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25-year-old man from Minneapolis has been federally charged for being in possession of and manufacturing auto sears, devices that are used to convert a semi-automatic firearm into a machine gun.The U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Andrew Luger, says that Aaron Malik Cato had four 3D printers at his residence and was in possession of several 3D-printed auto sears.In addition to the homemade devices, authorities say Cato also possessed the parts to make up to 10 more devices. Customs and Border Patrol agents intercepted a package sent from Taiwan to Minneapolis destined for Cato, and law enforcement conducted a controlled delivery of...

On February 24, 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a suit against Marvin Richardson, acting head of the ATF, challenging the power of the federal government to regulate personally made silencers used for home defense in Texas, which remain in Texas. The lawsuit follows the predictions made in a previous article on the subject by this correspondent. Here is the press release from Attorney General Paxton: From texasattorneygeneral.gov:Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives seeking to stop the enforcement of federal regulations regarding firearm suppressors made in Texas. Texas House...

The improved eForms platform launched by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to review and process ATF Forms 1,2,3,4,5,6,6A,9,10 and 5300.11 applications online, is finding implementation bugs. This is expected in the major launch of any large software system. The new, improved, modernized eForms system at the ATF was rolled out on December 23, 2021. The American Suppressor Association said it was the biggest technological jump in the process since the fax machine. From the association:We’re very excited about the launch of the much anticipated new eForms system. This represents the largest technological jump for NFA since...

Six months ago, this correspondent wrote an essay on Incrementalism v. “all or nothing”. It was well-received: Roland T. Gunner ~ “Mr. Weingarten, I take my hat off to you. This article is the best thing I have read in modern memory. Now, tell me, how do we get incremental movememt on reppealing the NFA? And for all you naysayers, sit down, shut up, or help us get it done.”Incremental movement is happening to dismantle the National Firearms Act (NFA), bit by bit. The ultimate goal is repeal.Here is how it is being done, and what needs to be done...

A proposed rule change about arm braces on pistols prompted this correspondent to research the history of shoulder stocks, pistols, and the National Firearms Act (NFA). When the National Firearms Act of 1934 was passed, pistols with shoulder stocks were not mentioned. Short barreled rifles were not intended to be in the law. They were inserted at the insistence of a confused congressman on the House Ways and Means Committee.Fitting a pistol with a shoulder stock had always been an option. The 1934 NFA was imagined to be regulating shotguns which had been shortened to create concealable, awkward pistols, not...

The same person who invented the muffler for the automobile invented them for guns. Hiram Maxim, the inventor, called them “Silencers”. An obvious reason they were not invented earlier is the inside of a gun muffler is more complex than a gun barrel. Early silencer designs were made of mild steel, making them subject to corrosion. A silencer for a gun using black powder would require a significant effort to clean after each use. Smokeless/non-corrosive gunpowder did not become common until about 1900. At that point, gun mufflers became more practical. Increasing prosperity in society, brought about by technical innovation...

Legislation introduced in Congress this month would require any semi-automatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine to be registered under the National Firearms Act.The bill, H.R.4953 {To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act any semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine.}, was filed last Friday in the House by U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat who is outspoken in his support of gun control measures."Congress passed the National Firearms Act after the 1929 Valentine's Day massacre to tightly regulate certain...

HB 957, the new silencer/gun muffler/suppressor law, will become effective in Texas on 1 September 2021. On that date, the Attorney General, Ken Paxton, will be able to accept written notification by a United States citizen who intends to make a firearms suppressor as per Section 2.052 of the new law. The Attorney General shall then seek a declaratory judgment from a federal district court. There is strong Supreme Court precedent the federal government may not command a state to enforce federal law, known as the anti-commandeering doctrine.HB 957 goes far beyond anti-commandeering. It sets up a test case to...

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Texas recently passed HB 957 into law. It will become effective on 1 September, 2021. The law repeals the Texas state ban on the possession of silencers/suppressors/gun mufflers, puts into effect a “no commandeering clause” for federal enforcement of the National Firearms Act (NFA) for silencers, and sets up a federal test case of the NFA in federal court.In a previous article, the repeal of the Texas law and the anti-commandeering section were discussed. The likely federal test case was not.HB 957 came from the brain of Representative Oliverson of Texas District 130, north of Houston. Dr. Oliverson...

On 15 June, 2021, Governor Greg Abbott signed Texas HB 957 into law. The new law removes the Texas prohibition on firearm suppressors, commonly known as silencers or gun mufflers. From the bill: “Firearm suppressor” means any device designed, made, or adapted to muffle the report of a firearm.From the legislative history, it appears silencers, suppressors or gun mufflers were first banned in Texas in 1973. Although they were banned in Texas law, there was an affirmative defense from prosecution if the gun mufflers were legally possessed under federal law, as shown in this AmmoLand article from 2014.As you can...

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- In 1934, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) administration had been in office for one year. The Attorney General, Homer Cummings, was a strong proponent of national gun laws, which, he contended, could get around constitutional constraints by using the power to tax.The Justice Department crafted a bill to create the National Firearms Act of 1934.It was a major piece of legislation, arguably the first time the Federal Government had significantly infringed on the right to keep and bear arms, protected by the Second Amendment.Attorney General Cummings was asked to testify before the powerful Ways and Means Committee in...

On 7 June, 2021, the Attorney General signed a “proposed rule” about the regulation of arm braces for pistols. The ATF has put the “proposed rule” on its website.The “proposed rule” can be seen as a trial balloon. It has no legal authority, as it has not been officially published in the Federal Register. Once officially published, the public can make comments for 90 days once the proposed rule has been published.Significantly, the Attorney General, Merrick Garland, signed this trial balloon, and not the acting head of the ATF.The proposed rule is 71 pages of details only a bureaucrat would...

ARKANSAS, USA — The Arkansas State Senate has voted to override Gov. Asa Hutchinson's veto of legislation that would prohibit local police from enforcing federal gun laws. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where they also must decide if they want to override Hutchinson's veto. Hutchinson vetoed SB 298 last Friday, saying that the measure would jeopardize law enforcement and the public. On Monday, the Arkansas State Senate voted 21-12, with two Senators not voting, to overturn his decision, our content partner Talk Business & Politics reports. The law imposes criminal fines on local or state law...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (March 31, 2021) – Today, the Arkansas Senate passed a bill that would take on federal gun control, past, present and future, banning the state from participating in the enforcement of a wide-range of acts dating back to 1934. Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R) and Sen. Brandt Smith (R) introduced Senate Bill 298 (SB298) on Feb. 8. The legislation would ban any person, including any public officer or employee of the state and its political subdivisions, from enforcing any past, present or future “federal statute, executive order, or federal agency directive that conflicts with Arkansas Constitution, Article 2,...

    It is certainly a sign of the times. In 2020, the FBI processed a record 39.7 million firearm background checks, the most recorded since the agency began keeping tabs in 1998. On top of that, checks exclusively related to the sale of firearms also reached a record high last year, totaling 21 million, according to firearm trade organization National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). The gun and ammo craze, which is being pinned on the COVID-19 crisis, the violent rioting that gripped major cities in recent months, and the new Biden administration, has anyone looking to get...

Very few people are prosecuted for the illegal possession of silencers/suppressors in the United States. One of the problems in understanding the U.S. criminal justice system is records are dispersed. Records are kept in many different formats, and not easily searchable or sortable by offense. There are both federal and state crimes. The data is not all digitized. When it is, it is not all in searchable databases available to the public.In an academic paper, Criminal Use of Firearm Silencers, written by Paul Clark and published in 2007, the number of prosecutions appears to be very low. From westerncriminogy.org:Perhaps a...

JK Armament Solvent Traps In the first two parts of this on home made silencers series, I wrote of how we arrived at the current situation, historically, and what exists today, in terms of the technology and legal system, for individuals to make their own silencers utilizing the ATF Form 1. Because of the tremendous bureaucratic and monetary infringements imposed by the National Firearms Act (NFA), very few form 1's (required to legally make your own silencer, short-barreled rifle, or shotgun) were processed as late as 1990. In the year 1990, only thirty years ago, a total of 399 Form...

Legally available parts which can be machined into an effective silencer 80% silencers are legal in the United States.  In a society built on individual liberty, with checks and balances on government power, it is difficult to effectively ban a simple item. 80% silencers are collections of partly machined parts, sold for other purposes, which can be made into a silencer with a bit of effort by a hobbyist.  They are the analog of 80% receivers for hobbyists to make their own guns. How did we come to the situation where people are not allowed to purchase a simple...

Opinion: Why The Reverse Paradox Tube is NOT a Firearms Silencer In the previous article about the reverse paradox tube, there was a comment that the BATFE might consider the tube to be a silencer.Legally, the reverse paradox tube is not a silencer. The law is clear, and there is considerable precedent as to why this is so.The definition of a silencer, in the law, is in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3): (24)  The terms “firearm silencer” and “firearm muffler” mean any device for silencing, muffling, or diminishing the report of a portable firearm, including any combination of parts, designed or...

LPublic Document Case heading, cropped and scaled by Dean Weingarten Many Second Amendment supporters have heard of the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. It went into effect on 26 June, 1934.  It was the first national gun law to have a substantially limiting effect. It was the first federal statute challenged in the Supreme Court on the basis of the Second Amendment, in United States v. Miller. The story of that challenge may be read, in short form, on an AmmoLand News article from 2013.Far fewer people are familiar with the National Firearms Act of 1938. The NFA of...