I've often been envious of the days when one could walk into a Coast-to-Coast or other local hardware store and buy a Colt Monitor machine rifle or a Thompson submachine gun; the full-auto Chicago Typewriter, not the semi-auto versions available today.
I mean, the replica Thompsons are still cool, but here's the thing: The barrels are too long. The replicas have a 16" barrel, because of the 1934 National Firearms Act restrictions on "short-barreled rifles."
Now, though, that may be changing. The National Firearms Act may be on the endangered species list. My colleague Teri Christoph brought us that news earlier on Wednesday.
Lovers of the Second Amendment got some good news Wednesday after a federal judge out of the Northern District of Texas ruled that large portions of the National Firearms Act (NFA) were rendered unconstitutional after Congress eliminated the transfer tax that had historically provided the constitutional basis for registration and recordkeeping requirements governing suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns.
U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled in the case Jensen v. ATF that “[b]y zeroing out the transfer and making taxes for most NFA firearms, Congress eliminated the constitutional basis for the regulations that formerly supported the taxes for those firearms.”
Here's Teri's report in full:
Read More: New: Federal Judge Deals Crushing Blow to NFA Rules on Short-Barreled Shotguns and Suppressors
So, that got me thinking. If the regulations on short-barreled rifles and shotguns go away, what would I want to see hit the markets again? Well, I immediately came up with three.
First, something along the lines of the Marble Game-Getter. This was a neat little pack-along combination gun, with newer versions having a .22 rimfire barrel over a shotgun barrel; either a .44 brass case round that came in ball or shot loads. Later ones came with a .410 shotgun barrel. What made them neat? The folding wire stock and the 12-14" barrels, that meant one could carry them along in a shoulder holster.
I wrote about this piece in an early Sunday Gun Day:
Read More: Sunday Gun Day XXXVI - Why Can't I Have One? Marble's Game Getter
In modern livery, the new Game Getter would look something like this: A lightweight gun with a folding stock, with a .22LR or .22WMR rifle barrel over a .410 or 20-gauge shotgun barrel. Barrel lengths would ideally include the originals, 12”, 15” and 18”. Like the originals, the gun would have either standard open sights or a tang-mounted peep. A tip-off mount for an optic or (yes, I know) a Picatinny rail wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
That would be great to tote along while fishing, running trapline, or just going for a stroll in the woods. Might someone pick up a new version, should the 1934 NFA go away for good?
Second: A semi-auto Thompson submachine gun with a 12" or 14" barrel. Today, a company called Thompson Auto Ordnance, owned by Kahr Arms, makes a semi-auto version of the M1927A-1 Thompson, but if it looks odd to you, it's because of that NFA-mandated 16" barrel. But in a post-NFA world wherein short-barreled rifles are no different than any other long arm, where two inches of barrel length won't magically make a long arm more concealable or somehow deadlier? Who is to say that the new Thompson won't start making these that look like something Elliot Ness may have had on hand? Because a semi-auto 1927A-1 Chicago Alley Sweeper with the proper 14" barrel and a 50-round drum magazine would very quickly land on my "must have" list.
I mean, the .45ACP round wouldn't be the first choice against bears or moose, but you've got to place something like this really high on the "cool" list, considerations of practicality aside.
Third: An honest-to-gosh Old West coach gun. Now, this is a matter of degree. These were - are - short-barreled side-by-side double shotguns, both in external hammer and hammerless versions. Barrel lengths nowadays run 18"-20", but a double with 14" or 16" barrels would be downright handy - and fun. In this I can speak from some experience, since the statute of limitations is long past on this episode. When I was about 18, a friend of mine who worked on a construction crew offered me a 12-gauge side-by-side that he had found stuffed into the rafter ends of a house they were putting a new roof on. The gun's barrels had been hacksawed off at about 12-inch - so, of course, we shot it. After our typical test, which involved putting the gun in an old tire and pulling the trigger with a string from a safe distance, we tried shooting it from the shoulder. Well, it was impressive; the recoil was, shall we say, brutal, as was the blast from those short barrels. Add to that the fact that these were the years before hearing protection was standard, and, well, you can probably imagine the rest.
But wouldn't a 14-inch coach gun be cool?
We don't know yet what will happen here. U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix's ruling will almost certainly be appealed. This case is far from over. But we can enjoy this victory with a game of "what if" - and who knows? We might win. With a little luck and some favorable court action, maybe I'll one day get to recreate this scene for real.
