Army regulations No. 920-25

Dated: 8 February 1965

OK, I went through my papers and came up with the following Army Regulations dated as above. While I’m sure that this particular regulation has either been allowed to lapse or superseded, "nixing" the permission to sell the NM M14s and M14Ms to civilians, there was indeed permission given to sell the rifles. The reference to selling to members of the NRA date to a time when it was necessary to belong to the NRA to purchase any surplus military firearms through the Director of Civilian Marksmanship. A subsequent lawsuit filed by some individual protesting the necessity for an American Citizen to belong to a private organization (even though chartered by Congress). The courts agreed and removed the NRA Membership restriction. However, prior to the Gun Control Act of 1968, a little known provision of the law permitted ANY American Citizen to go to an Army Depot and purchase any "legal" (non-fully automatic) weapon in the Army Inventory. I had a friend who purchased a SPIW version of the M1 from some arsenal (I don’t remember which one) under the old provisions. The following is furnished for informational purposes and any legal ammunition for the possible resumption of the NM M14 Sales Program, assuming that the Federal Courts uphold the striking down of the BATFs "once a machine gun, always a machine gun" ruling (it was never a law anyway!).

Best Regards,

Dick

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