A measure was introduced this week to the West Virginia state Senate that would restore lawful machine gun transfers to the public – citing a clause in the Hughes Amendment. 

WV Senate Bill 1071, the Public Defense and Provisioning Act, would create an Office of Public Defense within the West Virginia State Police. That office, put plainly, would be tasked with selling machine guns to interested members of the public who can legally possess such a firearm. 

These would be included, but not limited to, full-auto or select-fire "AR-15/M16-platform, M249-type, and MP5-type machine guns," for a $250 surcharge. Those who receive an MG through the program could transfer it to another qualified individual for a $275 fee paid to the state.  

These transfers, done by the state, would be in line with the federal exception for states codified under the circa-1986 Hughes Amendment-- 18 U.S.C. § 922(o)(2)(A) – which otherwise bans the sale of new machine guns to the public. 

The bill, filed this week by Republican state senators Chris Rose and Zack Maynard, was researched and prepared by Gun Owners of America, which hopes other states will file similar legislation. 

"For decades, Americans have been told that the 1986 machine gun ban permanently stripped them of access to modern arms," said GOA Senior Vice President Erich Pratt. "But Congress included an explicit exemption for transfers 'to or by' a State, and that language matters. West Virginia is demonstrating that states have both the authority and the responsibility to defend the Second Amendment, restore parity between citizens and the government, and lead the way in dismantling unconstitutional federal overreach."