§14‑409. Machine guns and other like weapons.
(a) As used in thissection, "machine gun" or "submachine gun" means any weaponwhich shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot,automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a singlefunction of the trigger. The term shall also include the frame or receiver ofany such weapon, any combination of parts designed and intended for use inconverting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination of parts from whicha machine gun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under thecontrol of a person.
(b) It shall beunlawful for any person, firm or corporation to manufacture, sell, give away,dispose of, use or possess machine guns, submachine guns, or other like weaponsas defined by subsection (a) of this section: Provided, however, that thissubsection shall not apply to the following:
Banks, merchants, andrecognized business establishments for use in their respective places ofbusiness, who shall first apply to and receive from the sheriff of the countyin which said business is located, a permit to possess the said weapons for thepurpose of defending the said business; officers and soldiers of the UnitedStates Army, when in discharge of their official duties, officers and soldiersof the militia when called into actual service, officers of the State, or ofany county, city or town, charged with the execution of the laws of the State,when acting in the discharge of their official duties; the manufacture, use orpossession of such weapons for scientific or experimental purposes when suchmanufacture, use or possession is lawful under federal laws and the weapon isregistered with a federal agency, and when a permit to manufacture, use orpossess the weapon is issued by the sheriff of the county in which the weaponis located. Provided, further, that any bona fide resident of this State whonow owns a machine gun used in former wars, as a relic or souvenir, may retainand keep same as his or her property without violating the provisions of thissection upon his reporting said ownership to the sheriff of the county in whichsaid person lives.
(c) Any personviolating any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class Ifelony. (1933, c. 261, s. 1; 1959, c. 1073, s. 2; 1965, c.1200; 1989, c. 680, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, s. 1243; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s.14(c); 1999‑456, s. 33(b).)