If you live in a free state, can own a gun, have plenty of money and feel like waiting over a year for the government to bother getting around to putting a $200 stamp on your application you can get a real automatic weapon. But only one that was made before May 19, 1986. There are approximately 175,000 automatic firearms that have been licensed by the BATF.
Oh, and did I mention having lots of money?
subguns.com
There are approximately 175,000 automatic firearms that have been licensed by the BATF. Crap, is it that few? I thought there were a lot of "paper receivers" done just prior to the May 1986 cutoff that ballooned the supply. Plus some things like Ruger 10/22 full-auto trigger groups drop-ins, that are considered machine guns by the ATF.