Though older versions are technically legal to own, buy, and sell in many states, brand new «machine guns» — defined by law as a fully automatic weapon capable of firing more than one shot per trigger pull — have not been available for sale or
purchase for civilian use in the United States since the Firearm Owners» Protection Act of 1986.
Fort D.A. Russell started out as Camp Marfa, headquarters
for the Big Bend Military District during the Mexican Revolution, then became a cavalry fort, housed German prisoners of war during World War II, was returned to
civilian use in 1949, and was later bought by Judd who eventually
purchased hundreds of acres of military property and at the time of his death, owned 40,000 acres of ranch land.