The news out of the Sixth Circuit shouldn’t shock anyone. In a predictable move, the court upheld the conviction of a man caught with a machine-gun-converted Glock and declared that fully automatic firearms are not protected by the Second Amendment.
For gun owners who’ve been paying attention, this is exactly the kind of decision we’ve come to expect from the federal judiciary: pay lip service to the Constitution, cite “public safety,” and carve away at our rights one ruling at a time.
The Case and the Court’s Reasoning
In United States v. Bridges, the defendant’s converted Glock equipped with a “glock switch” fell squarely under the federal machine gun ban in 18 U.S.C. § 922(o). The court leaned heavily on the “dangerous and unusual” language from Heller to say that machine guns fall outside Second Amendment protection. They also pointed to a supposed “historical tradition” of regulating weapons viewed as especially dangerous.
No surprises. This is the same playbook courts have been using for decades: redefine the scope of the Second Amendment until it no longer covers what the Founders intended.
And of course, the Court failed to mention items like Glock switches and autosears are becoming more and more common due to 3D printing technology, rendering their “unusual” argument useless.
Don’t Count on the Courts
Sure, there’s a chance the Supreme Court could take this case and set things straight. We hope they do. But let’s be honest — banking on nine justices in D.C. to fix decades of erosion is a gamble gun owners can’t afford to make. Even with recent pro-2A wins, the courts are not a reliable backstop.
“If we keep waiting for the courts to save us, we’ll be waiting forever,” said Chris McNutt, President of Texas Gun Rights. “The only sure way to secure our rights is to take the fight to the legislature and repeal the NFA.”
The Real Fix — Repeal the NFA
This ruling is just another symptom of the bigger disease: the National Firearms Act and its unconstitutional restrictions. The NFA’s machine gun ban — expanded in 1986 — treats law-abiding gun owners as criminals for owning the same tools our military and police carry.
The fix isn’t another court challenge. The fix is full legislative repeal of the NFA and every other federal infringement that turns rights into privileges. That’s the fight Texas Gun Rights is committed to leading — because history proves that depending on judges to do the right thing is a losing strategy.
