When we say no politics here on TFB we mean that we guarantee when you come here, rather than be bombarded with political opinions or propaganda you will get nothing but firearm related information and the best media coverage we can provide. However, what we will do is follow interesting developments in litigation and legal questions that are pertinent to our great pastime.

We are in a firearms renaissance right now. AR15s are everywhere and affordable, parts are cheap, new designs are rolling out all the time, people are more aware that NFA items (including machineguns) are legal, and we have an influx of new shooters and hobbyists who are becoming part of our great pastime.

This renaissance is rapidly approaching what many consider to be the apex; the opening of the machinegun registry allowing prices to fall. One lawsuit started as a result of a man being denied the production of a fully automatic firearm on an ATF form 1, and he and his legal team are accepting donations to help make them approve it. This has progressed into a lawsuit now; Jay Hollis Vs. Eric Holder. Mr. Hollis has now issued his complaint and the litigation process has begun. You may read the complaint here. A summons has also been issued to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Now we have ANOTHER machinegun lawsuit on the table:

“Plaintiff Ryan S. Watson, acting individually and as trustee of the Watson Family Gun Trust, is suing Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director B. Todd Jones in their official capacities for administering, executing and enforcing “statutory and regulatory provisions [that] generally act as an unlawful de facto ban on the transfer or possession of a machine gun manufactured after May 19, 1986.”

Watson, like Hollis also submitted a form 1 that was disapproved. The plaintiff’s argument hinges on a fer key points; that existing laws restricting ownership of machineguns exceed the authority of Congress, the 1986 ban violates the Second Amendment, and It states that statutes cannot be applied individually or against trustees due to the ATF’s determination that “unincorporated trusts are not prohibited from manufacturing or possessing machine guns.”

As a machine gun enthusiast I have been following all of this pretty closely in hopes that someday we can all compete in subgun matches and purchase/build fully automatic firearms at reasonable a cost.We will continue to provide coverage on this case as information trickles our way.