Major Decision by an Obama Appointee

USA v. Brown (S.D.Miss. 2025).  Brown was indicted for possession of a machine gun.  He was not a felon.  The judge (an Obama appointee) ruled that Bruen pretty destroyed the precedents on which the government made its case.   Machine guns are dangerous but not unusual.  The judge also recognized that the 1986 ban on new manufacture creates a difficult position for the government.  It seems the judge does not like what Bruen requires but recognizes that it does so.

I Will Take Seriously Government Concern About Machine Guns in Private Hands When the Government Shows It Is Similarly Concerned

9/26/22 KTRK:

HOUSTON, TX. (KTRK) - A Houston couple got more than they bargained for after buying gun storage cases online.

The couple, who did not want to be identified, thought they were buying 100 empty gun storage cases from a military surplus website to resell on eBay.

“It’s just a case, everybody can buy it online,” one of them said.

But when a friend cracked open one of the cases, they found it was far from empty.

The couple found at least a dozen fully automatic M16s designed strictly for military use.

Not sure what to do, they reported it to authorities.

Within hours, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized the single box and quickly got a search warrant for the storage unit containing 100 more. Experts were shocked by what they found.

“It’s almost surreal to believe something like that happen nowadays. It’s incredible,” said retired Houston police captain and former Marine Greg Fremin. “It’s unbelievable to think weapons of that grade, military-grade weapons, would be shipped in containers would be shipped across state lines and somebody have access to that. It’s pretty shocking,”

I can think of few mail order purchases that have really disappointed me!

Realistically, some soldier signed off on the sale of these cases without opening them.  Someone is going to be in a heap of trouble.