Sexy Vikings took an oath to defend the U.S. constitution.  Today, we can not do that with our bodies.  So we do it with words and silly antics like this.  This is protest.  This is freedom of speech.  This is not a machine gun.

You have not discovered the last of the original auto key cards for sale.  You have not found a lightning link for sale.  You have found a social statement.  But not a social statement about the 2nd Amendment, automatic weapons, or machine guns.  Using our 1st Amendment right to freedom of expression, we offer this parody of the Auto Key Card in support of the U.S. constitution's separation of powers. 

Per the U.S. constitution, the U.S. government consists of three coequal branches of government: The legislative, executive, and judicial branches.  Each one checks and balances the other two.  Legislative creates laws.  Executive administers and enforces laws.  Judicial judges laws.

In the case of machine guns, the legislative branch defined a machine gun as "The term “machinegun” 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 part designed and intended solely and exclusively, or combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun, and any combination of parts from which a machinegun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person." - From 26 U.S. Code 5845

Per federal law, a "...combination of parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a machinegun..." is a machine gun.  That certainly applies to the original "SWD lightning link".

But the auto key card is not a part or a collection of parts.  It is a picture of a SWD lightning link and they were not even printed to scale.  If anything illegal took place it was the apparent fraud of promoting the auto key card as being drawn to scale.  The auto key card was a novelty and nothing more.

However the novelty nature of the auto key card nor the legal definition of a machine gun created by congress (legislative branch) deterred the ATF and DOJ (both executive branch) from arresting it's creator, Kristopher Ervin, and a promoter Matthew Hoover.  

Nor did the law prevent these men from being convicted for essentially selling machine guns.  Later the ATF would add the specific legal terminology in a public announcement.

They did this by cutting a semi functional device out of metal itself.  Not following the lines at all.  Even then, the ATF could not get the device to operate as did the original lightning links do.  Instead, the ATF used the metal, not the picture to create a device that forced a malfunction called 'hammer follow".  Even then, the ATF had to use faulty unsafe ammunition to cause the malfunction to discharge a second round.  A chunk of dirt or carbon build up can cause the same malfunction.

Note: None of the proceeds from the sale of this novelty bottle opener monetarily support Kristopher Ervin, and a promoter Matthew Hoover.  Our goal with this product is to draw attention to executive branch over reach and the ongoing failure of the U.S. constitution's system of checks and balances.  As you are reading this, the stunt is working.

If you'd like support Matthew Hoover directly, learn how you can help at the CRS Firearms Youtube channel.

Not a Machine Gun