As predicted
In light of Heller, Wayne Fincher (past coverage here) apparently appealed his conviction for possession of a machine gun. He lost because:
[U]nder Heller, Fincher’s possession of the guns is not protected by the Second Amendment. Machine guns are not in common use by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes and therefore fall within the category of dangerous and unusual weapons that the government can prohibit for individual use.
We gunnies pretty much said after Heller that that particular bit in Heller on common use was no good for us. See, the .gov put a cost prohibitive tax of $200 (adjusted for $3,096.97 in today’s dollars using consumer price index, much higher using other measures) on machine guns in 1934. Then, in 1986 when $200 became a minor inconvenience, the Hughes amendment banned transfers of new machine guns. Essentially, government action made these weapons uncommon. It’d be interesting if Fincher had made an M-16 (in common use by our military) or an AK47 (one in six guns on Earth is an AK47). Fincher made two 1919s and a Sten, IIRC.
Sebastian notes the circular logic and offers another measure to test common use: use of arms by police.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Unc,
I really think that the best thing gunnies can do, in light of this, is to buy more guns.
Get out there and buy your NFA weapons.
Purchase the AR-15 you know you really want.
“High capacity” firearms, with non-crippled magazines? Oh yeah. Get some today!
The more guns we buy, and the more varied those guns are, the more guns will be “in common use.”
See there? “Honey, it’s my political duty to buy this AK…”