Replies

Unbelievble.
The lack of knowledge on this issue is stunning...

This bill is a GOOD THING.
This bill is a GOOD THING.
This bill is a GOOD THING.

I will be forced to explain things in detail, just so maybe a few of you will understand. I am going to shear a lot of specifics to make it easier for the laypeople to understand.

First off, Fully Automatic weapons have been federally registered since 1934. This will likely never change.
Each transfer of these weapons requires fingerprints, photographs, signatures from authority figures (usually) and a one time $200 tax.

In 1968, a general 30 day amnesty was declared to allow people who were in posession of unregistered automatic weapons to register them legally. Many WWII, Korea, and Vietnam vets registered their bring-back machineguns to be in accordance with the law.
It is worth mentioning that up to this point, your average police department viewed a WWII veteran with a bring-back Sten gun much in the same way they view jaywalking.

In 1986, as a part of the "Firearms Owners Protection Act" (oddly enough), a moratorium was declared on the registry of new machineguns for civilian sale. The existing ones could be transfered, in full accordance with all federal regulations.

So, those are the dates you need to know for the pop quiz on this issue.
1934, 1968, and 1986.

Here are a few other pertinent details.

Due to the moratorium on registry of new machineguns in 86, the supply of available machineguns was fixed at a certain number. Over the years, as demand increased and people actually learned that it was legal to own a machinegun (albeit with much more paperwork than you or I fill out to purchase a pistol or an AR15) the demand skyrocketed.
Fixed supply + High Demand = Stratospheric prices.

That WWII era BAR that grandpa snuck back is worth upwards of $30,000 as a lawfully registered weapon.
It's worth nothing unregistered.

That Korean Era M3 Grease Gun that uncle has up in his closet might be worth $20,000 as a transferrable, collectable registered machinegun- it's worth nothing unregistered.

As WWII vets make their departure from this world, a number of these weapons are coming to light from attics, closets and basements. The realitives are in posession of an immensely historical and tremeandously valuable object, but they are unable to register it due to the way the law is written.

This law allows these people to register these firearms in accordance with the laws that already govern them.

No, it doesn't mean that you have to go and register your deer rifle.
No, it doesn't mean that "all of a sudden" there is some new registry and we are heading headfirst down the slippery slope...

On the other side of the spectrum- to those against gun ownership, no, this won't affect "crime".
These people already posess these firearms and are doing nothing wrong with them. This bill simply allows them to comply with the law and retain an important family heirloom.

I apologize for getting windy, but I hope I cleared some of this up.

THIS BILL IS A GOOD THING!
PLEASE WRITE YOUR SENATORS ABOUT THIS!
IT TAKES ONE MINUTE TO MAKE A PHONE CALL.
DON'T BE AFRAID. TELL THEM THAT YOU SUPPORT THIS!
THIS BILL IS GOOD FOR US ALL!

Thanks for your time

I agree whole-heartedly with NFA and Richard-SIA. Darksheare, with respect you don't seem to understand the issue.

There's no new registry proposed, just an attempt to let WWII vets, their wives and their kids make use of property that was brought back from overseas, and to not have these same people go to jail over a very complex (and unjust, and unconstitutional) law.

The benefit to everyone else is that there will probably be tens of thousands of machine guns added to the list of those that can be legally purchased. The registry might go from 200,000 to 250K or 300K, perhaps even more. That means more MGs in the hands of citizens, and perhaps lower prices so that those of us who can't hope to own one now may be able to buy a piece of (very enjoyable) history.

Do I agree with licensing them, or with getting permission to buy them from your local PD? HELL NO! But the reality is that gun control was passed one salami slice at a time, and that's the only way that it'll be eliminated.

I don't own any machine guns (or other NFA weapons), nor do I deal in them. I am simply a citizen who can read the law, and who can understand the implication of this bill. To me, it is about more than prices, or even about helping our vets and their families. To me, the great benefit is to be able to say to the gun-fearing wussies of the world that "these X number of guns have been in civilian hands AND UNREGISTERED for 37+ years, WITHOUT incident. Further, now there are some 250K (or 300K or whatever number) of legal machine guns out there in civilian hands, and only ONCE since 1934 has any such gun been used in a crime (and that by a police officer)".

Darksheare, I sympathize and agree with your view that we shouldn't register guns - except in this case. Here you are quite simply wrong.