Subj : Deer rifle = machine gun BG> I am an Executiive Vice-president of the Gun Owner's Action League BG> of Minnesotax (TM). I am somewhat active on the USENET, but this is BG> I edit the Minnesota Militiaman, the newsletter of BG> GOAL. We are distributing our next edition to several thousand deer BG> hunters at the Minnesotax (TM) Deer Classic. Unfortunately, many of BG> these people think that their hunting rifles are sacred and somehow BG> different than a semi-auto or a sixgun in the hoplophobe's eyes. Hi Bill. I hope you can use this. Anyway, now is a good time to repost it! Reprinted From American Rifleman, August 1991 IS YOUR DEER RIFLE A MACHINE GUN? By John Malloy Is that favorite lever-action, bolt-action or slide-action deer rifle carried for years by you and possibly your father and grandfather before you a machine gun? "Of course not," you might say, "A machine gun fires a number of rounds automatically without the need for the trigger to be pressed for each shot. Not only do I need to press the trigger for each shot, but with a bolt- (or lever-, or pump-) operated rifle, the action must be worked to chamber a cartridge before the trigger even can be pressed to fire a shot. Therefore, my deer rifle is definitely not a machine gun." If your statement would be similar to this, you are to be congratulated on your ability to think logically. but logical thinking may not be enough to prevent an unpleasant surprise. Read on. Three incidents occurred almost evenly spaced within the last 100 years that should make gun owners take notice. The connection may not seem obvious at first, but the ominous possibilities soon become apparent. Let's take the most recent one first. In April, 1990, a New Orleans collector of 9mm pistols was surprised to learn that agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) wanted to come to his home to seize his "machine gun." The arm in question was a Holmes Model MP-83 9mm semi-automatic pistol. It is one of the recent breed of modern-looking, high-capacity pistols with the magazine forward of the trigger, similar to pistols that began in concept with the Bergmann and Mauser "Broomhandles" of the 1890s. The Holmes company has been out of business for some time, and the well-made Holmes pistols are now desirable collector's items. The pistol had been purchased through a respected local dealer toward the end of 1988. It was a perfectly legal semi-automatic at the time of purchase. All firearms laws had been scrupulously complied with, and the collector was pleased to acquire this scarce pistol. At some time after this purchase, BATF technicians in Washington managed to convert a Holmes pistol to fire in a full-automatic mode. Because they had converted one specimen, they reclassified all Holmes pistols as machine guns. The previously legal pistol instantly became illegal and subject to seizure. Although they chose not to do so in this case, the BATF agents apparently could also have filed felony charges against the innocent collector for illegal possession of a machine gun. As authority for the seizure, the BATF quoted Title 26, U.S. Code Section 5845(b): "The term 'machine gun' means any weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger." "Restore," according to Mr. Webster's dictionary, means "to put back into the former or original state." Thus, machine guns which had been deactivated for museum or war trophy purposes would still be considered machine guns if they could be easily put returned to their original states. Whether or not you happen to agree with this logic, the definition is certainly easy to understand, but the Holmes pistol, never having been a fully-automatic arm, did not fit this definition. However, BATF had added additional wording to the quote from the U.S. Code. The extra words stated that machine guns also can be: "... weapons which have not previously functioned as machine guns, but, possess design features characteristic of automatic weapons and which facilitate automatic fire by simple modification or elimination of existing component parts." Note that what this extra wording has done is to completely change the original meaning of the law. Previously, a machine gun might be a working specimen or a deactivated one that COULD BE RESTORED back to full automatic. Now it might be that any firearm that had never been a machine gun, but COULD BE CONVERTED, could be an illegal machine gun in the eyes of the BATF. Where did these added words originate? Almost a decade ago, in 1982, the BATF issued ruling 82-2, in which this language was apparently used for the first time. The Bureau maintained that this was an "interpretative rule," which is defined as giving "guidance to its staff and affected parties as to how the agency intends to administer a statute or regulation." Because an interpretative rule is not considered to "create" a new law, the new ruling got around the public notice and comment provisions which ordinarily govern such rules. When the wording of this ruling was challenged in 1983 (Jersey v. BATF, Civil Action 83-1130), the judge surprisingly concluded that the "preferred approach ... is to take the agency at its word and to accept its characterization of the rule." In 1987, this additional wording was the focal point of another case, (Daniel v. U.S., 831 F.2d 253). Responding to the argument that modification of the firearm involved to full automatic was very unlikely, and then only with great difficulty by an experienced gunsmith, the court not only accepted the extra wording of the BATF rule, but added that "... frequency or likelihood of conversion is irrelevant." The implications for owners of semi-automatic firearms are evident. Almost any semi-automatic rifle, pistol or shotgun (with enough time and effort spent by a skilled gunsmith) COULD BE CONVERTED to fire more than one shot with a press of the trigger. Although the use of semi-automatic arms has greatly increase since World War II, most deer hunters probably still take to the field with pump-action, lever-action or bolt-action rifles. Certainly, users of such rifles have nothing to fear? Or do they? Let's go back 100 years and take a look. In the fall of 1889, John M. Browning, then 34 years old, was at one of the weekly shoots of the Ogden (Utah) Rifle Club. As he watched the shooting, so the story goes, he noticed weeds being bent by muzzle blast and thought of the energy going to waste. Curious to see how much energy was involved, the returned to his shop. With a .44-40 cal. Winchester Model 1873 rifle handy, he drilled a hole slightly larger than .44 cal. in a block and fired through the hole. The bullet passed through the hole, but the muzzle blast propelled the block across the shop. Convinced that such energy could be harnessed, Browning devised a plan to modify the lever-action Winchester. The next day, he and his brother Ed modified the lever and trigger. At the muzzle, a disk with a hole for the bullet to pass through was mounted on a pivot. This they named the "flapper." It moved forward with every shot, powered by the gas pushing the bullet. A rod from the flapper to the modified lever worked the action, ejecting the empty case and chambering another cartridge. As the lever closed, the rifle fired the next round. The converted 1873 Winchester was ready for firing by 4 o'clock that afternoon. In less than a day, and without previous experience to guide him, Browning had created his first machine gun from a lever-action rifle. It fired 16 .44-40 black powder cartridges in about a second - a cyclic rate of about 960 rounds per minute. So, obviously it is possible that a lever-action rifle can be converted to a machine gun, and one was actually so converted over a century ago. A pump-action conversion would be even less difficult. But you use a bolt-action rifle for your deer hunting, you say? Surely no one could consider a bolt-action rifle capable of full-automatic fire! Let's go back in time only about a half-century this time, to the period of World War II. In 1942, New Zealand was threatened by the possibility of Japanese invasion. All machine guns had already left the country with the New Zealand Army; however, there were plenty of bolt-action .303 cal. Lee-Enfield rifles still on the island nation. The Charlton Automatic Arms Co. was formed to convert these rifles to machine guns for home defense. The design was the idea of Philip Charlton, a native New Zealander. To make the conversion, the Charlton company drilled a gas port in the barrel. On the right side of the rifle was fitted a gas piston with a rod and cam arrangement that moved rearward to unlock and retract the bolt. Each round that was fired provided gas to open the bolt and eject the empty cartridge case. Then a spring closed the bolt, chambering another cartridge for the next shot. A bipod, cooling fins and pistol grips were fitted, as was a shroud to protect the shooter's face from the rapidly moving bolt. The Charlton machine gun conversion produced full-automatic fire at a rate of about 700 rounds per minute. It was accepted for New Zealand service, and about 2,000 were reportedly produced for home defense use. A number of additional guns were produced in Australia for the Australian Army. There you have the situation. Any lever-action or pump-action or bolt-action rifle could be converted to a machine gun using proven procedures. Almost any hunting rifle in common use now meets the new BATF definition of a machine gun. And remember, "frequency or likelihood of conversion is irrelevant." Also remember that the possession of an illegal machine gun is a felony, conviction of which will deprive you of your civil rights, including, of course, the right to own firearms. The BATF people with whom I have had contact seem to be reasonable people, doing their jobs as indicated by the current interpretation of the laws. Some are life-long shooters and firearms enthusiasts themselves. Their law enforcement interest at present appears to be semi-automatic firearms that fire from an open bolt, especially arms of paramilitary appearance, like the Holmes pistol. At this time, they seem to have no interest in confiscating Grandpa's antique Winchester, Dad's World War II souvenir rifle, your pump-action carbine or your bolt-action sporter. However, the was the regulations read, they or their successors COULD. It is not unknown for government employees to stretch the limits of vague laws and ruling to harass individuals or groups of people for whom they have a dislike. The civil rights abuses of innocent gun owners by BATF agents in the years following the Gun Control Act of 1968 are a strong reminder of this. Under its present interpretation of the law, if BATF officials decide to have a firearm converted into a machine gun, all others of that type would become illegal "machine guns," even though they were unaltered. It has been suggested that the law, Title 26, U.S. Code, sec. 5845(b) be amended as follows: "A weapon originally manufactured to shoot only one shot by a single function of the trigger shall NOT be a machine gun unless it has actually been converted into a machine gun." This is certainly a reasonable clarification. Our legislators should be made to see the need to amend this dangerous law. If the situation is not clarified, perhaps one day some unfriendly government official will decide that all firearms are machine guns.