Hughes Amendment

Congress enacted the Hughes Amendment as part of the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986. The particular amendment was named after the sponsor, Representative William J. Hughes, and added a new subsection, now codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(o).

Section 922(o) generally prohibits the transfer or possession of machineguns, with two exceptions:

A transfer to or by, or possession by or under the authority of, the United States or any department or agency thereof, or a State or any department, agency, or political subdivision thereof; or
Any lawful transfer or lawful possession of a machinegun that was lawfully possessed before May 19, 1986.

Accordingly, § 922(o) generally prohibits the private possession and transfer of machineguns, while grandfathering machineguns that were lawfully possessed before May 19, 1986. The statute also contains an exception for transfers to or possession by, or under the authority of, certain governmental entities.

Federal courts have generally upheld § 922(o) against constitutional challenges, including challenges based on the Commerce Clause and the Second Amendment. Courts have continued to reject Second Amendment challenges following District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022), although the reasoning has evolved as courts have applied the U.S. Supreme Court’s more recent jurisprudence of a text and National history approach to Second Amendment claims. For example, the Sixth Circuit held in United States v. Bridges (2025) that § 922(o) is constitutional under Bruen, while the Fifth Circuit has continued to treat its pre-Bruen precedent upholding the statute as controlling. See: United States v. Wilson, 164 F.4th 380 (2026), where the Fifth Circuit expressly held that its earlier decision, Hollis v. Lynch, 827 F.3d 436 (2016), remains binding after Bruen. United States v. Wilson is currently on appeal.

[Last reviewed in August of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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