Could a Little-Known Federal Case Against a YouTube Celebrity Result in the Overturn of the 1934 National Firearms Act?

USSA News ^ | July 12, 2022 | Constitutional Nobody

[Pontiac]

The ATF may of thought they had an easy target with the Youtuber since he was just an average Joe with no money for a good lawyer

But Freedom lovin’ Americans came up with money for his defense.

[Pontiac]

Video and helpful links at the article

[dynachrome]

A block of aluminum is a ‘ghost gun’ by those definitions.

[cuban leaf]

Matt Hoover was charged, as was Kristopher Ervin, with selling COMPLETED machine guns

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Well, if this is true, then in court all they have to do is show the “completed” machine gun to the Jury and demonstrate how it works.🤣

[marktwain]

Not a bad explanation, but...

During the 1930s, crime using automatic weapons like the Thompson Sub Machine Gun and the Browning Automatic Rifle was common

No, it was not. It was the era's version of "School Shootings".

The Thompsons and BARs were very expensive and uncommon. Most used by criminals were stolen from police or national guard armories.

The media of the day made these into sensational criminal tools.

[Thunder90]

The ATF should be arresting all of those abortion activists and their hangers, as the coat hanger can be made into a lightning link easily.

[bigfootbob]

Don’t buy into the leftards twisted language. Do not propagate “ghost guns”, it’s a propaganda tool we need not spread.

[Celtic Conservative]

I thought AR-15 receivers had a difference in machining that prevented an auto sear from being installed.

CC

[skeeter]

This is a good example of the kind of arbitrary power the government wishes it could exercise.

The only thing between this kind of subjective authority (and police powers to back it up) are a couple of SCOTUS justices, because we can't seem to elect representatives who aren't corrupt and cowardly.

[bert]

The only to protect America from Bidenwacko excess is injunctive relief immediately on the signing of an executive order

[Gaffer]

By this standard, they might as well declare rubber bands and belt loops automatic weapons.

[Chewbarkah]

If the presentation above is accurate, the government could equally argue that a stack of scrap metal in my garage might machine itself into an autosear. Therefore the heap of raw metal is a machine gun, no other parts needed. OMG, millions of people are keeping machine guns in their garages and workshops!

ATF needs to be laughed out of court.

[NewJerseyJoe]

P4L

[MacNaughton]

My impression from a dodgey source, Hollywood films, is the Thompson was more associated with the bootlegging crime wave during the Prohibition era.

I recall Clyde Barrow broke into a NG armory to get his BAR. I have not seen anything regarding whether the BAR was available for sale to the general public.

Interesting confluence of history around the 1934 NFA ..

2/15/1933: attempted assassination of FDR 17 days before inauguration

2/17/1933: Reichstag Fire, Berlin, Germany, 4 weeks after Hitler appointed as Reich Chancellor – Nazi Germany heavily restricted private ownership of firearms

6/17/1933: K-C, MO - Kansas City Massacre

1933: National Defense Act of 1916 was amended again. It finally severed the National Guard's traditional connection with the militia clause of the Constitution, providing for a new component called the "National Guard of the United States" that was to be a reserve component of the Army of the United States at all times.

1934:outlaws Bonnie & Clyde (23&25, LA), John Dillinger (31, Chicago), Pretty Boy Floyd (30, OH), Baby Face Nelson (25, Chicago-area) killed by LEOs

[ElkGroveDan]

Great informative article. Thanks for posting.

[Joe Brower]

Perhaps of interest.

[Campion]

Isn’t this close to a First Amendment issue as well as a Second Amendment issue? If the government went after someone who distributed a gif image of an autosear, nobody would hesitate to call that a first amendment issue. Etch the same image into a piece of aluminum instead and distribute it ... ?

[Yo-Yo]

No, it was not. It was the era's version of "School Shootings".

The Chicago "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" had a direct bearing on the 1934 NFA being passed.

But at least in 1934 Congress understood what the Second Amendment said and what "shall not be infringed" meant so they knew they couldn't ban machine guns, so they tried to tax them out of existence.

Short barreled rifles and short barrelled shotguns went along for the ride because originally handguns were also to be taxed at $200, but at the last minute the handgun provision was struck, leaving SBRs and SBSs part of the NFA for no particular reason.

[sten]

i’m pretty sure any ‘machine gun’ would fall under the category of a ‘weapon’ which would be protected by the 2nd amendment.

what justification do they have for limiting my ability to own/use such a weapon? seems if they arrest me for owning (or just advertising) such a weapon, that would obviously be an infringement of my 2nd amendment rights.

how am i wrong here?

[ShadowAce]

A block of aluminum is a ‘ghost gun’ by those definitions.

*ANY* hunk of metal or plastic (3D-printed receivers have been produced), or the computer file used to 3D-print one is now considered a "ghost gun" by those definitions.

I'd even go as far as the ore pulled from the ground. It just depends how much effort is required to define something as a "ghost gun."