Fordham Law Review Volume 79 Issue 2 Article 6 November 2011 Just a Soul Whose Intentions Are Good? The Relevance of a Defendant's Subjective Intent in Defining a “Destructive Device” Under the National Firearms Act Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Just a Soul Whose Intentions Are Good? The Relevance of a Defendant's Subjective Intent in Defining a “Destructive Device” Under the National Firearms Act, 79 Fordham L. Rev. 563 (2011). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol79/iss2/6 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Law Review by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. JUST A SOUL WHOSE INTENTIONS ARE GOOD? THE RELEVANCE OF A DEFENDANT’S SUBJECTIVE INTENT IN DEFINING A “DESTRUCTIVE DEVICE” UNDER THE NATIONAL FIREARMS ACT Elliot Buckman* This Note addresses the three-way circuit split among the U.S. Courts of Appeals over when, and to what extent, a court may consider a defendant’s subjective intent in defining a “destructive device” under the National Firearms Act. The circuit split centers on the Act’s ambiguous reference to intent in its definition of a destructive device, which is a statutorily prohibited firearm. After discussing the Act’s legislative history and development, this Note considers the role of mens rea in National Firearms Act cases.