Firearm Owners Protection Act

E50003

The Firearm Owners Protection Act is a 1986 U.S. federal law that revised and relaxed certain gun control provisions while adding new restrictions, including the ban on civilian ownership of newly manufactured machine guns.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal law
firearms legislation
aimsTo protect lawful firearm owners from perceived abuses in enforcement of gun laws
allows continued manufacture of machine guns for military and law enforcement use
alsoKnownAs McClure-Volkmer Act
amends Gun Control Act of 1968
appliesTo federal firearms licensees
individual firearm owners
clarifies definition of engaged in the business of dealing in firearms
codifiedIn Title 18 of the United States Code
containsProvision ban on civilian possession of newly manufactured machine guns
controversialAspect ban on new machine guns for civilian ownership
country United States
effectiveDate 1986-05-19
enactedBy 99th United States Congress
exempts government agencies from post-1986 machine gun ban
grandfathers civilian possession of machine guns lawfully possessed before 1986-05-19
introducedAsBill S.49 (99th Congress)
jurisdiction federal
languageCommonlyCalled Hughes Amendment
legislativeChamberOfOrigin United States Senate
legislativeStatus enacted
limits ATF compliance inspections to once per year absent specific cause
frequency of ATF inspections of federal firearms licensees
modifies rules on sale of ammunition
rules on sale of firearms at gun shows
namedFor Harold L. Volkmer
James A. McClure
politicalContext Reagan administration
prohibits creation of a national firearms registry by the federal government
possession of machine guns by civilians if manufactured after 1986-05-19
transfer of machine guns to civilians if manufactured after 1986-05-19
protects interstate transportation of firearms under certain conditions
publicLawNumber Public Law 99-308
regulates record-keeping requirements for federal firearms licensees
regulatoryAgency Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
section 18 U.S.C. § 922(o)
shortName FOPA
signedBy Ronald Reagan
signingDate 1986-05-19
statutesAtLargeCitation 100 Stat. 449
subjectMatter federal firearms licensees
firearms regulation
interstate transportation of firearms
machine guns
typeOfRestriction supply-side restriction on machine guns
yearOfEnactment 1986


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