Homemade Machine Gun?

[SUE ROVR]

I am sure everyone is aware of the Stewart case out of the 9th Circuit, and everyone knows that the Riach case (medical use of pot) is getting reviewed and the SC will release a decision soon.

Putting the two together if Raich gets upheld then Stewart will almost certainly be the law of the land (ie no federal law can ban homemade machine guns).

So, anyone really familiar with exactly what stewart did? From reading the case it is not 100% clear. Did he start with an 80% reciever? They made some hay about it not being like the existing guns (which is somewhat worrysome). Given there will likely be a lag between passage of a new (state?) law banning them I would like to be prepared to move if these rulings occur.

As I understand it, if the goods traveled in interstate commerce legally, and then one person converted them without the use of interstate commerce (could you use a machine shop? or would it have to be at home?) it would be outside the scope of the commerce clause.

So you could buy a parts kit and an 80% reciever and you would be ok, but not taking an existing weapon and converting to auto? Anyone?

Best

 

[HankB]

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV.

Most Federal restrictions on what you can do in your own home state seem to have their origins in the concept of regulating interstate commerce. Migratory waterfowl cross state lines, so you need a Federal duck stamp to hunt ducks. Commercial aircraft cross state lines, hence the TSA. Radio and TV broadcasts cross state lines, hence the FCC. etc. etc.

So if the Constitution were actually adhered to, it would seem that building one's own machine gun (or silencer, or SBR, etc.) would be legal unless and until it crossed a state line. Now, how much of the hypothetical machine gun would have to have "in state" origin? The steel? The ore the steel was made from? Or just the preponderance of the work?

IMHO - and again, I'm not a lawyer - you'd really have to have a LOT of high-powered backing to prevail in court. Maybe if the State challenged the Federal restrictions on 10th Amendment grounds, you'd have a chance, but state politicians are too gutless to even challenge EPA bureaucrats on pollution regs.

So unless you've got REALLY deep pockets to pay an army of lawyers AND buy favorable press coverage, becoming a test case doesn't really seem desirable.

 

[Kinsman]

Or, you could move to Montana....our legislators are currently working on a law which reaffirms our right (as outlined in article 9 & 10 of the US Constitution) to do just this, and that if the Feds want a piece of you then our AG will go to bat.

Sounds reasonable enough to me. Still, I can just see somebody in our benevolent government deciding that, why yes, that iron ore did cross state lines, and that's why we have siezed your home......

 

[Third_Rail]

Wow. I may have to reconsider Montana!

 

[SUE ROVR]

The test case has already been done (Stewart).

If Raich is upheld, there is almost no way for Stewart to be overturned. If Raich is overturned, Stewart for all intents and purposes will be overturned.

I want to do exactly what Stewart did if (and only if) Raich is upheld. So does anyone know exactly what Stewart did?

Bottom line:

What EXACTLY did Stewart do?

 

[femoralis]

Made a homemade sten. It supposedly had a "unique" design, however.

 

[ctdonath]

Haven't seen the level of detail you're likely looking for.

Known details include:
- The receiver design was acknowledged by BATF as "unique"
- Resembled a Sten
- Non-receiver parts used are commonly available
- Trigger group was of a type not found on machineguns
- Stewart was a gun designer/manufacturer (made the Maadi-Griffin kits)
- More than one was made (5?)

So this case was not of a minor hobbyist finishing an 80% receiver of common design, this was a gun-kit* designer/manufacturer creating a new kind of machinegun.

* - Reminder: Stewart was a convicted felon, so he could not own or make or sell guns. He pressed the limits of what was legal by making and selling finish-it-yourself kits. The machineguns were, however, complete ... and interestingly he was not apparently prosecuted for "felon posessing guns".

 

[SUE ROVR]

This is more complicated than I thought.

I will wait to read Raich and see what they say.