Sajun.org
'''National Firearms Act''' is an
American federal law passed in
1934 that mandates the registration of all Title II weapons - that is, all sound suppressors or 'silencers', all fully-automatic and burst-fire firearms, all
rifles with a barrel length less than 16 inches (406 mm) (SBR) and
shotguns with a barrel length less than 18 inches (457 mm) (SBS), shoulder fired weapons with an overall length less than 26 inches (660 mm), weapons classified as "Any Other Weapon" (AOW) and weapons classified as "
destructive devices" (DD). For weapons with folding, collapsing or telescoping stocks, the overall length is measured with the stock fully extended.
All NFA items must be registered with the
BATFE. NFA items not manufactured by a licensed manufacturer require prior approval of BATFE and a $200 tax to be paid. Each subsequent transfer of an NFA weapon to another person requires prior approval of BATFE and requires another transfer tax to be paid. The transfer tax is $200 on all NFA weapons except for "Any Other Weapons" which require a $5 tax.
Importation of NFA weapons was banned by the 1968
Gun Control Act which implemented a "sporting" clause. Only firearms judged to be sporting firearms by BATFE can be imported for civilian use. The manufacture of new
machine guns for the civilian market was banned by the 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act. All machine guns legally registered prior to the date of enactment are still legal for transfer among civilians. Machine guns manufactured after that date can only be sold to law enforcement and government agencies or exported.
The law was found to be unconstitutional in State vs. Miller, though the ruling was overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court as the defendant failed to appear, and no brief was filled on Miller's behalf. Miller was arrested for possession of an unregistered short barreled shotgun. Miller's defense was that the shotgun was legal under the Second Amendment. The government's argument was that the short barreled shotgun was not a military weapon and thus not a "militia" weapon protected by the Second Amendment. This decision is incorrect because short barreled shotguns were in fact used by American troops during the trench warfare of
World War I, and after the Miller decision in
World War II and the
Vietnam War.
==See also==
*
Gun politics in the US
