Federal Judge Dismisses Machine Gun Charges

A federal judge ruled the Second Amendment protects machine guns, according to court documents released Thursday.

Kansas District Judge John W. Broomes, appointed by Former President Donald Trump in 2018, dropped charges against Tamori Morgan for possessing a .30 caliber machine gun and a Glock pistol with a “switch,” a modification that allows for fully automatic fire, ruling that the “plain text” of the Second Amendment allows him to own the firearms, Broomes said in the court filings. If the ruling stands on appeal, it would have sweeping implications for laws banning machine gun ownership.

“The court finds that the Second Amendment applies to the weapons charged because they are ‘bearable arms’ within the original meaning of the amendment,” Broomes said. “The government has the burden to show that the regulation is consistent with this nation’s historical firearm regulation tradition.”

Court documents show Federal prosecutors argued that D.C. v. Heller allows for machine gun regulation, and that the Second Amendment only applies to weapons that are commonly used by Americans. Broomes said that since the court has yet to apply the Bruen verdict, judgment on the constitutionality of the ban begins with the Second Amendment, according to the court documents.

“As far as I know, this is the first time in American history that a machine gun ban has been found unconstitutional in its application,” Eric Ruben, Brennan Center fellow and associate law professor of Southern Methodist University told the Associated Press.

Morgan’s public defender, David Freund, said that the machine gun ban “offends the history and tradition of the Second Amendment,” according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. Machine guns are currently regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934 and the Gun Control Act (GCA) of 1968, with illegal possession of a machine gun coming with a maximum 10-year prison sentence, according to Bernard Law.

The Kansas District Court did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.