What does the machine gun ruling mean for Kansans?

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Don't run out and buy a machine gun just yet.

On Aug. 21, Judge John Broomes out of Kansas dismissed charges of possessing a machine gun in the case of U.S. vs. Tamori Morgan. The ruling hinged on a requirement to demonstrate historical analogs that prove the ban is consistent with the nation’s history. Broomes found the government hadn’t met its burden to prove historical analogs.

The case came about when the defendant was charged with two counts of possessing a machine gun in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o). The defendant was charged with possessing a machine gun and machine gun conversion device, also known as a “Glock switch”. 27 News spoke to the Dean of the School of Law at Washburn University, Jeffrey Jackson, about the ruling and what it means for Kansas.

"Can you take what is a Glock, basically, firearm, and modify it to go fully automatic fire? That's the idea there, of course, that conflicts with what is commonly known as the federal machine gun ban," Jackson said. "The argument brought up by the defendant in that case was basically that the machine gun ban itself is unconstitutional and violating the Second Amendment."

According to Jackson, the court found the federal government hadn't met the burden to prove historical analogs under New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. vs. Bruen. Jackson said the Bruen case talks about the standards that must be met when there are challenges to the Second Amendment.

"The big part of this ruling is I think, one, it doesn't give people license to just run out and buy machine guns," Jackson said. "I would actually say don't do that, for a couple of reasons. One is, although the Second Amendment law is fairly confusing I think the district court's opinion is incorrect as a matter of law and is very likely to be overturned on appeal in the 10th Circuit."

Jackson said that as of now, the significance of the case is that it strikes down the machine gun ban as applied to this particular case. Jackson said he thought the decision would be fairly short-lived because it was more of a categorical error from the judge.

Jackson spoke about a decision out of the Supreme Court under the United States vs. Miller which bans unusual weapons, in the Miller case, involving a sawed-off shotgun.

"I think that the Miller reasoning in this particular case would apply to give the federal government the ability to ban or otherwise regulate machine guns," Jackson said. "Generally when we think about the right that is contained within the Second Amendment as Heller talks about, they're talking about firearms that are common. Generally, that's thought of as being handguns even semi-automatic handguns, rifles, long rifles and shotguns."

Jackson said that while the decision strikes down the ban, it strikes it down as an 'as applied challenge' to this particular firearm.

"I suppose if you went out immediately and got the same [firearm] you might be able to argue 'it's the same firearm it should work' but I don't think that's true," Jackson said.

The federal government has 30 days from the decision to appeal the ruling. When asked if the ruling could impact the federal machine gun ban further down the road, Jackson said it could.

Jackson said that while this does strike the machine gun ban for this individual and possibly the state of Kansas, the case would need to go through the 10th Circuit Court for review. If the 10th Circuit justified the ruling it would go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"In the meantime, I would say for Kansans who would like to possess fully automatic weapons, this doesn't give you free rein to do so," Jackson said. "It doesn't open the door because it could just as easily be reversed fairly quickly."

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