Even though the other side says rights are not absolute, as being unable to possess certain kinds of pornography does not violate the 1A, there are no US Customs restrictions on the importation of 99.5% of books. Why would the 2A be subject to a lesser standard? A right is a right.

I think if the militia-only firearm standard is applied to imports, almost everything under a 155mm howitzer would be allowed. US Army infantry units, such as a company-sized unit equivalent to an effective militia unit, are supported in their mission by artillery and tanks. Why would a “well-regulated” militia under the 2A not be backed up by proper support units? 19th C. state militia infantry units certainly had artillery units attached to support them.

Certainly tactical missles could be banned–as “no right is absolute,” as they say–but what is the upper limit?

By the barest interpretation of a militia standard for firearms, full auto would have to be allowed in again. The line would undoubtedly be drawn somewhere in the Destructive Devices category.

The Volokh Conspiracy law blog has an excellent discussion of where the line should be drawn. There are a lot of idiots out there who have no clue about firearms but still manage to form an opinion, however…

Link here:
http://volokh.com/posts/1173753555.shtml

–PB

In any case, gunsmithing machine guns into existance will be expensive but way less expensive than the cost of dealing with the post 86 shortages. I would probably form 1 a krink into existance for fun if the 86 ban ever goes away.

most people seem to agree that extending first-amendment rights (for example) to just about every competent adult on U.S. territory is no big deal, and might even be a good thing, but letting just anybody own guns is another matter entirely. as a green card holder myself, i confess i’m not too sure i should be allowed to own just any kind of weaponry until i get my citizenship.

(i have access to a couple of shotguns, as it happens, but neither of them are technically owned by me. personally, i’d be leery of buying a handgun in my own name until i got naturalized; long guns, less so. it’s not a matter of legal right to own weapons, either; it just doesn’t seem polite to my host country, in my eyes.)

Not really. You can purchase an NFA weapon out of state, sure, but it would still need to be tranferred to you through an SOT in your home state. So not so much with the driving to DC for your AK fix.

Also, to the guy who is doing the happy dog dance at the thought of his own P90: Only if it’s built by FN at its South Carolina plant. Imported machineguns are still a no-no under GCA ‘68, not the Hughes Amendment.

Once it is determined – as we have done – that handguns are “Arms” [...]

…is where i’d start making that argument. now, granted, it’d take a twisting of plain English into scarcely imaginable pretzels to determine that fully automatic weapons (but not semiauto pistols!) do not constitute “arms”… but that’s exactly the sort of logic i, as a non-lawyer, have come to expect out of the U.S. legal system, and especially the supreme court.

plus, i see a political incentive for them to do so. semiauto pistols are reasonably well accepted, so the Parker ruling couldn’t really be overturned without some outcry; but fully-auto anything is reviled, and could not be set free again without serious outcry. knowing that the SCOTUS is a very political beast, it wouldn’t much surprise me to see them twisting in this direction, frankly.

I refer you to 28 USC 1391 (e), the appropriate venue for bringing suit against a government official. Tell me, if you wanted to sue the director of the ATF or the attorney general, where does he reside in his official capacity?

The answer is in washington DC. In the DC Circuit. We can bring cases against ATF administrative decisions. We can bring suits challenging federal laws themselves. All in DC.

The only downside is a slightly stricter standing rule than other circuits have, but all we need is a denied form 1 and we are in the same exact sitaution as the police officer plaintiff in Parker. And boom, no more 86 ban. I can finally get a lightning link for my AR! I can finally buy a P90! I can finally put an auto sear in my saiga 12 and cut the barrel down to 12 inches! My cup runneth over! Hahahahaha.