Defining Arms, Ammunition and Implements of War under the Neutrality Legislation, 1934

by Franklin Roosevelt

Whereas Section 2 of a Joint Resolution of Congress, entitled "Joint Resolution providing for the prohibition of the export of arms, ammunition, and implements of war to belligerent countries; the prohibition of the transportation of arms, ammunition, and implements of war by vessels of the United States for the use of belligerent States; for the registration and licensing of persons engaged in the business of manufacturing, exporting, or importing arms, ammunition, or implements of war; and restricting travel by American citizens on belligerent ships during war," approved August 31, 1935, provides in part as follows:

"The President is hereby authorized to proclaim upon recommendation of the Board from time to time a list of articles which shall be considered arms, ammunition, and implements of war for the purposes of this section,"

Now, therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, acting under and by virtue of the authority conferred upon me by the said Joint Resolution of Congress, and pursuant to the recommendation of the National Munitions Control Board, declare and proclaim that the articles listed below shall be considered arms, ammunition, and implements of war for the purposes of Section 2 of the said Joint Resolution of Congress:

CATEGORY I

(1) Rifles and carbines using ammunition in excess of cal. 26.5, and their barrels;

(2) Machine guns, automatic rifles, and machine pistols of all calibers, and their barrels;

(3) Guns, howitzers, and mortars of all calibers, their mountings and barrels;

(4) Ammunition for the arms enumerated under (1) and (2) above, i.e., high-power steel-jacketed ammunition in excess of cal. 26.5; filled and unfilled projectiles and propellants with a web thickness of .015 inch or greater for the projectiles of the arms enumerated under (3), above;

(5) Grenades, bombs, torpedoes, and mines, filled or unfilled, and apparatus for their use or discharge;

(6) Tanks, military armored vehicles, and armored trains.

CATEGORY II

Vessels of war of all kinds, including aircraft carriers and submarines.

CATEGORY III

(1) Aircraft, assembled or dismantled, both heavier and lighter than air, which are designed, adapted, and intended for aerial combat by the use of machine guns or of artillery or for the carrying and dropping of bombs, or which are equipped with, or which by reason of design or construction are prepared for, any of the appliances referred to in paragraph (2), below;

(2) Aerial gun mounts and frames, bomb racks, torpedo carriers, and bomb or torpedo release mechanisms.

CATEGORY IV

Revolvers and automatic pistols of a weight in excess of 1 pound 6 ounces (630 grams), using ammunition in excess of cal. 16.5, and ammunition therefor.

CATEGORY V

(1) Aircraft assembled or dismantled, both heavier and lighter than air, other than those included in Category III;

(2) Propellers or air screws, fuselages, hulls, tail units, and under-carriage units;

(3) Aircraft engines.

CATEGORY VI

(1) Livens projectors and flame throwers;

(2) Mustard gas, lewisite, ethyldichlorarsine, and methyldichlorarsine.