Today, the National Rifle Association, joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, and American Suppressor Association, filed an amicus brief in United States v. Machamer, urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to hold that the National Firearms Act’s restrictions on short-barreled rifles violate the Second Amendment.
The NFA requires short-barreled rifles to be registered with the federal government before they may be lawfully made or transferred. At the time Mr. Machamer was charged, the Act also imposed a $200 tax on the making and transfer of such firearms. Violations are punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment, substantial fines, and forfeiture of the firearm. Although Congress has since eliminated the NFA taxes on short-barreled rifles, the registration requirements remain in effect.
The brief argues that the NFA’s registration requirements burden conduct protected by the Second Amendment because short-barreled rifles are “Arms” covered by the Amendment’s plain text. Under the Supreme Court’s framework for evaluating Second Amendment challenges, the government therefore bears the burden of demonstrating that those requirements are consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. As the brief explains, it cannot make that showing because short-barreled rifles are protected arms—since they are in common use and thus not “dangerous and unusual”—and there is no historical tradition that supports registering and taxing protected arms.
The organizations therefore urge the Sixth Circuit to reverse the district court’s decision and hold that the NFA’s registration requirements for short-barreled rifles violate the Second Amendment.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit www.nraila.org/litigation to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.
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