Third Circuit Upholds Machine Gun and Suppressor Convictions — With a Registration Twist Worth Watching

The Third Circuit handed the government two victories on August 31, 2026, in U.S. v. Berger — upholding a machine-gun possession conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) and a separate conviction for possession of an unregistered suppressor. But the reasoning along the way is what should draw the attention.

Notably, the court first held that machine guns ARE protected "Arms" under the Second Amendment — then upheld the ban anyway. And in the more significant holding, a two-judge majority ruled that registration requirements judges consider "minimal" do not infringe the Second Amendment at all. Critics warn the logic lets the government escape the Bruen historical-tradition test merely by arguing a registration scheme is not burdensome enough.

AmmoLand's analysis flags the suppressor-registration holding as potentially reaching far beyond this case, and the concern is easy to see: if "minimal burden" becomes the entire test, registration regimes get a pass without any historical showing at all.

Why it matters: the registration-by-"minimal burden" logic is a regulatory end-run worth watching. If "not burdensome enough to matter" is all the government has to show, the historical-tradition requirement Bruen restored quietly evaporates — and every registry in the country just got easier to defend.