(WND News Center)—Two states have begun working on plans that could restore to law-abiding U.S. residents the right to own a machine gun.
And not only the right to own, but a procedure to obtain one.
Civilian ownership of machine guns is heavily, some say severely or prohibitively, restricted right now.
Under federal law, it is illegal for civilians to have or transfer machine guns made after May 1986. That ban comes under the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act of 1986, which froze ownership to firearms lawfully registered by then.
And to facilitate a “transfer” of one of those weapons, defined as capable of firing more than one round per trigger pull, one must be 21, pay a $200 tax, register with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and successfully complete a process that can take a year.
Violating the requirements can cost up to 10 years in prison.
But now, a report in the Cowboy State Daily confirms that Wyoming interests are considering a plan to open up that process, citing a similar move in West Virginia.
“I could totally see it catching on here in Wyoming and Montana,” the chief of the University of Wyoming Firearms Research Center, told the publication.
The West Virginia Legislature already is looking at a plan, from Republican Sens. Chris Rose and Zack Maynard, that would open that door.
The bill essentially would allow sales of automatic guns from that era by making the state the middleman or pass-through during ownership transfers, the report said.
The idea got its start with the Gun Owners of America, and Mark Jones, a GOA director and resident of Johnson County, Wyoming, said the concept is “doable” and Wyoming legislation could be introduced a year from now.
Already this year, Wyoming lawmakers adopted a plan to allow people authorized to carry concealed weapons without permits to do so on university and college campuses, and to lower the age for those permits to 18.
Further, another would bar Wyoming officers from enforcing unconstitutional federal gun laws and another would recognize the restoration of gun rights for non-violent felons from other states.
The plan faces a future because the original 1986 law allows the transfers of those guns “made by or under the authority of a state.”
West Virginia’s plan creates an “office of public defense” in the state police, to authorize transfers of new machine guns to residents.
If the West Virginia plan is adopted, and Congress doesn’t interfere further, officials said the idea could catch on in states, especially in the American West, even though some of the limits would remain.
They wouldn’t be cheap, however. A retired gun broker told the Cowboy State Daily a Vietnam war-era M60 could go for $150,000.
Other doubters said Congress never would give up its nationwide control over rules and requirements for such weapons.
Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].
