Missouri prohibits the knowing possession, sale, manufacture, transportation or repair of a machine gun, if the possession, sale, manufacture, transportation or repair is “in violation of federal law.”¹

Federal law requires machine guns to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and generally prohibits the transfer or possession of machine guns manufactured after May 19, 1986.²

See our Machine Guns policy summary for a comprehensive discussion of this issue.

1. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 571.020.1(6). Missouri defines a machine gun as any firearm that is capable of firing more than one shot automatically, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 571.010(14). See also Mo. Rev. Stat. § 571.080 (making a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(b) a state crime). 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(4) refers to the transfer of machine guns.[↩]
2. 18 U.S.C. § 922(o); 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d).[↩]