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Pennsylvania law prohibits the possession of machine guns, unless the machine gun was registered under the federal law, or falls within some other exception.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 In December 2018, ATF finalized a rule to include bump stocks within the definition of a machine gun subject to this federal law, meaning that bump stocks will be generally banned as of March 26, 2019.3

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

  1. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 908(a), (b)(1).[]
  2. 18 U.S.C. § 922(o); 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d).[]
  3. Bump-Stock-Type Devices, 83 Fed. Reg. 66,514 (Dec. 26, 2018) (to be codified at 27 C.F.R. pts. 447, 478, 479).[]