An Act Defining “Machine Gun” and “Person”; Making It an Offense to Possess or Use Machine Guns, ch. 82, §§ 1–6, 1933 Tex. Gen. Laws 219, 219–20 (Secretary of State*).
“ANTI-MACHINE GUN LAW.
H. B. No. 64.] Chapter 82.
An Act defining ‘machine gun’ and ‘person’; making it an offense to possess or use machine guns; making it an offense to sell, lease, barter, give, exchange, trade or cause to be sold, leased, given, bartered, exchanged or traded a machine gun to any person; providing penalty for possessing machine gun; providing penalty for selling, leasing, bartering, giving, exchanging, trading or causing to be sold, leased, given, bartered, exchanged or traded a machine gun to any person; providing exceptions where machine guns are sold to the military forces or peace officers of the United States or any political subdivision thereof, and the transportation thereof; providing exceptions when the possession of machine guns for scientific purposes or possession of machine guns not usable as a weapon and possessed as a curiosity, ornament or keepsake, and possession of machine guns by officials or employees of the State Prison System; providing exceptions where machine guns are sold, leased, bartered, exchanged or given the Adjutant General of the State of Texas, the Sheriff of any county, the Chief of Police of a municipality, the purchasing agent for the Texas State Prison System; the military forces or peace officers of the United States, and declaring an emergency.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas:
Section 1. Definition. ‘Machine gun’ applies to and includes a weapon of any description by whatever name known, loaded or unloaded, from which more than five (5) shots or bullets may be automatically discharged from a magazine by a single functioning of the firing device.
‘Person’ applies to and includes firm, partnership, association or corporation.
Sec. 2. Whosoever shall possess or use a machine gun, as defined in Section 1, shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in the State Penitentiary, for not less than two (2) nor more than ten (10) years.
Sec. 3. Whoever shall sell, lease, give, barter, exchange, or trade, or cause to be sold, leased, given, bartered, exchanged, or traded, a machine gun as hereinabove defined to any person shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof, shall be confined to the State Penitentiary, for not less than two (2) nor more than ten (10) years.
Sec. 4. Nothing contained in Section 2 of this Act shall prohibit or interfere with:
1. The possession of machine guns by the military forces or the peace officers of the United States or of any political subdivision thereof, or the transportation required for that purpose.
2. The possession of a machine gun for scientific purpose, or the possession of a machine gun not usable as a weapon and possessed as a curiosity, ornament, or keepsake
3. The possession of machine guns by officials and employees of the Texas State Prison System.
Sec. 5. Nothing contained in this Act shall prohibit or interfere with the sale, lease, barter, exchange or gift of a machine gun as defined in this Act, or the transportation required for such purpose to the Adjutant General of the State of Texas, the duly qualified and commissioned Sheriff of a county in Texas, to a duly qualified and commissioned Chief of Police of any municipality within the State of Texas, the duly authorized purchasing agent for the Texas State Prison System, the military forces or peace officers of the United States.
Sec. 6. The fact that there are many gangsters purchasing machine guns in Texas, causing a menace to the citizenry of Texas, creates an emergency and imperative public necessity that the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended, and said Rule is hereby suspended, and this Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.
[Note.—H. B. No. 64 passed the House by a vote of 121 yeas, 0 nays; passed the Senate by a vote of 30 yeas, 0 nays.]
Approved October 25, 1933.
Effective October 25, 1933.”
General and Special Laws of the State of Texas: Passed by the Forty-Third Legislature at the First Called Session Convened at the City of Austin, September 14, 1933 and Adjourned October 13, 1933 (Austin,* TX: Secretary of State*, 1933), 219–20. Chapter 82—An Act Defining “Machine Gun” and “Person”; Making It an Offense to Possess or Use Machine Guns; Making It an Offense to Sell, Lease, Barter, Give, Exchange, Trade or Cause to Be Sold, Leased, Given, Bartered, Exchanged or Traded a Machine Gun to Any Person; Providing Penalty for Possessing Machine Gun; Providing Penalty for Selling, Leasing, Bartering, Giving, Exchanging, Trading or Causing to Be Sold, Leased, Given, Bartered, Exchanged or Traded a Machine Gun to Any Person; Providing Exceptions Where Machine Guns Are Sold to the Military Forces or Peace Officers of the United States or Any Political Subdivision Thereof, and the Transportation Thereof; Providing Exceptions When the Possession of Machine Guns for Scientific Purposes or Possession of Machine Guns Not Usable as a Weapon and Possessed as a Curiosity, Ornament or Keepsake, and Possession of Machine Guns by Officials or Employees of the State Prison System; Providing Exceptions Where Machine Guns Are Sold, Leased, Bartered, Exchanged or Given the Adjutant General of the State of Texas, the Sheriff of Any County, the Chief of Police of a Municipality, the Purchasing Agent for the Texas State Prison System; the Military Forces or Peace Officers of the United States, and Declaring an Emergency [H. B. No. 64], §§ 1–6. Approved October 25, 1933.
* The publication information has been drawn from WorldCat. It is not from the book itself.