A federal judge in Kansas has tossed out a machine gun possession charge and questioned if bans on the weapons violate the Second Amendment.
If upheld on appeal, the ruling by U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes in Wichita could have a sweeping impact on the regulation of machine guns, including homemade automatic weapons that many police and prosecutors blame for fueling gun violence.
Broomes, an appointee of President Donald Trump, on Wednesday dismissed two machine gun possession counts against Tamori Morgan, who was indicted last year. Morgan was accused of possessing a model AM-15 .300-caliber machine gun and a machine gun conversion device known as a ''Glock switch'' that can make a semi-automatic weapon fire like a machine gun.
''The court finds that the Second Amendment applies to the weapons charged because they are ‘bearable arms' within the original meaning of the amendment,'' Broomes wrote. He added that the government ''has the burden to show that the regulation is consistent with this nation's historical firearm regulation tradition.''
As of Friday, no appeal had been filed. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Wichita declined comment.
Federal prosecutors in the case said in earlier court filings that the ''Supreme Court has made clear that regulations of machineguns fall outside the Second Amendment.''
A June 2022 Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen was seen as a major expansion of gun rights. The ruling said Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.
Jacob Charles, an associate law professor at Pepperdine University who tracks Second Amendment cases, said the Kansas ruling is direct fallout from the Bruen decision.