NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL STATUTES DEALING WITH MACHINEGUNS
§ 14-288.8. Manufacture, assembly, possession, storage,
transportation, sale, purchase, delivery, or acquisition
of weapon of mass death and destruction; exceptions.
(a)Except as otherwise provided in this section, it is
unlawful for any person to manufacture, assemble, possess,
store, transport, sell, offer to sell, purchase, offer to
purchase, deliver or give to another, or acquire any weapon of
mass death and destruction.
(b) This section does not apply to:
(1) Persons exempted from the provisions of G.S. 14-269
with respect to any activities lawfully engaged in
while carrying out their duties.
(2) Importers, manufacturers, dealers, and collectors
of firearms, ammunition, or destructive devices
validly licensed under the laws of the United
States or the State of North Carolina, while
lawfully engaged in activities authorized under
their licenses.
(3) Persons under contract with the United States, the
State of North Carolina, or any agency of either
government, with respect to any activities lawfully
engaged in under their contracts.
(4) Inventors, designers, ordnance consultants and
researchers, chemists, physicists, and other
persons lawfully engaged in pursuits designed to
enlarge knowledge or to facilitate the creation,
development, or manufacture of weapons of mass
death and destruction intended for use in a manner
consistent with the laws of the United States and
the State of North Carolina.
(c) The term "weapon of mass death and destruction" includes:
(1) Any explosive or incendiary:
a. Bomb; or
b. Grenade; or
c. Rocket having a propellant charge of more than
four ounces; or
d. Missile having an explosive or incendiary
charge of more than one-quarter ounce; or
e. Mine; or
f. Device similar to any of the devices described
above; or
(2) Any type of weapon (other than a shotgun or a
shotgun shell of a type particularly suitable for
sporting purposes) which will, or which may be
readily converted to, expel a projectile by the
action of an explosive or other propellant, and
which has any barrel with a bore of more than
one-half inch in diameter; or
(3) Any firearm capable of fully automatic fire, any
shotgun with a barrel or barrels of less than 18
inches in length or an overall length of less than
26 inches, any rifle with a barrel or barrels of
less than 16 inches in length or an overall length
of less than 26 inches, any muffler or silencer for
any firearm, whether or not such firearm is
included within this definition. For the purposes
of this section, rifle is defined as a weapon
designed or redesigned, made or remade, and
intended to be fired from the shoulder; or
(4) Any combination of parts either designed or
intended for use in converting any device into any
weapon described above and from which a weapon of
mass death and destruction may readily be
assembled.
The term "weapon of mass death and destruction" does not include
any device which is neither designed nor redesigned for use as a
weapon; any device, although originally designed for use as a
weapon, which is redesigned for use as a signaling, pyrotechnic,
line-throwing, safety, or similar device; surplus ordnance sold,
loaned, or given by the Secretary of the Army pursuant to the
provisions of section 4684(2), 4685, or 4686 of Title 10 of the
United States Code; or any other device which the Secretary of
the Treasury finds is not likely to be used as a weapon, is an
antique, or is a rifle which the owner intends to use solely for
sporting purposes, in accordance with Chapter 44 of Title 18 of
the United States Code.
(d) Any person who violates any provision of this section is
guilty of a Class F felony. (1969, c. 869, s. 1; 1975, c. 718,
ss. 6, 7; 1977, c. 810; 1983, c. 413, ss. 1, 2; 1993, c. 539, s.
1228; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 2001-470, s. 3.)
§ 14-409. Machine guns and other like weapons.
(a)As used in this section, "machine gun" or "submachine
gun" means any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can
be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot,
without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.
The term shall also include the frame or receiver of any such
weapon, any combination of parts designed and intended for use
in converting a weapon into a machine gun, and any combination
of parts from which a machine gun can be assembled if such parts
are in the possession or under the control of a person.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation
to manufacture, sell, give away, dispose of, use or possess
machine guns, submachine guns, or other like weapons as defined
by subsection (a) of this section: Provided, however, that this
subsection shall not apply to the following:
Banks, merchants, and recognized business establishments for
use in their respective places of business, who shall first
apply to and receive from the sheriff of the county in which
said business is located, a permit to possess the said weapons
for the purpose of defending the said business; officers and
soldiers of the United States Army, when in discharge of their
official duties, officers and soldiers of the militia when
called into actual service, officers of the State, or of any
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 or possession of such weapons for
scientific or experimental purposes when such manufacture, use
or possession is lawful under federal laws and the weapon is
registered with a federal agency, and when a permit to
manufacture, use or possess the weapon is issued by the sheriff
of the county in which the weapon is located. Provided, further,
that any bona fide resident of this State who now owns a machine
gun used in former wars, as a relic or souvenir, may retain and
keep same as his or her property without violating the
provisions of this section upon his reporting said ownership to
the sheriff of the county in which said person lives.
(c) Any person violating any of the provisions of this
section shall be guilty of a Class I felony. (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).)