GOA Backs West Virginia Bill to Allow State-Facilitated Machine Gun Transfers for Civilians

Summary

Gun Owners of America (GOA) has announced strong support for new West Virginia legislation (introduced February 20, 2026) that would allow state-run entities to facilitate the purchase and transfer of fully automatic machine guns to qualified civilians. This initiative aims to utilize a specific exemption in federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) (the Hughes Amendment), which has prohibited new machine gun registrations for civilians since 1986.