Bill2e
Member
With the following two quotes and the way the full auto ban was added to the 1986 bill, how is the prohibition on manufacturing full auto weapons even remotely constitutional?
United States vs. Miller
The US vs. Miller has long been used by the gun control crowd as proof of the Second Amendment not being an individual right. In fact, the Supreme Court said no such thing. The ruling said that they had no proof that a sawed off shotgun was a militia weapon.
The Hughes Amendment
The restrictions on full-auto firearms are a result of the Hughes Amendment (99th Congress, H.AMDT.777). The amendment prohibited the general public from possessing fully-auto firearms manufactured after May 19, 1986. Rep. William Hughes (D-N.J.) proposed the amendment late in debate and at night when most of the members of the House were gone. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), a long proponent of gun control, was presiding over the House at that time and a voice vote was taken. Despite the fact that the bill appeared to fail, Rep. Rangel declared the amendment approved and it was incorporated into House Bill 4332. Once passing the House, H.R.4332 was incorporated in its entirety into S.49. The Senate passed the final S.49 on April 10, 1986 by voice vote and it was signed by the President on May 19, 1986.