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Last month, a federal judge found in favor of Tamori Morgan, a citizen of Kansas, who was accused of having a machine gun. The judge dismissed all of the charges against Morgan, ruling them to be unlawful. According to the Daily Caller, Morgan was charged with two counts of illegal machine gun ownership, which makes it illegal for anybody to transfer or own such weapons. Trump appointee U.S. District Judge John Broomes declared that the prohibition violated the Second Amendment’s freedom to keep and bear guns.
Prosecutors accused Morgan of owning a Glock switch, a gadget that turns a Glock into an automatic weapon, and an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15.300 caliber machine gun, according to court documents.
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Broomes contended that the burden of demonstrating that the charges against Morgan had historical precedent rests with the federal government. Following its ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court set a precedent that states that gun control laws can only be constitutionally implemented if they follow the nation’s longstanding history of regulating weapons.
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It was mandated in New York that people show a special need to be granted an unrestricted concealed carry certificate. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court decided that the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense had a long history in the United States.
With the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986, Congress attempted to regulate machine guns and outlawed their possession without a special license, an annual fee, and registration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Tamori’s guns were not protected by the Second Amendment, according to the prosecution.
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Asserting that they are protected within the original meaning of the amendment, Broomes, however, strongly disagreed. He added that in this instance, the government had not provided a rationale for the law’s implementation. The Caller reports that it’s unclear but likely that the Biden-Harris Justice Department would file an appeal of Broomes’ decision.
Right before the new regulation took effect, District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, issued a ruling. His order prevents the federal government from enforcing the regulation against several gun-rights groups, including Gun Owners of America. However, the ruling does not apply to Utah, Louisiana, and Mississippi, which are also involved in the lawsuit.
Judge Kacsmaryk noted in his ruling that the plaintiffs have a reasonable concern that these new presumptions could lead to civil or criminal penalties for actions that were legal just a day before. Earlier that month, 26 Republican attorneys general filed lawsuits in federal courts in Texas, Florida, and Arkansas to block the regulation. They argue that President Joe Biden lacks the authority to enforce the order, claiming it infringes upon the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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