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Quote:
Machine-gun conviction tossed
By Claire Cooper -- Bee Legal Affairs Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Friday, November 14, 2003
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SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court on Thursday reversed an Arizona man's federal conviction for unlawful possession of five homemade machine guns, ruling that his weapons did not affect interstate commerce. Regulation of interstate commerce was the basis of the federal ban on machine gun possession.
Robert Stewart crafted his own guns in his own home. Even though some components had crossed state lines, "these components did not add up to a gun," wrote 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski of Pasadena. "Not even close."
However, the 2-1 decision rejected arguments that the Second Amendment provided a right to keep machine guns. It also said Stewart, who had a prior felony conviction, could be prosecuted under a federal ban on possession of firearms by a felon.
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I'm planning on looking up the interstate commerce act to see what it has to do with machine guns.