hours to convert the weapon to full-auto operation. Unfortunately, the Eighth Circuit had already held that if you could convert a semiautomatic rifle in 8 hours in a fully equiped (sic) machine shop, the gun would qualify as an NFA weapon.
It’s not necessary to put it in a machine shop for a random number of hours when a key ring and a shoestring will convert an M1A to automatic fire. Seems rather arbitrary to me and the shoestring method would work on a number of other weapons too. I can also convert my AR-15s to full-auto fire with a few hours in a machine shop by drilling a hole and changing out the blot and fire control group. Looks to me like the ATF and the court is wrong on this one. But, more importantly, this creates case law that could classify a whole host of rifles as potentially being NFA weapons or machine guns.
Update: Over at subguns.com, Brian S. says:
IIRC, the BATF’s primary beef was that the M14 receivers were not demilled to their standards, and thus never lost their MG status. I know, the whole “once an MG, always an MG” is not defined in the USC, either… However, everything isn’t going to hell in a handbasket as the article suggests. There have been plenty of rewelds that the ATF is OK with, provided that the receivers were demilled to their standards in the first place and the mods preventing any of the auto parts from being installed done before rewelding.
March 20th, 2006 at 4:24 pm
[…] Court ruling – Metal from a non politically correct source, while perfectly safe, may not be recycled into useful products. Uncle has the news with colorful commentary. […]
March 20th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
It shouldnt take more than an hour to do the two setups necessary to turn a normal AR15 receiver into an M16 receiver. That is not including refinishing (the cuts wouldnt be seen from the outside) or assembling with the M16 FCG.
March 20th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
An enterprising youth with too much time on his (or her) hands should have no problem making a smooth-bore open bolt SMG from *scratch* in 8 hours in even a lightly stocked machine shop.
March 21st, 2006 at 10:09 pm
Dr Strangegun; Your brain might be considered an NFA weapon, subject to confiscation.
And lets not forget these now seemingly irrelevant words;
A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
That tells me I should be able to buy a brand new M2 beltfed over the counter at the local Wall Mart by sending my 12 year-old kid in with the money while I wait in the pickup. OK, one of the employees might need to help him out with it – they’re heavy, especially if Wall Mart were offering a tripod and 100 rounds with the deal.
March 24th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Ok. Once, NFA, always NFA! : )
Let’s go impound the judges personal vehicles for containing materials from an NFA gun. Can you tell me the nails in his house weren’t machine guns in their prior form?