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Page Number: 14

10 

GARLAND v. CARGILL 

Opinion of the Court 

Figure 4. 

The firearm then ejects the spent cartridge from the cham-
ber and loads a new one in its place.  D. Long, The Complete 
AR–15/M16 Sourcebook  206  (2001).    The mechanism that 
performs  this  task  swings  the  hammer  backward  at  the 
same time.  Ibid. 

Figure 5. 

As the hammer swings backward, it latches onto the discon-
nector.  Sweeney, Gunsmithing: Rifles, at 269.  This latch-
ing (circled above) prevents the hammer from swinging for-
ward  again  after  a  new  cartridge  is  loaded  into  the 
chamber.  Ibid.  The disconnector will hold the hammer in