[sergeantdave]

Could a state pass legislation allowing citizens to own machine guns?

And to get around the idiotic commerce clause, insist that the weapons be manufactured in that state?

Just curious, as I seem to recall legislation pending in Montana that would do just that.

[calex59]

Could a state pass legislation allowing citizens to own machine guns? And to get around the idiotic commerce clause, insist that the weapons be manufactured in that state? Just curious, as I seem to recall legislation pending in Montana that would do just that.

Yes, the states have that right but sure as the sun rise if we don't get the judicial activist out of the scotus they will overturn laws such as that ignoring states rights as they did with the medical MJ ruling.

[Modernman]

Could a state pass legislation allowing citizens to own machine guns?

Good question. The 2nd Amendment is probably the area of the Constitution with the least amount of SCOTUS decisions. I would say, no, based on the current state of the law.

And to get around the idiotic commerce clause, insist that the weapons be manufactured in that state?

Probably not- States can't discriminate against out-of-state industry.

[Jubal Harshaw]

(1) The legislation in Montana has died in committee.

(2) Even worse, the legislation in MT seems to have been inspired by the 2003 9th circuit court ruling of Judge Kozinski in US vs. Stewart, in which Kozinski said that federal law could not ban the the posession of machine guns that never left their state of origin. The US (i.e. the Bush Administration) appealed, and the Supremes just after ruling on Raich (where they stated that marijuana possession could be banned even in the absence of interstate commerce)sent the case back to the 9th with the explicit instructions to reconsider in light of Raich. In other words, the Supremes instructed the 9th to find that the mere possession of machine guns, even absent interstate commerce, can be "regulated" by the feds.

All that is a long way of saying that no, it probably would do no good for a state to allow machine guns.