There are a lot of rumors and misinformation on this topic because of a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals case from a few years ago. The case was United States v. Stewart, 348 F.3d 1132 (9th Cir. 2003). In that case, Stewart was prosecuted and convicted for (among other things) possession of five machine guns that he had built himself, largely using parts that he machined in his own home. On appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, he argued that the law banning mere possession of a machine gun was unconstitutional because it was beyond Congress's enumerated Constitutional powers. The 9th Circuit agreed in a 2-1 decision and overturned his conviction. Ever since, the 'net has been full of chatter saying that it's o.k. to build machine guns yourself.
Your friendly federal government, however, did not take the 9th Circuit's ruling lying down. The feds immediately asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case, which granted a stay of the decision pending appeal. The stay meant that the case had no precedential effect, so no courts (not even those in the 9th Circuit) were required to follow it.
On June 13, 2005, the Supreme Court vacated the 9th Circuit's judgment and remand the case for further consideration in light of Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. ___ (2005). The Gonzales case was the one in which the Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 vote that Congress had the authority under the Commerce Clause to prohibit the local growth and use of marijuana.
While the 9th Circuit has not acted on the remand, yet (it's been just a little over two months), the outcome is pretty much all but determined. In light of Gonzales, the 9th Circuit will have to reverse itself and affirm Stewart's conviction for illegal possession of a machine gun. Thus, the 9th Circuit's decision in Stewart has effectively been overturned.
The bottom line is that anyone who tells you it's o.k. to manufacture your own machine guns ain't telling the truth. They're probably just repeating misinformation that came about as a result of a federal court decision that has since been overturned.
I heard something about this, but wasn't ready to believe it without proof. I looked here and on the ATF website, but couldn't find what I wanted, so I figured I'd ask here.
